Bring the Rain
by Jardyn39
Chapter 3: The Vault
Hammond looked around the opulent marble bank lobby while Pagelow made arrangements for them to enter the vault. The uncooperative guard on duty was doing a great job of looking at once surly and dozy, which Hammond thought was quite an achievement.
He looked around. There were at least a dozen video cameras that he could see. There were bound to be many more that he couldn't.
He looked down. Every so often along the skirting were protruding red disks. These he recognised as laser beam emitters and detectors.
The windows were high and each had strong looking grilles.
He looked towards the entrance. The guard standing at the inner door was eyeing him suspiciously.
A rather small man then appeared wearing a pinstriped suit.
"Please accept my apologies," he said bowing. "You would like to see the vault again?"
Hammond tried to place his accent. He thought it sounded vaguely Eastern European.
A guard accompanied them down in the small lift. Hammond noticed two more cameras within the lift car.
They went through a strong room and found themselves looking at a giant stainless steel safe door. It was agar.
"Do you routinely leave this open during the day?" asked Hammond, noting more cameras and sensors.
"Oh, no," replied the Manager. "This vault is used mainly for our long term deposits and is rarely opened. We use the larger vault for day to day transactions. That one is open most of the day but under constant guard."
Hammond was about to ask why this one was left open when the Manager heaved the door open enough for them to enter.
He didn't need to ask then. The floor of the vault was still lined with rubble and there was a large hole in one of the reinforced concrete side walls.
"We have relocated all of the items of value that they didn't take, including the safety deposit items. Well, if you don't mind, I'll return to my duties. Smith here will wait for you at the lift door. Please take whatever time you need. There is an emergency phone in each area in the event of any problems."
He bowed again and he and the guard left the vault.
Hammond walked over to where the vault had been breached.
"Impressive," he said.
The vault wall consisted of at least two feet thick concrete reinforced with steel bars spaced at no more than one inch apart in two directions.
He shone his flashlight into the tunnel beyond.
"Where does it come out?"
"We don't know yet," admitted Pagelow. "They must have caved it in. Uniform are still searching."
"I suppose it's too much to hope it caved in on top of them?"
"No, we found a spare detonator. It was deliberate."
Hammond looked around the vault.
"No cameras in here, right?"
"Correct. Something about the electrical interference affecting the other detectors in here."
"Heat, sound, movement. Not one of them went off?"
"Nope. The entire system failed, but the engineers can't trace the problem."
"Do we really know when this was done?"
"Actually, yes. The vault was opened on two successive days last week. It was fine the first day. The next day they found it like this. It had been months since it was opened before then."
"When was the security system last checked?"
"There was routine maintenance performed two months ago, but the computer system is in two independent parts that work alternately. While one is working the other carries out a continuous self diagnostic."
"Could the diagnostic have been rigged? Maybe both systems were set to be in diagnostic mode?"
"That was my first thought, yes. The security company have taken a copy of the software and are checking it now. However the quick checks they did here would indicate it is fine. Something about built in tampering checks to see if anything was reprogrammed."
Hammond had a sinking feeling about this.
This appeared to be an impossible robbery. He had some experience with impossible things.
"How sure are we about what got stolen?"
"Not sure at all. The bank admitted to a few bars of bullion, that's all. The deposit boxes were whisked away before we got on the scene, but I think it is obvious that they were after something in there."
Hammond looked around again.
"Have you ever seen reinforced concrete cut like that?" asked Pagelow.
Hammond had just been re-examining the opening.
"No, I haven't. I've seen a vault breached using a chemical means once. That was from above though, and the gases produced almost killed the firm breaking in. Small holes can be burnt through, sometimes but I've never seen a vault like this cracked with that. Besides, there are no residue burns here."
"I've seen a diamond cutter go through reinforced concrete like butter, though"
"Yes, but there aren't any cutting marks. Besides, these vault bars are specified to dull a diamond or carbide blade."
Pagelow kicked a lump of concrete in frustration.
"My report is going to make me look stupid," he complained.
Hammond frowned, looking around the floor.
"Where's the reinforcement that was cut out of the wall?" he asked.
"This is as we found it, apart from the bits I've kicked around."
"What if a weak point was built into the vault wall?" Hammond speculated. "There's something weird about this rubble."
"How? These vaults take weeks to build. Someone would have noticed a dirty great opening left in the side of the vault. Besides, these banks are insured and they require this kind of thing to be inspected at every stage."
Hammond knew this to be true and nodded, saying, "I'd still recommend you check the records when the vault was constructed. Have all this rubble sent to the lab. Every last piece and get it analysed."
Hammond didn't voice what he suspected. He wasn't sure, but the rubble looked like something that someone unfamiliar with Muggle construction techniques might assume came out of the opening in the wall.
*
Hammond and Pagelow sat in front of the Manager's desk. Pagelow had used every one of his hints to get them offered a cup of tea with no success.
"Look, I know we can't compel you to show us the deposit boxes," said Hammond, "but it's pretty obvious that it was something other than the gold they were after. This must have been a very expensive job to pull off. That bullion would barely cover their costs."
"I'm sorry."
"How many boxes were broken into?"
"I cannot say."
"How big were the boxes?"
"That information is confidential."
"We won't report anything," said Hammond quietly. "Just give us something to go on."
The Manager dabbed his forehead nervously with his neatly folded handkerchief.
"I'm sorry, but that would be quite impossible. We only called you in to satisfy the insurers. I can assure you that we accept that your investigation isn't likely to go very far. We have notified the deposit keepers of their losses and none of them wished for us to disclose any information."
"We could get a warrant," said Pagelow.
"No you couldn't, and you know it."
Hammond shrugged as if admitting defeat, and they were then shown out personally by the nervous manager.
*
Pagelow flashed his warrant card at the parking attendant who was about to write him out a parking ticket. He had parked on a double yellow line right outside the bank.
They got in, but Pagelow didn't start the car.
"What do you think?"
"Well, I think that guard looks remarkably like one of those mug shots on display at the station. I was looking while I was waiting to sign in."
"Really? How do you notice things like that?"
Hammond shrugged and pulled out a piece of folded paper.
"Pity there weren't any finger prints."
"I expect the bank wiped the place down before calling you, in case you identified any of their illustrious clients."
"Mm," agreed Pagelow. "What's that?"
"This?" asked Hammond with a smile. "This doesn't exist."
He handed Pagelow the piece of paper, saying, "We never saw this, okay?"
"How did you get this?" exclaimed Pagelow. "Hey, you didn't nick it, did you?"
"No, I happened to find it in my hand after I shook hands with the manager in there."
"This doesn't get us very far, though, does it? And anyway, why didn't he give this to me?"
"He's scared," observed Hammond, reaching behind and putting on his seatbelt.
*
They entered the incident room to find Trent entering information into the computer.
"Susan, could you do us a favour? Go and have a look at the mug shots on the board downstairs. The one we're after is five down and three from the left. Claim that you think you might have seen him and pull the sheet, will you? If asked, it has nothing to do with this lot, okay?"
"Sure," she said getting up at once and leaving.
When she'd gone, Hammond went over to help the door close. When at last it had, Hammond went over to Pagelow.
"Now, tell me about this name?" he said, holding up the evidence bag.
"It's nothing. I thought it was a lead, but Harry Potter turns out to be some youth living in Surrey."
"Little Whinging?"
Pagelow looked at him with a stunned expression.
"How?" he asked feebly as the door opened again.
"That was quick," said Hammond watching as Trent pushed the door closed.
"I got a name but there was someone around who seemed to be asking the same question as me. I'll get the information later."
"Who was asking?"
"Don't know. Not from this station."
"Okay, come over here and listen, will you?" asked Hammond. "Tell me about this," he asked again.
"Harry Potter is the reason I'm derided around here," admitted Pagelow. "We found that inside the vault under some rubble. We traced every Harry Potter in the country, but there was one in the same county. I assumed it wasn't a coincidence.
"We weren't too sure about his age, especially given what it was we found, but we assumed that whoever dropped it might have known him.
"I didn't want to take any chances, so rather than going around unprepared we got a search warrant."
Hammond raised his eyebrows.
"Anyway, we raided the place."
"I bet that went down a storm with his Aunt and Uncle!" Hammond said laughing.
"You're telling me!" agreed Pagelow. "The worst of it was, as soon as we turned the sirens on out front, this bloke leaps out of the rear upstairs window, flattens the back garden fence and legged it down the alleyway. We were sure we had our man!"
"It wasn't him though, was it?"
"No, it was his cousin. All I have for that day's work is a bill for the fence repairs."
Hammond snorted.
"How come you know so much about this kid?"
"Well, I investigated when he was attacked a few months ago. He just got in the way during a shop robbery and he spent a few days in hospital. I even introduced myself to his Aunt and Uncle, although I never met the cousin."
"He's simply a delight, I can assure you!" said Pagelow sarcastically.
"I assume you didn't get to speak to Potter?"
"No. They just went mental whenever I mentioned his name. I couldn't get any sense out of them at all. Some gibberish about being at a secure centre, but he's not on any of the juvenile books."
"No. He attends a private boarding school in the north," advised Hammond. "I imagine he's still there."
"Is this really worth pursuing though? I'm not just saying this because of all the derision I'm going to get when our colleagues find out we're following this line of enquiry again."
"Well, let's make sure they don't find out, shall we?" suggested Hammond seriously. "Look, there are three possibilities how these things found their way into the vault.
"One. Potter was there and he dropped it. Personally, I doubt a Sixth Former would be involved in bank robbery," unless he had a good reason, thought Hammond.
"Two. Someone brought it into the vault and dropped it, either by accident or on purpose.
"Three, and this I think, is more likely. This was in one of the deposit boxes that were broken into."
"I hadn't thought of that. That thing is pretty old, isn't it?"
Hammond found himself looking at the plastic bag again.
"What if?" he wondered aloud.
The other two looked at him expectantly.
"What would you say if I asked for some outside help?" he asked quietly.
Pagelow looked at him suspiciously. "Do you mean these spooks you've been working for?"
Hammond smiled to himself but said nothing.
"That's what the rumour was, anyway."
"I may have done a couple of favours for some people that don't appear to exist."
"Spooks," said Pagelow smiling, utterly convinced they were talking about some branch of the intelligence services.
"Seriously, though," said Hammond leaning in and speaking quietly. "We won't be able to record anything nor use what they find in evidence. If you agree, I'll make a few calls and open a separate intelligence investigation. I'll tell you where to look, but you'll need to know when to look the other way. These people don't like being scrutinised, especially when they are breaking and entering on our behalf."
Pagelow thought for a moment, and then said, "Sure, what have we got to lose?"
"Okay," said Hammond. "The trick is to look busy. Your leads must look like they've come from your own investigations. Start by reviewing every surveillance video in the area and go back a few months."
"What are we looking for?"
"I'll tell you when I know," he said standing up. "I need to take this, okay?"
Hammond didn't wait for an answer.
"Um, sure," said Pagelow uncertainly. It was certainly not usual procedure to allow officers to wander out of the building carrying evidence, especially when that officer was clearly concealing it about his person.
"In addition, take another look at all the bank employees and the Directors too. I didn't even know there was a Merchant Bank there. It strikes me that it is located in rather an unusual place. Look into that too. I also want to know who was asking questions about our security guard friend.
"I'd recommend you piece together that concrete rubble and see of you can't make a section of wall again. That should take a little time and I'm sure there's something strange about it.
"I would also like a complete set of photographs and a copy of the bank floor plans delivered to this address," Hammond said, handing Pagelow a card with a Post Office box address. "A detailed plan of the local area would be good too."
Pagelow held the card, giving Hammond a shrewd look.
"Is there more to this, Peter? I mean, it's common knowledge that doors have opened for you lately, haven't they? You also get to pick and chose what to investigate, and that is rather unusual."
Hammond considered before responding.
"In truth, I only expected to leave here having given you my opinion of the evidence and perhaps suggested what else you might look into. As it is, yes, I am going to investigate this. I'd rather you didn't speculate what my real interest is. If you become too curious, I'll see that your investigation is closed."
"Are you threatening me?" bristled Pagelow.
"No. I'm asking you to investigate the criminal aspects of this case. If you wander off too far, this investigation will stop. In fact, people will forget it ever existed."
"Actually, from a career point of view, that might be best for me anyway," said Pagelow miserably.
*
Late that evening the sounds of a muffled crash and a short indistinct argument came from inside the locked cleaner's cupboard on the same floor.
The narrow cleaner's cupboard door opened inwardly and out of the tiny room came two rather unlikely looking cleaning operatives complete with a large trolley and an assortment of mops and brooms.
Kingsley straightened his bright orange overalls and looked first at the trolley and then the cupboard.
"No wonder it was a little cramped in there," he said.
"Yes, I may have misread the plan," admitted his companion. "Just look at that, though!"
"Get a grip, Arthur. It's just a sink. We have those too, remember?" Kingsley whispered angrily, rubbing his bruised shin.
"Yes, but the taps come out of the wall!"
Kingsley grabbed a mop, and for a moment it wasn't clear which end he was going to use to hit Arthur with.
"Um, I think it's this way," said Arthur, clearly hoping to distract Kingsley.
They walked confidently past the incident rooms, right down to the end of the corridor. Then they went into the toilets and began cleaning, making sure they were seen. Hammond had given them specific instructions, and one of them was that the best way to be inconspicuous was to be seen doing what they looked like they were supposed to be doing.
It was touch and go, but Kingsley confidently washed the floor down and Arthur managed to polish the mirrors despite his fascination with the hot air hand dryer.
After enough people had come in and promptly ignored them as predicted, they moved out into the corridor.
Kingsley pulled rank and took control of the vacuum cleaner. Perhaps wisely, he thought Arthur might get a little over excited with it.
They checked their ear muffs were in place, and proceeded down the corridor, pausing to vacuum at each open doorway.
The noise this particular vacuum made appeared to be rather hypnotic, as each occupant within the offices took on a relaxed, dreamy condition. That was probably just as well, though, because otherwise someone might have noticed that the trailing electric lead hadn't been plugged in.
"Which office do you suppose it is?" asked Arthur as soon as Kingsley had turned off the vacuum cleaner.
"Well, it's just a guess, but probably the one with Harry Potter written across the board in dirty great letters."
"Ah, yes," replied Arthur, who was far too excited to notice the irritation in Kingsley's voice.
They entered the room and each drew out their carefully prepared list of things to do.
Kingsley went over to Trent who was sitting vacantly at her computer workstation.
"I want you to log out and the log in again," he said gently, reading from his instructions. "I'll give you your new name and password."
She obeyed at once.
Hammond's instructions seemed to make sense to Kingsley, although he had to make him explain them more than once. Hammond explained that they needed someone who knew how to use the computer systems and that each change was recorded. They couldn't just erase the information; it had to look like someone else made the changes.
The access information Hammond had provided were for a systems operator who would not normally have access to operational data. By the time they would finish, the records would show a routine maintenance test.
Meanwhile, Arthur was using his wand to alter the coloured lines that formed the writing on the white board. That done, he asked a dazed Pagelow to show him all his written notes. These were also modified.
Finally, Kingsley performed memory charms on the two investigating officers, making sure they understood the investigations Hammond wanted them to proceed with.
They would also make regular progress reports, although they wouldn't know to whom they were reporting, or why. Hammond wanted to make sure they benefited from anything they managed to turn up but more importantly, he knew that Pagelow was a good investigating officer. Despite all their precautions, Hammond felt it was more than likely that Pagelow could pick up the trail again.
Before they left, Kingsley picked up the demand from Mr Dursley for a new garden fence. They could make a call to Little Whinging before dawn.
*
The next morning the two investigating detectives had a good, long overdue laugh at the expense of their colleagues.
"Still looking for that Potter?" they had been asked.
"Potter? We were never looking for a Potter! No, it was Topper. Henry Topper."
"Really?"
"Yes, look at the warrants. Honestly, if you can't remember that, no wonder your own investigation isn't going anywhere."
Pagelow was delighted to discover that his door now slammed properly as well. The only down side was he spent the entire day looking for a claim he was sure he had received. He needn't have worried though, because a garden fence in Little Whinging had apparently repaired itself.
Eventually, Pagelow decided to go for the day. He felt frustrated that his investigation was going nowhere.
What he needed was some good advice.
He usually called his old boss for that. Unfortunately, Peter Hammond was away on an investigation.