Part Thirty Three   "Tamara Smart 003½"

 

 
Thursday 19th February (Continued)
 

As more police arrived any panic was subdued and the public dissipated. Sandy Franklin ushered her troupe of performers back towards the library, just outside the cordon that the police were establishing. Tanya tried to phone her mum, as did Josie, but neither phone had a signal. John Hibbert, who hadn't made it to the library on time, now joined the group. He was in costume but not made up, Tanya took delight in enhancing his features, perhaps it was too much delight?

"Tanya, leave him to me! You don't know how to do boys!"

"Joanne, he's my boy, my man, my husband to be, and I'll do anything I like to him!"

"Including making a mockery of him?! Come here John."

Tanya reluctantly let John go and tried her phone again, although the result was the same. By now almost everyone had realised that every mobile network seemed down.

"Well, Miss Smarty Pants, what could have caused this?" Tanya had her hands on her hips and was staring at Tammy. Because they were in character as Maria and Anita this looked like a stage direction to others present. Josie giggled.

"If the police have any sense, they will have disabled all mobiles so a phone can't be used to trigger a device."

"How would you know this?"

"I read it in the papers, it happens all the time in London when there's an incident. Apparently on 7/7/05 every mobile network right across London went off for several hours. If they could do that ten years ago then just imagine what they can do now?"

"Where's your own phone?"

"In my bag. No point checking it, is there?"

Sandy suggested they rehearsed some of the songs as they hadn't had time prior to going to the shop that morning. The rehearsal would also occupy them and possibly attract some of the displaced public into the normally quiet building. They had time for three songs before Sandy disappeared, returning from the back room.

"There's a phone ringing back there, it's in a black shoulder bag."

"That's mine." Tammy rushed to the room, found her phone but realised she'd missed the call. She hit the dial button and called the number back as she walked towards the others, her bag over her shoulder.

"Hello?"

"Oh Hi Tammy, it's Sophie. This line is not secure but are you near the incident site?"

"Hi Sophie, yes. I have a few people here wondering why my phone is working and theirs' isn't."

"The networks have been disabled, oh it's an access thing. Anyway, we had some info come to us this morning, the device is not in the shop it's the apartment above it."

"Oh, but why would they do that?"

"Has work started yet to make it habitable?"

"No." How did Sophie know that?

"Good, can you let one of the local CID officers know and give them a key so they don't bust the lock? The search team should be there shortly?"

"I can hear a chopper, I think it's landing by the quay."

"Okay, pass that on please."

"Will do, bye."

Everyone was now looking at Tammy.

"Look, I have keys to the building and I've been asked to let the police into the flat above the shop. I don't know why my phone's working. Got to go."

Tammy didn't wait for the ninety nine questions so just walked briskly out of the library and up to the police roadblock. A Constable stopped her.

"Sorry Miss, you can't go any further."

"I've been told to speak to a CID officer." She was still holding her phone.

"I was informed all the phones were off."

"I have a special arrangement obviously. Is DC Franklin nearby? It's urgent!"

The Constable reluctantly called Ben Franklin on the radio, realising that he hadn't taken Tammy's name. That wasn't needed in the end as the DC was within sight and running towards her.

"What is it Tammy?"

"I had a call from some people, the device is in the flat above the shop, I have the key." She fished the set, which included shop keys, out of her bag.

"Thanks, was there any other intel?"

"Not yet."

Another set of sirens heralded a bomb search team being driven from their helicopter to the site.

Ben rushed away; the uniformed constable stood there for a moment then instructed Tammy, regardless of anything she might say, that she had to go back to where she had come from. She thought about calling Sophie back but realised there was probably no new information available. She pondered, was this another of Heather's tests, although evacuating a town centre was going a bit far.

Sandy restarted the rehearsal, repeating the original three songs several times.

Ben reappeared at the library at midday and asked if he could speak to Tammy privately, Sandy pointed to her office at the back of the main hall.

"Where did your intel come from?"

"A friend in counter terrorism."

"Why to you?"

"Because I own the building and could well be the target."

"You? Hmmm, can you call them back?"

"Yes, but it's not a secure line."

"Be sensible then, do you have access to a secure line?"

"At the house."

"I might have guessed! Okay, make the call."

Tammy called the same number back.

"Hi Tammy, did they get the keys?"

"Yes, I guess the search team has gone in? I'm not allowed near the building but I have DC Ben Franklin with me."

"How much does he know?"

"I'm aware that he did a report on me for my clearance and was previously in Special Branch. I think he's put two and two together."

"Okay, I guess you want to know if you're the target?"

"Of course."

"The answer to that one is probably not."

"Probably?"

"That's right, if our intel is correct. It seems that there is no target as such, it is to obliterate what is up there. According to our source that's easier than trying to remove it."

"What source?"

"We can't discuss that on this line, call us when you get home."

"Sure, bye."

She cut the line. "Did you hear all of that?"

"Yes, and thanks. I now have a problem, I can't pass this on without saying the origin of the information."

"Or why my phone worked when it was supposed to be off?"

"That one's easy, your phone is in one of the higher groups so it's probably ranked the same as a civil emergency volunteer. I can't check so we'll just assume you don't have the top access."

"I am a fire warden at the school because I'm a prefect?"

"It's a silly answer but it'll keep most from asking questions. Now, what is up there? "

"I intended to offer it to John and Tanya this week, but a little fun and games got out of hand so I'm holding back."

"It might take some time for the teams to search properly."

"Making a mess I guess, Sarah and the various shop-fitters didn't find anything though."

"There probably wasn't anything in the shop area to find. I best get going."

His radio sprang into life, confirming they had found and disarmed the device, which was reportedly an incendiary; their next job was to remove it safely. The detective left immediately, Tammy walked back to her friends and decided to speak first, stalling any questioning.

"John, are your folks here?"

"Yes, they arrived yesterday and it was a late night."

"Any chance I could meet them, it's been a while?"

"Sure, one lunchtime? They're staying at the Central Hotel."

"Thanks, Saturday perhaps?"

"I'll let them know, they want to meet Tanya and her mum later today."

"Best behaviour then, does Sandy know?"

"Yes, I spoke to her yesterday and promised there would be no more shenanigans, but do you want to know the weirdest thing? She didn't know that Tanya was on th.... Ouch!"

Tammy smiled, while Tanya snarled at her fiancé. John was holding his face where she'd struck him, unsure whether to just walk away. That was answered a moment later.

"I'm sorry darling, sorry, I didn't mean it, really. Let me kiss it better!"

"Get a room!" Went the chorus from all around.

By one o'clock Sandy received the all clear. "Come on everyone, we can go back."

A few minutes later they re-assembled for a very diminished crowd and started up 'Something's Coming' again. Gradually the shoppers returned, by now they were on their second number. Tanya sang 'I Feel Pretty', while nearby a policeman was telling Sarah she was allowed to re-open the store, the search dogs having already left.

Inside, almost everything had been moved so Sarah and Emily set about tidying before allowing trade inside. Tammy wanted to help but was needed for the songs, to which her and Tanya were acting the relevant moves. That earned a good round of applause just before Sarah re-opened the door.

They continued into a third song, 'America'. Many of the audience knew some of the words, the chorus anyway, so joined in. By now the press had returned and were recording the scene. Sandy suggested they did a fourth song, one which they hadn't rehearsed at all but original cast members from the December production had sufficient recall to do 'Tonight'.

As they finished, Sandy took centre.

"Thank you everyone for what was, I'm sure, a memorable event! I'd like to thank members of the Mill Theatre for reprising their roles from December including a few extra who were press-ganged to be here today." That earned a laugh. "They are all in Macbeth which opens on the first of May. Tickets go on sale today. Thank you, they will now sing 'A Boy Like That' with Tamara Smart and Tanya Smith on lead vocals.

That was a surprise to everyone, but Tammy and Tanya remembered the words, even without backing. The others cooed at the right moments. The applause was incredible as the troupe took their bows and curtsies before leaving their stage.

***

Tammy had changed and applied fresh makeup when Sandy came looking for her.

"Your father's here, and my husband is waiting for you."

"Thanks Sandy, I hope we did well today?"

"That you did, it justifies the original casting. I just hope you'll be free for the next musical?"

"I really don't know. The earliest is the autumn I reckon."

"Well, I'll drop you an email when we have some rough plans."

"Thanks, I best get going."

Richard and Ben walked Tammy around to the flat and up the stairs. If it had been a mess before it was now a disaster area.

"What was found?"

"Drugs. Apparently there was so great a risk of discovery they took the choice to burn the building."

"Why not just remove the drugs?"

"It was hidden in wall panels and under floorboards, the noise would have been noticed downstairs. It was all about gang rivalry, your place had been used as a store and another gang didn't like the idea apparently."

"Dad, we didn't change the lock did we?"

"Only the shop keys, I'll have a locksmith here this afternoon. DC Franklin, how do you think the bomb was planted?"

"Mr Smart, I told Tammy we had seen some undesirables in the area at night so they were possibly checking the place out before breaking in."

"Breaking in with a key, that suggests the previous owners?"

"Yes, Tammy, did you buy from them?"

"No, the bank seized it and we bought it from the bank. I don't think we were ever told who owned it?"

Richard shrugged, "it was a shell company registered in Guernsey with J Smith and A Brown as directors. I wouldn't trust that information one bit."

"I'm sure we can find out a bit more Mr Smart, in the meantime please don't come up here as they'll want to search it again."

"So you don't want the locks changed?"

"Not unless you want the door busted down! I'm sure we'll fit a camera to check for unwelcome visitors."

"Ben, Sarah has four very discrete cameras front and back, all have infra-red as well. Maybe they captured the images?"

"Thanks for that, I'll pass it on."

It was half one when they reached the car and decided to go home instead of eating in town. Lunch was served by Leanne who was very contrite and said the minimal necessary. Tammy wanted to speak to Richard alone so suggested they walked to the barn to see how work was doing on the conversion.

"Have you spoken to Leanne?"

"No, I spoke to Julie and she's dealt with her sister. I wanted to suspend her, or even sack her for inappropriate behaviour but Julie convinced me that Leanne would behave."

"But those feelings she said she had, what about those?"

"Were you attracted to her?"

"No, but I respected her and was thankful when she stayed with me after my operation."

"So her feelings were misplaced, Julie seems to think Leanne was infatuated because she thought you felt the same way."

"Will you still speak to her?"

"Yes, later today."

"I don't want to lose her, she's very good as what she does."

"I agree but she must not become personally involved with anyone here."

"I agree."

"Now, what do you think about a wind turbine? A pair could provide our power requirements most days."

"What about the solar panels?"

"We keep them but we have the option to charge the main batteries from the turbines instead."

"So we're covered on a sunny day or a windy day?"

"Yes, and there's more windy ones than sunny ones up here!"

"What about permission, Dad?"

"I'll need planning permission but we can keep them fairy low, say fifteen metres."

"That would clear the roof of the house."

"That's right."

"What about noise?"

"Many of them use dampeners but we'll site them past the barn anyway."

"Where's Angela, by the way?"

"In bed with a lousy cold, weren't you told this morning?"

"No, but I was trying to get ready for today's opening and thought she'd breakfasted while I was reading the song lyrics. I also got to cut the ribbon, that was a surprise."

"I was there, with Elsie. She provided the ribbon."

"I thought I recognised it."

"Come on, I need a coffee."

***

Tammy waited until she'd finished her coffee before letting herself into the study and dialling a number in Cornwall.

"Hi Tammy."

"Hi Sophie, thanks for letting me know about that as it saved a busted lock."

"No problem, we also wanted to get some intel to the guys on the ground without having to go through all the usual channels, which takes time. When your name came up on an intelligence search, it was referred to Jenny who put it through to us to act as liaison. Having said that, it took a number of hops to identity you as owner as it was TS Property Ltd, trading as Tamara Smart Property, on the Land Registry database, the company being based in Jersey."

"Jersey? Blame my father for that. So far as contacting me directly instead of through local Police, doesn't it put me in an awkward position?"

"Yes it does, sorry, we forget that you haven't had any training with this sort of thing."

"What bombings?"

"No, people asking questions!"

"Sure."

"Anyway, I'm told you did good and the fall-out is minimal. We had to bump up the authority on your phone though."

"That was questioned, how high?"

"To the top."

"That might be really difficult to handle? It's one thing with a group of people I know, especially this far North, but might be different amongst strangers who know about this sort of thing."

"Again, training helps. I understand you spoke to Jenny?"

"Yes, is she like that with everyone?"

Sophie laughed. "She's had a go at me a few times as well, so don't take it personally. She is very good at what she does, I just can't tell you too much before you report for induction."

"This is getting serious?"

"It was serious two months ago, the powers that be have decided you need training and a good cover story."

"Cover story? This isn't a Bond movie!"

"No, but you have to be sufficiently confident when you return to Thurso to start your degree course, to able to brush off queries about any extra activities."

"Now I have visions of every spy film I've ever seen, starting with 'The Ipcress File'!"

Sophie laughed. "I think you'll find that it's mostly waiting around, listening, watching and reading. Heather knows it's the reading bit that occupies her much of the time."

"Oh."

"You sound disappointed? Please don't think that you'll be put in any danger deliberately, that's not what we normally do. Anyway, it's been an eventful day and I ought to get moving."

"Wait Sophie, you haven't told me where the threat come from?"

"Okay, we had a tip-off from a colleague in Devon and Cornwall Constabulary several weeks ago about a boat that was now coming into Scrabster with drugs ready for distribution and that someone else already supplied that area, creating rivalry. Apparently it's a supply that's been displaced from down this way. That much we knew already, so there was already surveillance in place, but the store wasn't identified before today. We didn't know about the bomb until someone got worried about the number of people who would be there and phoned it in, giving us the missing bits of the puzzle."

"Thanks for that, I take it I can't say anything?"

"Correct."

"Bye, give my regards to Heather."

"I will, bye."