Something monstrous.
At the same time as Trescothic was on his satellite phone, a nondescript man wearing unremarkable clothes stepped out of a plain white van in a car park on an industrial estate on the outskirts of Glasgow. He walked into Banner Chemical Supplies and approached the counter.
‘I’d like two hundred litres of acetone, please,’ he said to the man wearing a polo shirt bearing the company insignia – a stylised B, underscored with a test tube.
‘You got photo ID?’ the man said. ‘Acetone is a category three precursor chemical as it can be used to make explosives. Company policy is we take IDs.’
The nondescript man produced a driver’s licence bearing an instantly forgettable name. The man behind the counter entered the details into his computer. After the acetone had been paid for, he said, ‘You parked outside?’
‘I am.’
‘The guys will bring it out for you. Help you load it.’
‘Thank you.’
‘Oh, one last thing. I need to put down something in the “reason for purchase” field on the computer.’
‘I have a vermin problem,’ the nondescript man said.