The Unexpected Coincidence Read Online Free PDF Page A

mix of three different areas of London,
the majority coming from a patch of the river that stretched from
Rainham to Purfleet, and most notably from the Rainham nature
reserve and marshland. Whatever the terrorists were up to, they
visited the nature reserve a lot, and Mycroft suspected they might
have been hiding something there. The rest of the mud came from
places he already knew the people had visited, like the Silvertown
barrier.
    It didn't take him
long to message the relevant officials and get a team down to the
right area to have a look for signs of trespassing or other
suspicious activity. His team were still keeping an eye on the
other locations the terrorists had been seen in, so he knew they
hadn't been to any of those recently.
    He rubbed his
forehead with his fingers, aware that a dull ache of some kind was
settling in for the night. The meetings that morning had provided
far too much stress. Government officials wanted answers, and they
had no one else to grill but him. Sometimes he wished he wasn't
such an important part of the system that ran the United Kingdom.
It always fell to him to keep the country safe and prosperous. A
task that wasn't made any easier by the many bungling prime
ministers who'd ruled and the two large wars he'd had to live
through.
    While he was
lamenting the lack of strong leadership within the country, the
shrill sound of a mobile phone ringing pierced the otherwise silent
evening in his house. He frowned and reached for the spare handset
in his drawer. At some point he'd expected Amelia to get in contact
with him, but he'd expected it several hours earlier and in message
form. He'd need to reprimand her for phoning.
    “Miss Jones,” he
said as he picked up, not doing anything to hide his annoyance at
her.
    “Myron! I think I
need your help.”
    He heard the faint
edge of panic in her voice and sneered. Maybe she wasn't as good at
controlling her emotions as she'd displayed last time they'd been
together. Not wishing to indulge her outburst, he decided to change
the subject immediately. Hopefully she'd understand he had
absolutely no intention of helping her with anything.
    “Do you not have
something to report about the second stage of our lessons?”
    There was another
pause and Mycroft waited.
    “Are these letters
from you, then?” she asked, sounding calm but confused. It was his
turn to not understand. The lines on his head furrowed.
    “What
letters?”
    “I had one posted
through my door in the early hours of this morning and another
brought to the hotel I'm at less than half an hour ago. I didn't
think they were from you, but I...”
    “They're not.”
    “They say they're
from a fan, but I think I've got a stalker, Myron, and I'm not sure
I'm safe here. I was hoping...”
    “And you didn't
observe anything strange today?” he asked, not interested in her
fears concerning her fans. She chose her career, and any hazard it
caused her was of her own making.
    “I did notice this
one guy.”
    “What did he look
like?” Mycroft sat back, pleased she'd at least noticed him. Maybe
all faith in her intelligence wasn't lost.
    “He had dark hair,
a little taller than me. Glasses, with quite wide rims.”
    “Go on,” he
encouraged, pleased she'd picked up on that much.
    “He had a strange
coat – although it was far too big for him – and he was a bit
nerdy. He also said he was a carer for his mother who has multiple
sclerosis, and he was very conversationally awkward.”
    Mycroft frowned
again and hesitated to interrupt her. She was no longer describing
the right person. He'd specifically instructed his man to wear a
suit and carry an umbrella just like Mycroft's. It would have made
him easier to spot, but the first challenge of this stage couldn't
be too difficult if she was going to learn.
    “He also said he
had a brother and liked my character, Dalton, which is in the
letters. He came across as the stereotypical type to...”
    Mycroft gave an
exasperated sigh loud