The Prometheus Conspiracy by Carl Richardson

Author:Carl Richardson
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Espionage & spy thriller
Publisher: Troubador Publishing Ltd
Published: 2022-09-06T00:00:00+00:00

9

Superintendent Reilly of the Dublin Garda looked up from the report he was reading as the buzzer on his desk phone sounded. He picked the receiver up.

“Reilly.”

“James Mahony, sir. I wouldn’t normally have troubled you with a matter of this sort, but I thought you might be interested in this case. I’ve a young woman here from a car hire firm at the airport who’s reporting that one of their cars is missing. It’s overdue for return, but the guy who hired it isn’t answering his phone, and he hasn’t returned to his hotel. She’s been round there and checked. The guy’s an American named Robert Smith.”

“I see,” Reilly said slowly. “Can you bring her up, James?”

A couple of minutes later, Garda Mahony ushered in the young woman, whom he introduced as Julia Malone. She came across as intelligent and competent, which made things easier.

“The car was due to be returned yesterday,” she said. “When it hadn’t been returned by the end of the day, it was registered as overdue. Normally, we don’t have a problem if someone wants to extend a hire period, even if they do it over the phone from wherever they are; but we haven’t heard from Mr Smith since we delivered the car to him last week. When we phoned him, we just got the phone’s message service. We left a message, but there hasn’t been any response. He was staying at a hotel at the airport. I went round there this morning, but he wasn’t there. The hotel staff said that he was due to have checked out this morning; but apparently he hasn’t been seen at the hotel for some days. He hasn’t checked out, and they said that some of his belongings are still in his room.

“He hasn’t paid his bill, although I expect they’ll take the money off his card. We took payment in advance for the car hire, but obviously we’re now concerned about the car. I don’t know whether the guy’s just done a bunk, or something untoward has happened; but in any event, we decided we needed to notify you.”

Reilly nodded, and was thoughtful for a moment. “Did you speak to Mr Smith yourself when he hired the car?”

“Yes, I delivered the car to him at the hotel. He’s an American – he gave his contact address as their Embassy in Dublin.”

“Did he say anything to you about what he was doing here in Ireland?”

She shook her head. “No, not really. He said he was over here on a business trip for a few days, but nothing specific.”

“Hmm. Do your cars have tracking devices fitted?”

Again, she shook her head. “I know that such things are available, but we also have to consider the views of our customers, many of whom would regard such a thing as an unacceptable intrusion into their privacy. In any case, if we lose a car, it’s covered by the insurance, which is built into the hire price, so it’s just a normal business risk.

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