The Half Truth(88)

‘I may be old, but I’m not stupid,’ said Mr Cooper, following his comment up with a chuckle. ‘I was young once myself, you know. Now, what’s the problem?’

‘He’s working away and I was hoping he would be back by now.’

‘Be patient, pet. He’ll call you as soon as he can. He hasn’t long been back into the country.’

‘What?’ Tina frowned. How would Mr Cooper know that John had been working abroad?

‘John Nightingale, isn’t it?’

‘Yes, but …’

‘On the news this morning, he was.’ Mr Cooper picked up his fork and turned his dinner plate around a fraction to a more desirable position.

‘John was on the news? I don’t understand.’ Tina swung round to look at Mr Cooper’s television, as if by some miracle the news programme would appear. Instead a BBC2 quiz show greeted her. She looked at her watch. It was six twenty-five. The news would be all but over now. She looked back at Mr Cooper for further explanation. He was just putting a forkful of mash potato into this mouth. She willed him to eat quickly. As soon as she saw him swallow, she launched her next question. ‘What did the news say?’

‘I don’t really know. I couldn’t hear everything. Something about an arrest and it being a big coup for the serious crime squad. Some Russian bloke.’ Mr Cooper returned to his dinner.

Tina rose to her feet, the need to get home and search through the news channels and trawl the internet for any scrap of information was overwhelming.

‘I’ve got to go now, Mr Cooper,’ she said. ‘Lock your back door.’

‘Bye, pet,’ said Mr Cooper without looking up. ‘Don’t fret. The news will be back on again at nine o’clock.’

Tina burst through the kitchen door, flinging it closed behind her.

‘Dimitri!’ she hurried through to the living room and grabbed the remote control. ‘Mummy quickly wants to check something, do you mind?’ She was already calling up the menu.

Dimitri protested, but his voice was somewhere in the background, her mind not focusing on his response. ‘I won’t be long,’ she muttered, immersed in searching the news channels.

The weather. A protest in London. Sports round-up. Fighting in the Middle East. A Royal official visit. Everything but an important arrest or even a sniff of John. She let out a long sigh. Flicked to the final channel available. More weather.

Admitting defeat, she reinstated Dimitri’s programme and picked up her laptop.

She should have made this her first port of call. There on the homepage was the story.

RUSSIAN ANGER AT ARREST OF MOORGATE COP KILLER

International relations with Russia have become strained in a war of words over the arrest of a Russian citizen, who the Met believe is responsible for the fatal shooting of Police Officer Neil Edwards during the fumbled Moorgate bank heist five years ago. Another police officer was shot and injured that day.

The Russian Embassy is accusing the British Government of launching a covert operation to enter Russia and kidnap one of their citizens. The Home Secretary has strenuously denied all allegations.

‘Our suspect was arrested on British ground under British law. The arrest has been carried out to the letter of the law, as I would expect it to be.’

Russia and the UK have no bilateral extradition treaty. Although Russia signed up to the European Convention on Extradition in 1996, it exempted itself from agreeing to send a Russian citizen to another country or state for prosecution. The Russian government has, in the past, stated that it would consider extradition of one of its citizens, but only in exchange for other Russian nationals held under arrest in the UK. The Home Office has always refused to trade nationals, stating that the Russians would be tried in their homeland for crimes against the government and could not, therefore, expect a fair trial.

Today’s arrest comes after a five-year-long investigation into the criminal activities of the Porboski gang, who were reportedly responsible for organised crime across the capital. The Met, however, are making no further comment on the arrest.

There was a picture of the iconic Scotland Yard sign, but that was all. Tina read the online article again. There was no direct mention of either John or Pavel. She wondered if Mr Cooper had got it wrong about John. She would have to make sure she watched the news this evening.

Tina was seated in front of the TV long before the ten o’clock news. She patiently watched the hands of the clock climb their way to the hour and the opening music sound out across the room. Gareth Hughes greeted viewers, and against the backdrop of music, short VT images announced the headlines.

A tornado in America. A NHS hospital scandal. A product release by Apple.