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him?’ asked Kamran. ‘How’s he gone from burning poppies and shouting to threatening to blow himself up? That’s one hell of a jump.’
    ‘We’re looking into his background now,’ said Waterman. ‘Maybe we missed something.’
    Kamran peered at the video of the man in the post office, then turned to Sergeant Lumley, who had the same photographs on his screens. ‘Hey, Joe. Can you get me a close-up of the trigger?’
    ‘Will do,’ said Lumley. He began tapping on his keyboard.
    The SAS captain walked into the suite. ‘What’s happening?’
    ‘We’ve got IDs on two of the bombers,’ said Kamran. ‘Joe’s just getting me a close-up.’
    Murray walked over to watch what Lumley was doing. He bent down and squinted at Lumley’s screen. The image focused on the right hand of the man in the post office. ‘It’s not a dead man’s trigger,’ said Murray.
    ‘That’s what I thought,’ said Kamran. ‘Joe, check the guy in the boutique. Get a shot of his trigger and see if they’re all the same.’
    Murray straightened up. ‘That’s interesting,’ he said. ‘I would have expected the trigger to operate when it was released. That depends on active pressing. The way things are, we have a chance of taking them out without the vests going off.’
    ‘That’s not a risk we can take,’ said Kamran. ‘Not at this stage, anyway.’
    ‘Sure. I’m not suggesting we go in with guns blazing,’ said Murray. ‘But the lack of a dead man’s switch means a head shot could well neutralise the threat.’
    ‘Unless there’s another trigger in place,’ said Kamran.
    Murray tugged at his ear. ‘True. If there’s some sort of remote trigger, then all bets are off,’ he said. ‘What about jamming mobile-phone cells in the area? We’ve got the gear to do it, and I’m sure Five has, too.’
    ‘That would kill the texting and social media that’s going on, and that’s obviously a big part of their strategy,’ said Kamran. ‘Blocking all cell phone activity might provoke a negative reaction.’
    Murray shrugged. ‘Your call, obviously.’
    Kamran nodded. It was his call, and his responsibility, so any decision he made had to be the right one.
    ‘I’ve got a view of the shop guy’s trigger,’ said Lumley.
    The image flashed up on Kamran’s centre screen. The trigger was identical to the first. There was a Velcro strap holding it in the man’s hand. The trigger itself was a simple metal button with a small protective plastic cage over the top. The cage had to be flipped back so that the trigger could be depressed with the thumb.
    ‘A head shot while the cage is in place would be safe,’ said Murray. ‘Death would be instantaneous and there would be no chance for the trigger to be pressed.’
    ‘You would need to be able to guarantee a kill, and while they’re inside that’s not possible,’ said Kamran.
    ‘A double shot, one to smash the window followed by a kill shot would do it.’
    ‘Too much of a risk,’ Kamran said.
    ‘There is another possibility. If we can get close, a machete would take off the lower arm like slicing a carrot. No arm, no trigger.’
    Kamran shook his head. ‘If we can get close. There’s been no indication that’s going to happen. They’re not allowing anyone in or out.’
    ‘I’m just giving you your options,’ said Murray. ‘The sooner we end this, the better.’
    ‘I’d already come to that conclusion,’ said Kamran, frostily.
    ‘I wasn’t stating the obvious,’ Murray said. ‘The point I’m trying to make is that these guys have just two options: to talk or to blow themselves and their hostages up. The fact that they have no weapons other than the vests is telling. With a knife or a gun they can increase the threat level bit by bit. Hurt a hostage or single one out to kill. But our guys don’t have that option. They talk or they detonate. There’s no midway stage. It’s all or nothing.’
    Kamran exhaled through pursed lips as he realised what the