“Okay, check that out with the Gray's old company, see if Levine is still on their books.  If he isn't, get onto all the security firms in the area to see who he's signed up with.”  Harvey hung up, then called Diane Lane.  “What news?” he asked.

“No joy.  I've been to all three properties and none of them are there.  I got no answer from Paul Bennett, and Jeff Campbell's wife said he was on an assignment.  Same with Colin Avery.”

“Both two-week assignments for visiting dignitaries, by any chance?” Harvey asked.

“Those exact words,” Lane confirmed.

“Then these are our guys.  One or two being away is possible, but all eight?  I don't think so.  Pass their names to Special Branch and tell them it's a priority.  We need to find these guys, and quick.”

Tom Gray woke after forty minutes and checked his monitors.  The two men were still lying behind the wall, but their command structure had moved in, setting up three vehicles in the lane which ran parallel to the building, two hundred yards from the rear wall.  Gray guessed they had closed the lane to prevent the press and members of the public from getting too close.  They had also set up a perimeter around the area, with men stationed a hundred feet apart and looking out rather than towards the building.  Not only did this suit the authorities by keeping nosey civilians and the media at arm’s length, it made life easier for him by preventing those same people setting off his motion sensors every two minutes.

He turned his attention to the TV and caught the tail end of the five o’clock news.  They were showing a press conference held by Greater Manchester Police, and Simon Arkin’s mother was making an impassioned plea for his release.

“I am asking the people of England to vote for my son’s freedom.  Yes, he may have a criminal record, but he has been to court and he has been punished.”

Gray watched as she struggled to compose herself, before she gave up the fight and burst into tears.

“I just want my boy back.”

The Chief Inspector reiterated her plea for the population to do the decent thing before they cut back to the studio.  Gray picked up his mobile phone and dialled a pre-set number.

The BBC news anchor had just finished reading the headlines at six o’clock when she paused for a moment and listened to the message in her earpiece.

“I’m told we now have Tom Gray from the Justice For Britain website on the phone.  Mr Gray, thank you for speaking to us today.”

“Hello Charlene.”

“Mr Gray, I imagine the first question the viewers would be asking is ‘why exactly are you doing this’?”

“You know, a few people have asked me that today.  My answer is, to ensure that when a criminal is caught, they are punished.”