Dead Man's Time

we had in response to our boards out on the street. What makes this particularly interesting is it was possibly an
anniversary visit.
The Tuesday night, exactly
a week before the robbery.’
    Bella had everyone’s attention now.
    ‘A neighbour in the street, a few houses along, phoned in to say he remembered seeing a black Porsche parked on the kerb outside the victim’s house as he drove home, about 7 p.m. A
man was sitting in the car. He said he didn’t think anything of it at the time; he assumed the driver had stopped to make a phone call or something.’
    ‘Did he get a description of the driver or the car’s registration?’
    ‘No, sir.’
    ‘Black Porsches are not uncommon in Brighton,’ Grace said. ‘But there can’t be that many. Get a list of all the ones with Sussex registrations and see if that throws up
any names.’
    ‘Yes, sir. Oh, and there’s one other thing that may be significant, although I don’t think so. There was a G5 in Brighton last week, a man called Ralph Meeks, found dead in his
house. He used to work as a gardener for Mrs McWhirter – I understand he was sacked by her about fourteen years ago. Possibly he had a grudge – although his estimated time of death was
some days before the robbery.’
    ‘All right, see if you can find out any more.’
    ‘Yes, I have someone on it, sir.’
    Grace thanked her. Then, looking around the team, said, ‘Okay, how’s the checking of van rental companies going?’
    ‘I’m working through them, sir,’ said a young DC, Jack Alexander, who Grace had brought in to replace Nick Nicholl. ‘There’s a huge number – quite apart from
the national rental companies, there are hundreds of small van hire firms.’
    Grace thanked him and turned back to Bella. She glanced down at her notes. ‘We’ve covered eBay and all the antiques dealers in the Brighton and Hove area for the minor stolen items.
We’ve circulated all the photographs of the high-value items that we know to be missing to all of Sussex’s principal dealers, and I’m working through a list of all other UK
dealers who might handle these valuable items, as well as compiling a list of international ones – and we are liaising with the insurance company’s loss adjusters. It’s very
possible they’re being shipped abroad – and might already have been. We’re keeping an eye on Shoreham and Newhaven harbours and have officers searching all containers being
exported. One area we are also looking at is any upcoming specialist auctions. The highest-value item taken was the 1910 Patek Philippe pocket watch, which is uninsured and worth over two million
pounds.’
    ‘Sir Hugo Drax wore a Patek Philippe in the novel of
Moonraker
!’ Glenn Branson announced. ‘But it was changed to a Swatch in the film!’
    ‘Very helpful, Glenn,’ Grace said tartly. Then he turned to Bella. ‘Good thinking,’ Grace said, making a note. ‘Don’t restrict your auction search just to the
UK. A watch would be easily portable to anywhere in the world.’
    ‘Two million for a watch? Strewth!’ Potting said.
    Bella nodded, then glanced at her Swatch. ‘Obviously a bit posher than mine!’
    There was a ripple of laughter. Grace noticed Norman Potting laughing the loudest, and the old sweat making eye contact with Bella, and he thought, just possibly, that she blushed.
    ‘Actually it’s a bit ironic about the watch. It belonged to both her and her brother, Gavin Daly. He’s always had a high profile in the antiques world and lives in an isolated
country house where in the past he’s had two burglaries. So it’s been at his sister’s house for safekeeping for a few decades.’
    ‘Chief,’ DC Exton said, ‘Surely a watch of that sort of value is going to be very identifiable – presumably unique in some way. So how would it be sold?’
    Grace nodded. ‘Yes, I’ve been thinking the same thing. As you’ve raised the question, I’ll give you the task of obtaining all the information about it – what
records of it might the manufacturers still have? How many of its kind are there in existence? What identification is on it – presumably a production serial number? Was it monogrammed with
any initials? And what kind of world market exists for watches of this value? Who are the likely buyers? Are there any big collectors? Where do watches of this kind of value change hands – is
it through dealers or auctions? Are there specialist watch or watch and clock