Go Out With A Bang! Read Free

asked, 'Was it intentional that it covered part of the
main building?'
    'Err, not
really. As long as it covered the car park entrance, anything else
was a bonus.'
    Crowe
asked, 'Mr Ripply. Doesn't your security company do monitored
alarms?'
    'Of
course. But it was work in progress. These things take time to set
up properly. Prior to my company coming on the scene, the people
working on the building were responsible for security. Once they
had nearly completed the job, we were called in and we agreed with
the building owners to install our security systems in the time
between the building completion and the company occupying the
place. Because neither the car park or main building were in use,
they decided it was okay not to be monitored, as long as we were up
and running when they were in use.'
    Morris
sighed with frustration. 'I suppose nobody was going to steal cars
from an empty car park, or break into an empty building. Food for
thought for the future, Mr Ripply.'
    'I'll not
be caught out like that again, that's for sure.' Feeling a little
hot under the collar, Ripply turned his attention to the screen
again. 'Wow. Did you see that?'
    'Play it
again, Sam,' said Andersen.
    'Here we
go,' said Ripply. 'There, see? Somebody comes out of the shadows.
He has a ski mask on. What's that he's doing?'
    Morris
said, 'He's using some kind of a grappling hook with a line with
footholds in. How high up was the camera?'
    'About
four metres from the ground,' said Ripply. 'Fixed to the main steel
lintel of the entrance. The box was bracketed just
inside.'
    Andersen
said, 'That line and hook was exactly the right length to get him
to the camera. It was made just for that one job. Now he's putting
plastic explosives on the camera. It'll be detonated remotely. See?
He's back on the ground. Got the hook and line down. See that in
his hand? He intends to take out the camera with it. Any
second...boom. Camera gone.'
    'Wouldn't
somebody have heard something?' Ripply asked.
    'It was a
small amount of explosives,' said Morris. 'More of a dull thud,
than a bang. Just the perfect amount to blow out the
camera.'
    'Top
professionals,' said Crowe.
    'So the
building blowing up was just an accident?' said Andersen. 'So what
went wrong? How come the main building blew up?'
    Morris
said, 'We may never have the answer to that one.'
    Andersen
said, 'Thanks for bringing this in, Mr Ripply. That's all for
now.'
    Ripply
stood up to go. 'Glad to help.' He went to the door, paused and
said, 'This isn't down to me or my company. We still had a couple
of days to have a monitored system. If you don't believe me, check
with the owners.'
    Andersen
said, 'For what it's worth, don't beat yourself up over this.
Nobody is looking in your direction. The gang who did this would
have found a way around any security system. You may want to learn
from this experience, though. We'll hang on to the disc. Good
evening, Mr Ripply.'
    Ripply
took some comfort from Andersen's comments. He forced a tired
smile, nodded and left the room. The detectives played the
recording over and over, hoping to get something useful from it,
but got nothing. They called it a night, to be fresh for the next
day.
     

Chapter 5
    'Poppy.
Sorry I couldn't get here sooner.'
    'Oh,
Uncle Bernie,' said Poppy, hugging her silver haired uncle. I'm
worried sick. Where is he? Where has he gone?'
    'I've
honestly no idea. He's missing from work, too. His input would be
useful right now, but he's simply vanished. He's lucky I've got his
back. Anyone else would be facing disciplinary action by now,
taking time out without giving the necessary notice. Even I can't
cover for him indefinitely. I'm sorry, but I have to ask this. Have
you two had some kind of row?'
    Poppy
shook her head. 'No. Nothing. We were fine. But...'
    'Out with
it.'
    'A day or
so before he disappeared, he went sort of moody.'
    'Oh? In
an angry way?'
    Poppy
shook her head. Bernie could see from her reddened eyes how much
crying his niece had been