Free THE THESEUS PARADOX: The stunning breakthrough thriller based on real events, from the Scotland Yard detective turned author. by David Videcette Page B

likely to spot them eventually and change her behaviour.
    So rather than tailing her day and night on foot themselves, they were putting a high-tech lump on her Honda Civic to track her movements.
    Jake had tried to source the exact equivalent of Salma Khan’s red Civic himself through the car-trade magazines, but he’d been unsuccessful. There was no time to waste and it was a hurdle that was beginning to get in the way of the investigation – so he’d turned to long-time informant and notorious bad boy Zarshad Ali.

20
    Thursday
    14 July 2005
    0345 hours
    Dewsbury, West Yorkshire
    Jake had known Zarshad Ali for the past five years – since his days on the Organised Crime Group.
    Zarshad had been a key informant of his on a major car-ringing investigation.
    The tentacles of the network Jake had been investigating stretched across Europe, the Baltics and Russia. Zarshad had been in charge of locating particular models of UK-based cars that the gang wanted to steal. He’d fronted up as a used-car dealer, trading from his council flat in Chelsea – when really he was a high-tech, vehicle-theft expert living the high life off the lucrative proceeds of his activities.
    Stolen cars had simply been a commodity for the gang; a low-risk cash cow for financing other illicit activities. Zarshad had been a small part of it, but an invaluable source of information to Jake.
    When they’d been struggling to source an identical car to practise with up in West Yorkshire, Zarshad had been the name that had immediately leapt into Jake’s head.
    The phone call a week ago had been short and sweet. The best type for an informant handler in Jake’s book.
    ‘Zarshad, it’s Jake. You OK?’
    ‘Yes, guv’nor – what’s up?’ Zarshad had sounded surprised by Jake’s call.
    ‘Nothing’s up. I need a car, need you to locate one for me urgently. But I want a legit car with full UK paperwork, not nicked. You’re not authorised to steal one – do you understand?’
    Registered informants could be authorised by the police to break the law. You had to be crystal clear with them what you wanted, otherwise it could quickly end in tears.
    ‘Course I understand, guv’nor. What car you after?’
    ‘I need a 2001 Honda Civic, five door, 1.6i VTEC SE.’
    ‘Fuck me – that’s a bit specific, ain’t it? That’s the sort of order I get off the bad boys when they have dodgy paperwork for a motor. What do you want that for?’
    Car manufacturers made minor changes to their model line-ups. You had to get the exact same type and year of car, otherwise the chances were that the spot in which you wanted to place the lump might not be there, or would be filled with a bracket you weren’t expecting.
    Jake ignored Zarshad’s request for information about why he needed the car. ‘Look, I need it by the end of this week. There’s £500 in it for you, plus the cost of the car.’
    ‘End of the fucking week! That’s two days away… you must be having a fuckin’ giraffe?’
    ‘Do you want me to give the five hundred quid to someone else, Zarshad?’
    ‘Nah, nah, nah. Alright. Leave it with me.’
    Zarshad had come up trumps and had an identical car by the following morning. It had cost the Branch £5,000, plus Zarshad’s £500. The practice model was now safely back in a secure garage at West Yorkshire Police HQ in Wakefield, where John the walker had spent hours practising fitting the lump on it, in readiness for the real thing.
    ‘Looks good. Coast is clear. You’re good to go – OP over,’ Jake spoke into a radio mike in his hand. The lead from the mike led up the inside of his jumper sleeve to a hidden radio unit in a special covert harness on his body.
    ‘Received. I’m go, go, go now,’ John said into an identical radio unit several streets away. The message reverberated in Jake’s covert earpiece.
    John and Spike came into view as they rounded the corner from the top of the road. Both seemed at ease. The street was clear. It