By late afternoon, Magee was back at the Sussex Police Headquarters in Lewes. As he returned to his section, a spontaneous round of applause awaited him. Along with a bout of whistling, cheering and back-slapping. He stood basking in the glory for a few seconds before bellowing, ‘That's enough, thank you! Haven't you lot got something better to do?’
‘Melissa! Come to my office please, when you've settled down, that is.’
Melissa followed Magee into his office. ‘Can you let me in on what’s going on now, sir?’
Magee took out the photo and gave it to Melissa. ‘I got this from Keith Gibson’s mother. Something big happened in Bangkok eighteen years ago. It also involved Tibet somehow. There were several deaths, including Nick Price’s wife Maliwan and her twin brother Jook. There seems to have been other deaths too, Chinese soldiers, predominantly, from what I can gather. Anyway, these ten men all ended up millionaires, so they must have pulled off a big heist.’
‘Is this speculation, sir?’
‘No, it’s fact. Someone now wants revenge, presumably for the deaths that occurred. John Mansell is the main suspect, but I can’t rule out Nick Price.’
‘I thought we were after a Thai person?’
‘True. It is rather baffling, I appreciate that. Nick’s son and daughter are on my list of suspects too. They might be exacting revenge for the murder of their mother and uncle.’
‘So what now, sir?’
‘All we can do is sit it out. McAlister knows he's the next target. We'll just have to join in the game. We need to relocate up to Chelsea for a few days, to keep McAlister under surveillance. Let's hope the killer doesn't realize we'll be waiting for him.’