‘Assuming that we did that, Sir Isaac – and I am sure you are right that not many people hire vans at this time of year, even so I am sure you would find it runs into several thousands; it would take us months to get around to everyone. It is Saturday today, and half of the van hire firms in England are probably shut. Even if we got a description – say of Whalley or of Tsenong – what would that tell us that we don’t already know?’

Quoit thought for some moments. Fifeshire put his hand to his mouth to hide a smirk.

‘Perhaps you’re right,’ said Sherlock Holmes. ‘It wouldn’t tell us much.’

‘I think our only chance,’ I said, ‘is to search the fuel stores of every power station. As we cannot tell or trust anyone, I’ll do it myself. I’ve got the rest of today and the whole of tomorrow. I’ll make an order of priority and work through the power stations one by one.’

‘An order of priority?’ queried Quoit.

‘Yes. I’ll assume first that London is the target. I’ll go to all the stations that, if blown up in a westerly wind, could contaminate London. If those don’t pan out, I’ll move northward.’

‘You’ll never get round them all in time.’

‘Yes, I will – I’ll use a helicopter. It can’t take that long to check the fuel stores, surely? I’ll inform them I’m doing a spot inventory check; they’re used to spot checks. Unless you can think of something better?’

Quoit couldn’t.

At half past three on the following afternoon, the first of the B-marked fuel bundles turned up in the stacking line at the fuel store at Trawsfynydd in Wales; behind it sat another thirty-five. Either Ogomo had lied about the wind, or London was not the target – a westerly from here would have blown the stuff over Liverpool and Manchester.

At a quarter to two in the morning, with my eyeballs hanging out on their stalks from tiredness, I found the second thirty-six, stacked and ready to go in the morning into the reactor at Calder Hall. If this one had blown, it would have taken out Newcastle.

For the second time in twelve hours, I instructed an army CO to place a nuclear power station under arrest. I instructed warrants to be issued for the arrest of Whalley, Tsenong and Patrick Cleary, whoever he was. Then I telephoned London and left a message for Fifeshire. Then the jet lag, and the three nights without any real sleep finally caught up with me, and feeling not a little pleased with myself, I leaned my head forward onto the desk in front of me, and was about to fall into a deep sleep, when the phone rang. It was Fifeshire, and he was not a happy man.

Chapter 26

26