A Death in Cornwall

Ingrid and Gabriel drive to Land’s End to meet Timothy Peel. The news report that plays during their journey is about Hugh Graves running for prime minister along with Stephen Fraiser and Nigel Cunningham. Gabriel tells Timothy about Klaus Muller killing Charlotte on behalf of Harris Weber. Then, Timothy and Gabriel drive to see Charlotte’s lover, Leonard Bradley.

Bradley’s wife, Cordelia, answers the door, and Gabriel claims to have found Bradley’s number in Charlotte’s notes. Cordelia thinks this is strange because Charlotte had Bradley’s and Cordelia’s numbers saved in her phone. In Bradley’s office, Gabriel reveals that he’s seen the text messages between Bradley and Charlotte. Bradley admits that Charlotte told him about the Picasso she was researching and that she wanted him to find out the “name of OOC’s beneficial owner” (290). Bradley didn’t find anything about OOC, so he referred Charlotte to Lucinda Graves, Hugh Graves’s wife.

When Gabriel and Timothy are back in the car, Timothy rails at Gabriel for ruining his career. Gabriel assures him that he will not lose his job over this case. Lucinda isn’t in the files they stole, but Gabriel thinks that she still might be involved with OOC. Timothy drops off Gabriel with Ingrid, and Gabriel tells Timothy that he’s going to investigate Lucinda. Meanwhile, Bradley thinks about his affair with Charlotte and calls Lucinda to update her on his conversation with Gabriel.

In Bath, Ingrid and Gabriel get adjoining rooms in a hotel. Ingrid hacks into BVI Bank and learns that Lord Michael Radcliff received a payment of £10 million from the shell company owned by Valentin Federov after Radcliff resigned. This is more than Federov donated to Radcliff’s political party initially. Gabriel thinks that these donations are part of a plot to get Hillary Edwards to resign. The next day, Gabriel meets with Lucinda while Ingrid is at a coffee shop. Lucinda compliments Gabriel’s restoration work and reveals that Bradley called her. She tells Gabriel that Frasier has agreed to bow out of the election if Graves guarantees that Frasier can be foreign secretary. Lucinda subtly asks Gabriel to support Graves in the election by talking to Jonathan Lancaster, but he ignores the hint. Lucinda claims that it would have been unethical to investigate who runs the OOC Group and that she didn’t have time to do so anyway. She also lies, saying that she never met with Charlotte in person, only over the phone. As Gabriel is leaving, Lucinda asks him if he found out who runs the OOC Group, and he lies, saying that he doesn’t know. Lucinda knows that Gabriel is onto her when she sees him go with Ingrid to the Courtauld Gallery.

Gabriel talks to the director of the gallery, Geoffrey Holland, and asks for the video footage of Charlotte’s last visit to the cafe in the gallery. Holland agrees to show Gabriel the footage in exchange for Gabriel cleaning a painting by Florigerio. Simon Eastwood, the gallery’s security chief, shows Gabriel and Holland the footage of Charlotte’s visit. She is clearly seen meeting with Lucinda. Holland won’t give Gabriel a copy of the footage, but Gabriel now knows that Lucinda is lying. He tells Ingrid that Lucinda is the link between Robinson and Charlotte. Lucinda is also behind the efforts to get the prime minister to resign so that her husband can take Hillary Edwards’s place. They wonder how much Radcliff knows. Gabriel texts a reporter. Then, while walking to Christopher’s car, Gabriel is hit in the head from behind.

The reporter whom Gabriel texted, Samantha Cooke, repeatedly tries to call him, but he doesn’t answer. As she is texting Gabriel in the Members Lobby of the Palace of Westminster, Hugh Graves comes by to talk to her. She says that she is texting her editor and then debates the “economic forecasts” with Graves (309). He says that Lucinda will not be working in the government if he is elected. The only thing he will allow her to quote him on is a boring, meaningless phrase about looking forward to the election. The votes put Graves at the top and Nigel Cunningham in last place. Stephen Frasier is getting a decent number of votes, but not as many as Graves.

Gabriel regains consciousness in a moving vehicle and struggles with his memory. As he remembers his meeting with Lucinda, the race for prime minister continues. Hugh Graves is winning, and Stephen Frasier meets with him to discuss a concession. Samantha Cooke hears a rumor about this, and Frasier’s comment is that “it’s only just begun” (315). She writes the article about Frasier conceding and worries that Gabriel has gotten into trouble. Christopher is thinking the same thing and tracks the last location of his car.

Christopher finds his car in the garage, without its passengers, luggage, and external hard drives. He finds the spot where Gabriel’s assailant hit him by following a trail of blood. Christopher drives to see Graham Seymour, the director-general of the SIS. Graham calls Amanda Wallace, the director of MI5, and asks her to help find Gabriel. An MI5 officer checks the CCTV footage from the garage and finds the vehicle that Gabriel was taken away in. That van was last seen in Kent Downs, where there aren’t many CCTV cameras. The officer also discovers that Gabriel visited Lucinda Graves shortly before he disappeared, and Amanda relays this information to Graham, who relays it to Christopher.

The people who abducted Gabriel march him, hooded, from a makeshift prison cell to a nearby building. Inside, they remove his hood, and he sees Trevor Robinson, as well as the destroyed hard drives and computers from the car. Robinson tosses around a Faraday pouch with Gabriel’s phone in it. The specially designed pouch prevents the phone’s location from being tracked. The property belongs to a Harris Weber client, Robinson says, and the reader later learns that it belongs to Federov. Gabriel asks about Ingrid, and Robinson says that she is resting. The money that Gabriel saw Robinson taking from the safe was to pay off an informant who told Robinson about Gabriel’s involvement in the case. Robinson offers Gabriel and Ingrid £10 million each in exchange for silence about the OOC Group and Harris Weber. He also promises to return the Picasso to the rightful heirs of Bernard Levy.

Gabriel counters this offer; he will be silent if Robinson pays £1 billion to charities of Gabriel’s choosing and Hugh Graves drops out of the race for prime minister. Robinson tells Gabriel that Frasier has already conceded to Graves. Harris Weber is ushering in a new era of “Kleptopia” (327), where the wealthy are above the law, and Robinson invites Gabriel to be a part of it. Gabriel turns down the offer. When Robinson claims that the race for prime minister is already won, Gabriel tells him to check his phone and demands to see Ingrid. Robinson punches Gabriel, and Gabriel stalls by telling him incorrect passwords for the phone. One of Robinson’s men punches Gabriel. After some more violence, Gabriel gives him the correct password. Robinson sees that Samantha Cooke is calling Gabriel and puts the phone back in the bag. Then, Robinson tells Gabriel that he has one hour to accept the offer or else he and Ingrid will die. Ingrid is in the cell when the men put Gabriel back in it. He tells her that the phone was out of the bag long enough for it to be tracked.

At the Government Communications Headquarters, officers search for Gabriel. They are able to locate him when his phone is out of the Faraday pouch, and they give his location to Graham Seymour. Graham shares it with Amanda Wallace but not with Hugh Graves. Graham calls the police and says that Timothy Peel should accompany him to the location. Timothy drives with Christopher, who initially claims that his name is David. Christopher admits to knowing Gabriel, and he eventually tells Timothy that they are going to rescue Gabriel. Gabriel is being held on a property owned by Driftwood Holdings, which Christopher knows is owned by Federov. Before they arrive, Christopher gives Timothy a gun.

Timothy has to go slightly out of his jurisdiction to get to where Gabriel and Ingrid are imprisoned. When they are close to the property, Timothy turns off all his lights. They leave the car near some sheep and walk the rest of the way to the manor. In front of the manor is the van that was used in Gabriel and Ingrid’s abduction. After finding the hoods that the abductors used, Timothy takes a picture of the van’s registration. Inside the manor, Robinson gives Gabriel paperwork to sign and threatens to shoot Ingrid if Gabriel doesn’t sign. Gabriel says that he will sign, and Robinson’s men untie Gabriel’s hands. As he starts to read the document, Christopher and Timothy burst into the manor and shoot Robinson’s men. When Robinson tries to shoot Ingrid, Gabriel jumps in between them. Timothy shoots Robinson.

Timothy goes out to get the car. Outside, he vomits from the stress of the confrontation and then brings the car to the manor. Christopher tells Timothy who Robinson is and says that they are going to pretend that they didn’t come to the manor. Gabriel and Ingrid also never came to the manor. The group gathers their belongings—all the evidence that they were present—and they all get in the car. Gabriel thanks Timothy for saving his life. Ingrid says that there is a copy of the files from Harris Weber on the Cloud. This is the only copy since Robinson destroyed the others. They travel to the SIS headquarters, where Timothy and Ingrid wait while Gabriel and Christopher meet with Graham and update him about the situation.

Gabriel asks why Lucinda would work to bring down Hillary Edwards. Graham says that he advised Edwards to pass new anti-money-laundering laws because London has become “the money laundering capital of the world” (350). Hugh Graves opposed this legislation, and then Edwards was framed for taking money from the Russians, which Samantha Cooke wrote about in The Telegraph. Graham gives Gabriel an envelope of documents, and they joke about it being the Russians who killed the men at the manor.

Gabriel meets with Samantha and gives her documents that show Radcliff that received money from Federov. He reveals that there are 3.2 terabytes of more information about Harris Weber and that Samantha was manipulated into writing the story about Hillary Edwards and the donation from Federov, when it was truly Radcliff and Graves working with Federov. Samantha calls her editor, Clive Randolph; dictates to him the story covering this political scheme; and emails him pictures of the incriminating documents. Samantha talks to Stephen Frasier, who confirms that he was going to participate in the anti-money-laundering reforms with Edwards and that Graves opposed them. However, he can’t give her a quote about that on the record. Lucinda calls a phone that Gabriel is holding that belonged to Robinson.

Stephen Frasier arrives at Downing Street, and Hillary Edwards pulls him into her office. She shares her concerns about Hugh Graves taking power, but off the record. Frasier tells Edwards about Samantha’s phone call to him. Edwards says that she had nothing to do with the Russian political contribution and that he can quote her on that. Samantha visits Radcliff’s house and confronts him about Federov’s donations to him, showing him the BVI Bank statements and part of the documents from Harris Weber. She says that she is going to publish her findings, and Radcliff threatens to sue her. Then, he offers to tell her everything if she agrees not to publish his role in the political scheme.

Samantha calls Gabriel and tells him that Radcliff divulged who was running and part of the political scheme. She also has it all on tape. Hillary Edwards gives her farewell address to the public and then gives her resignation to the king. Afterward, she receives a large number of texts about Samantha’s article, which reveals Radcliff and Lucinda Graves as the ones who framed her. She calls Frasier, and he asks her to call Hugh Graves and ask him to not accept the position of prime minister. Graves doesn’t take Edward’s calls. Edwards needs someone to keep Graves from getting to the palace. Christopher, Gabriel, and Ingrid drive toward Graves’s car. They hear Samantha on the news talking about her previous article being incorrect and refusing to reveal her source (Gabriel).

Meanwhile, Lucinda gives a speech at Lambeth Wealth Management about her husband becoming prime minister. When they turn on the news coverage, a recording of Lucinda plotting with Radcliff to take down Edwards is playing. She escapes to her office.

Gabriel is waiting for Lucinda in her office. He confronts her about Radcliff and Harris Weber. She says that everyone is involved with the company and that their dealings are legal. She denies being involved in Charlotte’s death and denies working with Robinson. Gabriel calls Lucinda’s phone from Robinson’s phone. She asks what Gabriel wants, and he demands that she tell Hugh Graves to resign. In exchange, he will keep her name away from Charlotte’s murder. Lucinda texts her husband, and his car moves away from the palace. Gabriel returns to Christopher’s car and tells him and Ingrid what happened with Lucinda. Then, Gabriel says that Ingrid should come to Venice with him.