Chameleon - A City of London Thriller (4 page)

***

The
Chameleon’s quick search of the Internet revealed the venue and
timetable for the UN Conference
Ending
Slavery, Ending Poverty
. It was to be held
in the magnificent Westminster Hall, which had hosted the Pope
during his state visit to the UK in September 2010. The Conference
would run from Wednesday to Friday, with sessions from nine in the
morning to five in the afternoon each day. The Chameleon noted that
there were also numerous receptions, where attendees could wring
their hands and concern themselves with the problems of the poor as
they quaffed champagne and ate smoked salmon.

The section of
the website dealing with the history of the medieval hall was
interesting, however. Commenced in 1097 under William II, the son
of William the Conqueror, it was completed two years later. It is
said that the King had conceived the project to impress his new
subjects with his power and the majesty of his authority. The hall
must have impressed the twelfth century serfs, because it impressed
a cynical assassin in the twenty first century.

When it was
finished, the Hall was by far the largest hall in England at that
time, and probably in Europe. Measuring seventy three metres by
twenty, it boasted a floor area covering one thousand five hundred
and seventy four square metres, with a length of almost four
cricket pitches end-to-end. Remarkably, for the time, it needed no
intermediate columns to support the beautifully ornate arched roof
timbers. With stained glass windows all around, the largest and
most impressive was the South Window, which is relatively new, the
old window having been destroyed during the Blitz. The big arched
window is inlaid with the coats of arms and monograms of famous
parliamentarians, and lists the ones who gave their lives in two
World Wars.

This type of
large open and unrestricted floor area was usually good news for
assassins, but there is such a thing as being too open. The
Chameleon noted from photographs that when the hall was laid out
for conferences the steps that take up the South End of the hall
are used for the presentations. The stone steps effectively form a
raised platform on three levels, which is ideal for allowing the
speakers to be seen from the floor of the hall. But because the
hall provided very little cover, and was not ideal for snipers, the
Chameleon would only strike during the conference if all else
failed.

The first of
three encrypted messages arrived at the Chameleon’s inbox,
[email protected],
and the recipient immediately began to make notes and plan
the next seventy hours.

The conference
program noted that the troublesome Victoria Hokobu was due to speak
from the raised podium at ten o’clock on Thursday morning, and the
client’s view was that if she was still speaking fifteen minutes
later it would be too late; the damage would have been done. The
Chameleon doodled on a lined pad while thinking; the words
read:

‘
Violets are
blue,

Roses are
red

Mrs.
Hokobu

Will soon be
dead’

Catchy, but
probably not one of our bestsellers, the Chameleon
thought.

Chapter
5

Vastrick
Security, No 1 Poultry, London, Monday Noon.

Whilst the
Chameleon was planning how to end Victoria Hokobu’s life, Geordie
and Dee were working just as hard to preserve it.

At the
client’s request, Dee had secured a Mercedes S Class Pullman Guard
bulletproof saloon car with invisible armour, meaning that from the
outside the car looks like any other production model. Nonetheless
it has a larger engine, bullet resistant glass, a full armour
plated pan protecting the underside of the car, further armour in
the doors with the engine and radiator being protected against
light arms fire by Kevlar shielding. The car also sported ‘drive
flat’ tyres. Geordie was picking the car up from
Exotic Cars of Longford Ltd
, on Bath Road, near Heathrow Airport. They had been lucky to
get the Mercedes at short notice, because such hire cars are very
rare in London.

Dee was
handling the accommodation. This was a little easier to arrange,
because in London there are a number of expensive apartment
buildings with extensive security arrangements and full time
guards. A few even have permits allowing trained personnel to
access handguns, which the police insist are kept in secure
cabinets on the premises. Dee had rented an apartment from a
regular supplier; the apartment was on the sixth floor of Parnell
House on Oakley Street in Kensington. The secure car park could
only be accessed through gates operated from the CCTV
room.

Dee Hammond’s
task was to ensure that between now and Mrs Hokobu’s presentation
to the conference, she spent as much time as possible either in the
bulletproof car or the secure apartment.

***

Over the
years, clients had often baulked at the security arrangements made
to keep them safe, arguing that they could hide away behind
impenetrable walls on their own, and that the reason they hired
Vastrick was so that they didn’t have to be isolated. Victoria
Hokobu had made the same point. She was making her first visit
outside Africa with her husband, and she wanted to enjoy
London.

Geordie was
not too concerned about showing the couple around the sights of
London. He decided that he would simply choose the destinations
randomly, so that no-one following would know where he was heading
next. The car was a silver S Class Mercedes, of which there were
thousands in the City, and so it would be relatively anonymous. In
any case, Geordie was well trained in anti-surveillance techniques
and he could spot a tail and lose it in London with
ease.

But that was a
problem for tomorrow, because the African couple were yawning every
few minutes, having not slept at all during their twelve-hour
flight from Bangui. All they wanted now was to go to their
apartment, have English fish and chips, and watch British
television until they fell asleep. Geordie offered to stay
overnight with them, as their second bedroom would be far larger
and more luxurious than his budget hotel room, and he would be on
expenses.

Consequently,
by early afternoon Geordie was driving the Mercedes in the
direction of
Fryers Tuck
In
, a fish and chip takeaway on the Kings
Road, less than half a mile from the apartment. Gentle snoring was
coming from the back seat, where both of his passengers were out
for the count and leaning against each other.

They would
soon wake up when they smelled cod and chips three times with salt,
vinegar and mushy peas, Geordie thought, smiling.

Chapter
6

Celebrato
Offices, Spital Square, London, Monday 4pm.

The Chameleon
printed out the encrypted file that had been sent by email. One of
the reasons the Maratis were good customers was that their
background information was always thorough, no doubt obtained by
bribery and torture. Another reason that they were good to work for
was that their targets were usually evil, low profile, unguarded
and accessible.

The final
reason that the Chameleon accepted the assignment was that someone
very senior at MI5 had initially referred the Maratis to the
Chameleon with the old code words. This meant that, in the view of
that individual at least, the assassinations were probably in the
UK’s national interest.

The notes in
the extensive file explained that Victoria Hokobu had promised her
head of security, Vincent Utembo, that she would seek protection
when she landed in London. Vincent had told her that he would sleep
more easily if she travelled in an armoured vehicle. She promised
him she would follow his instructions. That was almost the last
promise he received.

Utembo had
received one final promise from the policemen who had shot him dead
two hours ago. It was:

“
Tell us all
you know about the Hokobus’ trip to London and we will spare the
lives of your wife and children.”

The
photographs of the carnage in the humble stone built house were a
testament to the emptiness of that promise.

The Chameleon
could not know which security company the Hokobu woman would
contact, but whoever she approached would need to hire in one of
the half dozen bulletproof cars available for hire in the Home
Counties. They would probably hire it today and keep it until after
the Hokobus’ flight back on Friday.

***

The Chameleon
made the fifth and final call to determine who was hiring armoured
cars at the last minute; this call was to Exotic Cars of Longford,
one of the few companies listed as suppliers of Protective Cars for
hire. This last call would ensure that all of London’s specialist
car hire companies had been contacted.

“
Exotic Cars,
Alexander speaking.”

“
Alexander, I
hope that you can help me. This is Highgate Protection Services and
we need to hire a bulletproof car as soon as possible.”

“
I’m sorry;
I’ve just hired out the last armoured Mercedes.”

“
Damn! Was it
the wine coloured S Class shown on your website?”

“
No, it was
the silver S Class on the next page. When do you need it? It is due
back on Friday night, so if you need it for the weekend...”
Alexander offered hopefully.

“
That would
be ideal; can I book it tomorrow when the boss gets
back?”

“
Sure, that
would be fine.”

“
OK, until
tomorrow. Oh, just one more thing; the car that you just hired out
wasn’t booked by our sister company Douglas Protection Services in
the Isle of Man, by any chance?”

“
No, I’m
afraid not. A guy from Vastrick Security picked it up.”

“
OK. Thanks,
Alexander, I’ll call back tomorrow,” the Chameleon lied, hanging up
the phone.

This was by
far the most likely candidate, and so a minute or two later the
Vastrick website was showing on the Celebrato computer screen and
the contact number listed was being dialled.

“
Vastrick
Security, Andy speaking.”

“
Hello there.
I am calling from the UN Ending Slavery, Ending Poverty, organising
committee. Could I speak to Victoria Hokobi please?”

If Katie, the
usual receptionist, had answered the phone she would have blurted
out that Mrs Hokobu was the correct pronunciation, and that she had
just left, but Andy was a little wilier. He suspected someone was
fishing for information.

“
I’m afraid I
don’t know anyone of that name. Are you sure you wanted Vastrick
Security?”

“
Yes, quite
sure. That’s odd. When we parted at Heathrow this morning after
flying in from Bangui she said she was coming to see you. I do hope
that she is OK.”

“
Well, she
doesn’t have an appointment, but if she does call on us do you have
a message for her?”

“
Yes, I do.
Could you please tell her that we will do a sound check at eight
o’clock on Thursday morning before she speaks at ten?”

“
I’m sure
that Mrs Hokobu is fine, and if she should happen to turn up at our
door, I will be sure to pass on the message.”

The Chameleon
smiled and put down the phone. It had seemed at first as though
Vastrick was a dead end, but the young man on the phone confirmed
the Chameleon’s suspicions when he pronounced her name Huckooboo,
whereas the Chameleon had deliberately, but mistakenly, referred to
her as Mrs Hokobi.

Chapter
7

Vastrick
Security, No 1, Poultry, London, Monday 5pm.

Andy tapped on
Dee’s office door and stepped inside. Dee motioned for him to take
a seat whilst she finished typing a sentence on her computer. Andy
watched her; she was a little shorter than his five feet ten inch
frame, perhaps by a couple of inches. She was athletically built
but she had the curves of a real woman. Her face was framed by
flowing auburn hair that settled on her shoulders. Her hair shone
with good health, or with good conditioner, or both. Dee wore
little make up in the office but her facial beauty was defined by
her finely sculpted cheekbones and her pretty nose. It was hard to
believe that she was so tough.

“
Well, Andy,”
Dee smiled, and he felt a mellow warmth pass through him. “She’s a
married woman now,” ran through his mind in an unspoken mantra, as
he concentrated on the matter in hand.

“
I took a
call, allegedly from the UN Conference organisers, who were
confirming a sound check for Mrs Hokobu on Thursday morning. I told
them that we were unaware of anyone of that name but said that if
she contacted us we would pass on the message.”

“
Well done.
It could have been a fishing exercise,” Dee mused.

“
It was. I
rang the organisers but they told me they don’t have sound checks
for individual speakers.”

“
The press
trying for an exclusive, do you think? Or perhaps something more
sinister?”

“
I don’t
believe it was the press, but I’ve listened to the tapes again. The
caller referred to the client as Mrs Hokobi, but later in the
conversation I’m afraid I called her Mrs Hokobu. They must know she
is our client now.”