“I also considered grabbing him off the street, you know,” Gray continued after almost a minute, “taking him somewhere nice and quiet and killing him ever so slowly.  Trust me, I thought of that many, many times, but his death would have got a brief mention on the news websites and nothing would have changed.  There would be plenty more Stuart Boyle’s to replace him.”

“I still don’t think this is the way, Tom.”

“Andrew, I appreciate that you have a job to do, and that job is to stop me, but I won’t be talked out of this.  I accepted your call because I wanted to let you know that trying to mount a rescue would be a bad idea.  Apart from the fact that you won’t get the location of the device, you will be risking the lives of anyone you send.  I know that you will be able to pinpoint my location from the cell phone I am using, and it is only a matter of time before you turn up mob-handed, but I warn you that I have had a few weeks to prepare my defences.

“I have early warning systems set up around the perimeter, including motion sensors and infra-red cameras, so I will know if anyone gets too close.  The area around the facility is mined, with only one way in or out of the building.  If you send in people to clear the mines, I can pick them off.  The roof is covered in razor wire, motion sensors and a few other surprises, making an aerial assault tricky.  Even if someone did manage to get in, they have to take me alive, and I will have plenty of warning, which means plenty of time to kill these five and take my own life.  This will be done live on the internet, and I will let people know the reason why.  The government will then have to explain why they risked the lives of five criminals at the expense of thousands.”

“Okay, Tom, I understand your position.”

“Good.  I’ll be in touch.”

The phone went dead and Harvey returned it to his pocket on his way over to Farsi’s desk.

“We have the location.  It’s an old factory, Sussex Renaissance Potteries, according to the co-ordinates GCHQ gave me.  SO15 are on their way over there as we speak.”

“Call them,” Harvey said, “and tell them to hang back and observe from a distance.  He told me he has prepared his defences and I don’t doubt it.  After you’ve spoken to them, get on to the security firm and see what he spent a hundred and eighty grand on.”

He had a feeling it wasn’t anything that was going to aid their cause.