I imagine one of the people in front is Bill’s undercover man. Silly really; he could already be there: he could have come by taxi or car.
As I enter the police station there is only one fellow passenger left: a mature lady, who can’t be attending my meeting. I announce my presence and am pointed to a waiting area. The mature lady is also waiting, along with a smattering of males, one of whom resembles Al Pacino. A civilian admin person arrives to escort me to Bill’s office. There is no one else present; I assume Tim Sheldon has been delayed.
‘He won’t be long,’ Bill advises. ‘How’s your head?’
‘It’s not banging, but a bit muzzy. I can’t think straight and am feeling tired. I dozed off on the tram.’
Bill laughs. ‘You would have had a great excuse for a nil return card, had you played golf today, eh!’
Our visitor soon arrives, and I am surprised. He is nothing like I imagined: average height and build, with longish fair hair and glasses – more John Denver than Al Pacino. He appears quite unassuming.
Bill makes the introduction. ‘Meet Tim Sheldon,’ he announces. Tim has confirmed from mugshots that the man in question is Barry Milton. ‘Tell us what you have, Tim.’
Quietly and confidently, Tim summarises his findings so far. ‘There is currently a plan to disrupt the introduction of prospecting by FrackUK, whether at the site or the offices is not yet clear. There is clearly animosity between some of the leaders and FrackUK, but why is not known at the moment.’ Looking at Bill, he carries on. ‘The man you asked me to pay particular attention to – Barry Milton – has clearly been a member of the protest group from the beginning. His closeness to those who are also members of the Harmony Earth party suggests he could also be a member, but I have not seen him wearing anything to confirm his allegiance to either.’
‘Could he just be a rent-a-thug?’ I offer.
‘It could be as simple as that,’ Tim Sheldon nods.
Inspector Lambert now digs through a stack of papers on his desk. ‘Our trawl of police records reveals that he has some history: some petty vandalism in his teens, progressing to assault, actually serving time in Strangeways prison for grievous bodily harm when he was a nightclub doorman. Curiously enough, he’s not your average layabout. His day jobs have mostly been in slightly dodgy hard-sell environments including the recruitment industry, where he has been intimated in a number of fraud situations, but was always long gone before it was discovered. In many cases the company decided not to prosecute.’
At this point I have not disclosed to Bill my arrangement with Sophia Peroni, begun only hours ago, and therefore that I am already aware of Milton’s involvement in both the anti-fracking protest and the fraud at Salford into Work. Considering that Tim Sheldon is only concerned with fracking, I think it best not to muddy the waters, and keep shtum.
Bill is about to end the meeting when I remember, and instinctively rub the bump on my head. ‘I forgot to mention that I and my farmer client, Jamie Cropper, are meeting with FrackUK next Wednesday, to try and progress the agreement. I don’t know if there will be any information relevant to today’s discussion, but I’ll let you know anyway.’
With nothing more to say, we break up. I walk to the metro station, while Tim Sheldon climbs aboard a retro-style Italian scooter and zooms off with a brief wave.
With some serious shopping to do, I leave the tram at Victoria and it’s only a short walk to the Old Shambles area where I have a choice of Selfridges, Harvey Nichols and M&S, to name but a few. I need a new suit, but neither Harvey Nichols nor M&S have anything to my taste, although I do pick up a beef in red wine dinner for one, complete with a bottle of wine. I end up in Selfridges, where true to form I choose Ted Baker, in a slate-grey colour. A couple of shirts and I’m on way – man shopping.
As I enter the police station there is only one fellow passenger left: a mature lady, who can’t be attending my meeting. I announce my presence and am pointed to a waiting area. The mature lady is also waiting, along with a smattering of males, one of whom resembles Al Pacino. A civilian admin person arrives to escort me to Bill’s office. There is no one else present; I assume Tim Sheldon has been delayed.
‘He won’t be long,’ Bill advises. ‘How’s your head?’
‘It’s not banging, but a bit muzzy. I can’t think straight and am feeling tired. I dozed off on the tram.’
Bill laughs. ‘You would have had a great excuse for a nil return card, had you played golf today, eh!’
Our visitor soon arrives, and I am surprised. He is nothing like I imagined: average height and build, with longish fair hair and glasses – more John Denver than Al Pacino. He appears quite unassuming.
Bill makes the introduction. ‘Meet Tim Sheldon,’ he announces. Tim has confirmed from mugshots that the man in question is Barry Milton. ‘Tell us what you have, Tim.’
Quietly and confidently, Tim summarises his findings so far. ‘There is currently a plan to disrupt the introduction of prospecting by FrackUK, whether at the site or the offices is not yet clear. There is clearly animosity between some of the leaders and FrackUK, but why is not known at the moment.’ Looking at Bill, he carries on. ‘The man you asked me to pay particular attention to – Barry Milton – has clearly been a member of the protest group from the beginning. His closeness to those who are also members of the Harmony Earth party suggests he could also be a member, but I have not seen him wearing anything to confirm his allegiance to either.’
‘Could he just be a rent-a-thug?’ I offer.
‘It could be as simple as that,’ Tim Sheldon nods.
Inspector Lambert now digs through a stack of papers on his desk. ‘Our trawl of police records reveals that he has some history: some petty vandalism in his teens, progressing to assault, actually serving time in Strangeways prison for grievous bodily harm when he was a nightclub doorman. Curiously enough, he’s not your average layabout. His day jobs have mostly been in slightly dodgy hard-sell environments including the recruitment industry, where he has been intimated in a number of fraud situations, but was always long gone before it was discovered. In many cases the company decided not to prosecute.’
At this point I have not disclosed to Bill my arrangement with Sophia Peroni, begun only hours ago, and therefore that I am already aware of Milton’s involvement in both the anti-fracking protest and the fraud at Salford into Work. Considering that Tim Sheldon is only concerned with fracking, I think it best not to muddy the waters, and keep shtum.
Bill is about to end the meeting when I remember, and instinctively rub the bump on my head. ‘I forgot to mention that I and my farmer client, Jamie Cropper, are meeting with FrackUK next Wednesday, to try and progress the agreement. I don’t know if there will be any information relevant to today’s discussion, but I’ll let you know anyway.’
With nothing more to say, we break up. I walk to the metro station, while Tim Sheldon climbs aboard a retro-style Italian scooter and zooms off with a brief wave.
With some serious shopping to do, I leave the tram at Victoria and it’s only a short walk to the Old Shambles area where I have a choice of Selfridges, Harvey Nichols and M&S, to name but a few. I need a new suit, but neither Harvey Nichols nor M&S have anything to my taste, although I do pick up a beef in red wine dinner for one, complete with a bottle of wine. I end up in Selfridges, where true to form I choose Ted Baker, in a slate-grey colour. A couple of shirts and I’m on way – man shopping.
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