Dead Simple

visibility from the improved weather conditions may be helpful.’
    He went on through the headings. ‘Meeting cycles’: Grace announced there would be a daily 8.30 a.m. and 6.30 p.m. briefing. He reported that the Holmes computer team had been up and running since Friday. He read out the list under the heading ‘Investigative Strategies’, which included ‘Communications/Media’, reporting that Michael Harrison’s disappearance was scheduled to feature in this week’s Crimewatch television programme if he hadn’t turned up by then.
    Next was ‘Forensics’. Grace reported that soil samples from Mark Warren’s car were being analysed along with soil samples recovered from the clothing and hands of the four dead boys. There should be an initial report some time tomorrow from Hilary Flowers, the forensic geologist they had consulted.
    Then he reached the heading ‘Any Concerns Raised by SIO’, and there read out his detailed issues about the attitudes and anomalies in Mark Warren’s and Ashley Harper’s behaviour – and the disclosure of the Cayman Islands bank account of Double-M Properties.
    When he reached the end of the report, he summed up: ‘The alternative scenarios as I see them are as follows:
    ‘One. Michael Harrison has been incarcerated somewhere and cannot escape.
    ‘Two. Michael Harrison is dead – either as a result of his incarceration or has been unlawfully killed.
    ‘Three. Michael Harrison has deliberately disappeared.’
    Then he asked his team if they had any questions. Glenn Branson raised his hand and asked whether the body of the as yet unidentified man found in the woods had any bearing on the events.
    ‘Unless there’s a serial killer in Ashdown Forest targeting twenty-nine-year-old males, I don’t think so.’
    Grace’s reply raised a titter despite the seriousness of the situation.
    ‘Who’s going to own this murder victim?’ Branson asked.
    ‘East Downs Division,’ Grace said. ‘We have enough on our plate.’
    ‘Roy, any thoughts of putting tails on Ashley Harper and Mark Warren?’ Branson asked.
    It was an option he had been considering, but to put an effective twenty-four-hour surveillance watch on anyone could take as many as thirty people – three teams working in eight-hour shifts – on a simple job. More if it was complicated. The drain on manpower was astronomical, and Grace knew from experience that his chiefs would only sanction surveillance when absolutely necessary – such as on a potential major drugs bust or when there was a life at stake. If they made no headway soon, he might have to make the request.
    ‘Yes,’ he said. ‘But park that for now. But what I do want is a scan on all the CCTV footage in Brighton and Hove last Thursday, from dawn until one a.m. Friday morning. Mark Warren was out in his car, a BMW off-roader – the details are on the file. I’d like to know where he went.’ Then he added, ‘Oh yes, and Michael Harrison has a yacht he keeps at the Sussex Motor Yacht Club. Someone should make sure it’s still there. We’ll look like dickheads organizing a manhunt if we find he’s buggered off to sea on his boat.’
    He looked at DC Boutwood. ‘You can narrow the CCTV footage down from the mobile phone cell logs – you just need to pick the cameras in the area they throw up. Have you made any progress?’
    ‘Not yet, sir. I’ll be on it first thing in the morning – no one can help me today.’
    Grace looked at his watch. ‘I have to be in court tomorrow at ten – I may or may not be needed there all day. So we meet here at eight-thirty first.’ He turned to Branson. ‘Our liaison at the East Downs is Detective Inspector Jon Lamb. He’s already got his team started – be good if you speak to him.’
    ‘I’ll call him in a few minutes.’
    Grace fell silent, scanning the pages of the review, checking he had not missed anything. He needed to know more about the character of Michael Harrison and about his business relationship with Mark Warren, and also about Ashley Harper. Then he looked up at his team. ‘It’s now almost seven-thirty, on a Sunday evening. I think you should go home, get some rest – I think we’re going to have a full week ahead of us. Thanks for giving up your Sunday.’
    Branson, wearing fashionably baggy slacks and a sharp, zip-up cotton top, walked out to the car park with him. ‘What’s your sense, old wise one?’ he asked.
    Grace dug his hands in his pocket and said, ‘I’ve