‘I still think this is more likely to be about Harry’s work, but I wouldn’t put it past that cold fish and her boyfriend to have a hand in this.’

‘Agreed. Let’s keep in touch with the ex-Mrs Peterson and maybe we should take a look at the new man too.’

13

‘Thank you for seeing us at short notice,’ said Bloom as she approached Detective Superintendent Matthew Drummond at the entrance to Plymouth Police Station.

‘Grace Briggs at the Met spoke very highly of you,’ he replied. Grace had attended one of her first Psychology of Crime courses and had kindly put Bloom in touch with Drummond. ‘Grace said that if I wanted to know what motivated the bomber, there’s no one better to speak to than you. So come on through.’

Bloom and Jameson were led into an office with a small wooden table in the middle and they sat down on stiff chairs upholstered in a coarse blue fabric.

‘We wanted to talk to you about an idea we’ve been exploring. We’re wondering if the bomb was a cover for something else,’ said Bloom.

‘Go on,’ said Drummond, clearly intrigued.

‘One of the officers injured in the blast was taken away in an ambulance,’ said Jameson. ‘However, the emergency services have no record of dispatching the ambulance, and it never arrived at Derriford Hospital.’

‘No,’ he said, shocked. ‘That’s not possible. Are you sure?’

Jameson answered with a sideways nod.

‘An extra ambulance? Where did it go?’

‘We don’t know. But three days later the officer in question, Captain Henry Peterson, turned up on a gurney at Exeter Hospital’s A&E during a particularly busy shift. No one saw him arrive and no one knows how he got there, and that’s the first record the hospital has of him.’

Drummond was taking notes. ‘So where’d he been?’

‘We think someone may have taken him somewhere to question or coerce him,’ said Bloom. ‘He’s in a coma at the moment, so we know very little. What we do know is that the injuries he arrived with were more severe than those he was seen to have immediately after the explosion. The hospital has CCTV but they need a police request to release it.’

‘Why am I only just hearing about this?’ His tone was admonishing. Bloom knew the police well enough to know that his irritation wasn’t directed at them.

‘The Navy haven’t flagged it?’ asked Jameson.

‘Do they know about it?’

‘We spoke to Captain Peterson’s boss three days ago,’ said Bloom. ‘So if they weren’t aware initially, they certainly are now.’

‘We’ve been working closely with the Royal Navy Police. We’re scheduled to talk later so it will probably come up then. So what’s your connection to Peterson?’