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Something stirred in Poe, something he hadn’t felt in a long time. It wasn’t fear. Fear was useful. The powerful, primitive emotion elicited a biochemical response that flooded the body with chemicals such as adrenaline. Poe embraced fear. Kept it in check until he was ready to use it. But what he was feeling wasn’t fear, it was dread. You couldn’t use dread. Dread gave nothing back; all it did was take.

‘What the hell are you talking about?’ he said, struggling into a sitting position, stifling a yelp as the too-sudden movement sent shock waves coursing through his body. ‘MI5 can’t simply disband a whole unit of the National Crime Agency. They don’t have the authority.’

‘No, they can’t,’ Flynn confirmed. ‘But they can put pressure on certain people. Make sure the detective sergeant and the detective inspector roles are redesignated as civilian posts.’

‘But why bother going to all that trouble? There must be easier ways to stop me annoying the wrong people.’

Flynn shook her head. ‘We got it all wrong, Poe,’ she said. ‘This wasn’t about you. This was never about you.’

‘Who was it about then?’

‘Tilly.’

‘Tilly? I don’t understand.’

‘MI5 wanted her. They wanted her and we had her.’

‘This entire bullshit exercise was just a smokescreen to get Tilly out of SCAS?’

‘And into their clutches,’ Flynn confirmed.

‘It’s not fair!’ Bradshaw wailed.

‘It was a heist,’ Poe snapped. ‘It was a heist and Snoopy was their fucking safecracker.’ His head started to throb. He pinched the bridge of his nose to stem the pain. Doyle sat up straight but he waved away her concern. ‘I’m fine,’ he said. ‘That’s what Snoopy was doing? Finding a reason to break up the unit – one that our top brass would find palatable.’

‘Seems so.’

‘Van Zyl will never go for it,’ Poe said.

Edward van Zyl was the director of intelligence. He was protective of SCAS, saw it as the jewel in his crown despite everyone else telling him it was the turd in his swimming pool.

‘This was decided at ministerial level, Poe. There was nothing he or anyone else in the NCA could do. They said SCAS has done remarkable work, but as a resource it is an unjustified expense while extremism remains the country’s dominant threat. That type of shit.’

‘I’ll bloody kill him. I don’t care which office in Thames House the snivelling little shit’s cowering in, I’ll find Snoopy, and I’ll bloody—’

‘Jolly good, Poe,’ Doyle nipped in. ‘Maybe wait until your arse isn’t hanging out of a surgical gown though? And while murdering a member of the security services would undoubtedly improve your current predicament, Stephanie tells me that Linus wasn’t the problem in the end.’

‘He wasn’t?’

‘No,’ Flynn conceded. ‘He met with me and Van Zyl and explained that, while any dirt he was able to dig up would undoubtedly be useful in achieving their objective, his primary reason was to undertake a field evaluation of Tilly’s capabilities.’

‘Which she passed, of course?’

‘It was deciphering Cornelius Green’s tattoos that clinched it. He said he’d never seen anything like it. Hadn’t even heard of anything like it. The security services can’t move for codebreakers, but because of the work we’ve done together over the last few years, Tilly can now adapt mathematical theorems to real-world applications. They don’t have anyone who can think like that.’

‘I didn’t know I was being tested!’ Bradshaw protested. ‘How could I?’

‘It’s not your fault, Tilly,’ Poe said. ‘We should have seen this coming. You hacked an MoD laptop in under two minutes a few years ago; of course they were casting envious eyes in your direction.’

‘That was mentioned,’ Flynn said.

‘What did Snoopy do after Tilly passed his field evaluation?’

‘He wrote his report, and while it said that in moments of extreme national security Tilly should be seconded to the security services, the best use of her talents right now is with SCAS. He recommended no further action be taken. It seems you won him over.’

‘I imagine that was mainly Tilly,’ Poe said. ‘I was occasionally abrupt with him.’

‘Oh pur-lease!’ Bradshaw said. ‘You were rude to him every single day, Poe! If you weren’t calling him Snoopy you were calling him your intern. And you left him in Keswick when he went to get us some hot drinks.’

‘No, he liked Poe too, Tilly,’ Flynn said. ‘He told me he’s never seen anyone so focused on getting to the truth. He said Poe has a knack for provoking a reaction, and if more of their agents were like him, the security level would never get above moderate.’

‘What happened then?’ Poe said. ‘If Snoop . . . if Linus recommended no further action be taken, why is the unit being disbanded?’

‘It seems the decision had already been made,’ Flynn said. ‘He was only there to justify it.’

‘What am I missing?’ Poe said. ‘This isn’t Soviet-era East Germany and MI5 aren’t the Stasi. National security or not, Tilly can’t be compelled to work for them.’

‘That’s what I said!’ Bradshaw said. ‘I didn’t want to work for them. I don’t want to work for them. I think they’re slippery fish and I told them to go and boil an egg.’

‘I assume they made a counter offer?’

Bradshaw flushed red again. Twice in one lifetime, Poe thought. Things must be bad.

Flynn answered for her. ‘They used Tilly’s loyalty against her,’ she said.