Blackstone and the Endgame Read Free

believe that you are an honourable man and that he can trust you.’
    Blackstone’s mind sifted through the names of all the Germans he had had dealings with over the years and attempted to isolate any who might conceivably have ended up in the German navy.
    â€˜What’s the man’s name?’ he asked.
    â€˜He is known to us as Max.’
    â€˜Max what?’
    â€˜No more than that – simply Max.’
    Blackstone gasped.
    â€˜So you’re prepared to hand over twenty-five thousand pounds to a man you don’t know, on the basis of the one piece of information he’s already given you?’ he asked incredulously.
    â€˜That is the decision that has been taken,’ Brigham said stonily. ‘Here are Max’s instructions. This afternoon, you will go to Harrods department store, where you will purchase a leather attaché case and—’
    â€˜Max said that explicitly, did he?’ Blackstone asked. ‘He wants
me
to purchase the case?’
    â€˜Yes, that is what he said.’
    â€˜But why does it matter
who
buys the case?’
    â€˜That’s of no importance,’ Brigham said airily.
    Meaning, ‘I’ve absolutely no idea why it matters,’ Blackstone translated in his head.
    â€˜Has Max laid down what size or make of attaché case I should buy?’ he asked aloud.
    â€˜No. He seems happy enough to leave the choice to you.’
    â€˜So he insists that I buy it and that it’s bought from Harrods, but he doesn’t care what kind of attaché case it is,’ Blackstone said, to make sure he’d got it quite right.
    â€˜You are allowing yourself to get bogged down in details,’ Brigham said irritably. ‘I, on the other hand, am able to focus on the bigger picture – which is perhaps why I am a superintendent and you are a mere inspector.’
    It was the little details that
made up
the big picture, Blackstone thought – but he said nothing.
    â€˜You will take the case to the corner of Denmark Street and Cable Street, arriving at midnight on the dot,’ Brigham continued. ‘There, you will be handed the twenty-five thousand pounds, which you will put into the case. After that, you will proceed to the Western Dock, where you will meet Max.’
    â€˜It’s a big place, the Western Dock,’ Blackstone said, almost whimsically. ‘Is there any particular part of it in which the meeting is supposed to take place?’
    â€˜Max would not say. You are to go to the dock, and he will find you. You will hand him the money, he will give you the documents, and then you may return to the job you are best suited for – which is chasing petty criminals.’
    Well, if it had to done, then at least he could make sure it was done properly, Blackstone thought.
    â€˜I would like my own man, Sergeant Patterson, on the team that’s covering my back,’ he said. ‘In fact, I shall insist on it.’
    â€˜You’re in no position to
insist
on anything,’ Brigham told him. ‘Besides, there will
be
no team.’
    â€˜What!’
    â€˜One of the conditions that Max has laid down is that you go in alone. He has made it crystal clear that if there are any police officers within five streets of the docks, he will not make the exchange.’
    â€˜So there won’t even be any coppers guarding the dock gates?’
    â€˜When I said
any
police officers, I meant, of course, any officers who would not normally be in the area at that time,’ Brigham said, stung. ‘Max accepts the need to maintain the officers on the gates, but he has specified that the only thing they should be told is that when you appear, they are to allow you to enter the dock.’
    â€˜For their own protection, they should be warned there could be trouble,’ Blackstone said.
    â€˜There will be no trouble,’ Brigham said confidently. ‘We want the plans that Max has in his possession,