Graham waited at Jubilee Gardens for John to show up; he was becoming nervous about his meeting with John at this place. It was too regular and regular habits were easy to spot. He was convinced that sooner or later he would be followed by some of his undercover colleagues. He wouldn’t know any of them by sight as he didn’t know who did what in the field; his was a specialist role and a bit divorced from what they were doing. John walked towards him and without stopping carried on past Graham as though he didn’t exist. Graham was savvy enough not to respond and leaned on the riverbank wall looking into the murky Thames waters. Graham thought, ‘John has spotted that I’m probably being watched,’ they had previously agreed a backup plan. Graham took a packed sandwich from his raincoat pocket and sat on a nearby bench. For all who might be interested, he was having a leisurely late lunch away from the office.
Earlier as John approached the gardens, he noticed two men taking a particular interest in Graham. One of the men discreetly spoke into a lapel microphone so John was alerted to who they might be. He walked straight past Graham and then on to where Mrs Bishop and her friends were tending the garden. ‘Hello, Mrs Bishop how are you today?’ John asked in a reasonably loud voice. He helped her up from her kneeling pad and winked at her. In a very soft voice he said, ‘we have two interested observers Mrs Bishop, so please act natural and don’t make any reference to my friend sitting on the bench eating his sandwich.’
‘Of course John,’ she smiled knowingly, ‘I’m very well thank you,’ she said in her normal chirpy way. And how have you been keeping?’
They engaged in small talk until they saw that Graham had finished his sandwich and started to walk away from the garden. John waited to see what the two observers would do. One of them again spoke into his lapel microphone and made no attempt to follow Graham, who was in the process of leaving. Their attention was now focussed on the entrance to the gardens. At first John thought they were watching Graham leave but then realised someone else was the object of their attention. A tall dishevelled man almost bumped into Graham as he entered the garden. He looked furtively around and hurried towards the river bank wall. The lapel man had a short conversation into his microphone again and the two men then disappeared from view. Within minutes two heavily armed Stapo patrols entered from both ends of the garden shouting to the man who had just entered, ‘put your hands on your head and do not move.’ They repeated the order several times. The bedraggled man with his hands clasped firmly on his head obeyed and looked petrified.
John watched as the Stapo closed in on the man. They grabbed his arms and applied handcuffs. They searched him roughly, tearing through his clothing. ‘I’ve done nothing wrong, why are you arresting me? I’ve done nothing wrong...’ The butt of one of the police officer’s rifle slammed into the man’s stomach forcing him to the ground. He struggled for breath and was on his knees gasping, trying to suck in air.
The section leader noticed John and the group of elderly gardeners and walked towards them. Looking straight at John he said, ‘who are you and what are you doing here?’
Mrs Bishop quickly jumped in. ‘John comes here to help us oldies and we’re very grateful officer. Perhaps you and a couple of your men could give us some help.’ The police officer was no longer interested in John.
‘No thanks missus we’ve got more important things to do like getting that scumbag off the streets.’
‘Oh dear, what’s he done then? She asked.
‘Never you mind, it’s enough that you know that you have one less criminal to worry about.’ He was now eager to get back to his patrol that was busy dragging the hapless individual away.
John spoke as the officer walked away, ‘thank you, officer, we’ll all feel a lot safer now. I’m sure your efforts will not go unnoticed.’
Mrs Bishop looked surprised and when the policeman was out of earshot she asked, ‘did you really mean that John?’
‘Yes Mrs Bishop I did, that excuse of a policeman can be assured his efforts have not gone unnoticed.’ John’s face was taught with anger. Mrs Bishop had a good idea what John meant. John said his goodbye to Mrs Bishop and hurried off to the backup rendezvous to meet Graham.
Having waded through the crowds of travellers in Waterloo station, John carefully made his way to the disguised entrance that led down to the disused underground tunnel. ‘Good to see you, Graham,’ the two men embraced. ‘We were right to take precautions at the gardens, but thankfully they weren’t watching either of us. They were waiting to pick up some poor wretch that came in just as you were leaving.’
‘Yes, I know. I recognised him as he passed me. He’s the head of the latest attempt to form a workers union. His name is Ted Watson. He’s been stirring up quite a storm in a number of major companies. The Stapo have had him in their sights for some months now and he had to go on the run. So, it looks like they finally caught up with him.’
‘Yes I’m afraid they did Graham and they weren’t too gentle either. Where are they likely to take him and can you find what the patrol section leader’s name is?’
‘I’m afraid that he is likely to go nowhere.’
‘What are you saying?’
‘He’ll be earmarked to be shipped to an out of the way prison, like the new one at Dartmoor, but he won’t make it out of there. There’ll be a convenient accident or a rigged suicide either in his holding cell or on his way to Dartmoor.’
John winced. ‘Just how much of this is going on? Surely every man in the Stapo can’t be involved in cold-blooded murder.’
‘No, they’re not. But between Henry Mason, the Police Commissioner and General Keatson, they have enabled Garside to not only turn a blind eye but also condone the formation of an elite squad who carry out this dirty work. Ted Watson will eventually be handed over to them and that’s the last we shall see of him. Grotesque, I know but that’s the way Garside has managed to remove any serious opposition.’
‘Then he is a worse criminal than I imagined and I swear to God that he and his cronies will pay for their crimes. I will not stand by and let this happen.’ John was pensive for a moment. ‘Graham, do you see any signs of reluctance or undercurrents of dissatisfaction within the ranks?’
‘It’s not obvious John, but I know that it’s there. I can see it in their faces and general demeanour. But the men are too afraid to openly oppose the State; they have families and know only too well that the people who hold power also have the ability to control them.’
‘Where is this elite squad based?’
‘As far as I know they’re spread around different Police or Army units, so no one knows exactly where they are. They are brought together when a job is required. It’s probably orchestrated by Mason.’
‘Graham, I know I am asking a lot and it will be a big risk for you, but I need to know where Ted Watson is being held and when they are going to move him. Can you do this?’
‘I think so John but what are you planning to do? Surely you’re not going to try and mix it with the murder squad. They’re out and out psychopaths and from what I can gather they enjoy what they do.’
‘We now have over sixty men fully trained. I’ll select the best we have from them and we will eliminate those murdering thugs once and for all.’
Graham tried to contain his reservations, ‘isn’t that upping the ante a bit and putting us in the same camp as them?’
‘Yes I agree it is escalating the situation, but there is one very big difference; our declared aim has always been to protect the innocent, not kill them. If we allow this to continue then, we are failing in what we set out to do. Whatever the cost Graham we cannot consider failure on this issue. The more this assassination squad are allowed to operate the stronger they will become so I don’t think we have a choice. Sooner or later we will have to confront them; I would rather it was sooner.’
‘Yes of course John I understand. I’ll contact you again tomorrow. I think it will be best if we meet here in future,
who knows, I may need to go permanently underground! Graham said light-heartedly.
‘Just be careful Graham, we need you.’
The two friends shook hands and while John remained in the tunnel, Graham made his way up into the crowded Waterloo mainline station.