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request a British court to request from an Israeli court that Safemail allow him access to Fred Brown's encrypted account. That took months and all the time he was under pressure from the courts to disclose its evidence to defence lawyers and to speed up the proceedings.

Dawson's bosses were unhappy: he could feel the pressure building. None of the victims of the crimes he was investigating came from Humberside – the credit-card holders were spread all over the world. One, the Reverend John, was in neighbouring West Yorkshire, but that was about it. 'I can't afford to have one of my best homicide officers working on a fraud case which has nothing to do with this area!' Dawson was warned on more than one occasion. Something in the detective drove him on, though. He wouldn't let go and so, to assuage his superiors, he started working in his own time, sometimes late into the night, poring over the dancing numbers.

In despair at how the investigation of Adewale Taiwo was starting to consume his life, Dawson requested assistance from the regional intelligence unit, They were unable to help, but suggested that Dawson ask the City of London High-Tech Unit if they had information that might assist him. No, came the reply, but why don't you approach the Serious Organised Crime Agency?

Finally, Dawson contacted SOCA at their secret operational head- quarters in London, which is like something out of Len Deighton's The Ipcress File or Funeral in Berlin: brass plates with the name of a ficti- tious company, and everyone pretending not to work for the agency that Tony Blair described as Britain's answer to the FBI (much to its officers' irritation).

Dawson asked for assistance in a complex fraud case that involved a mysterious man named Fred Brown. He received a curt call back from the big boys in the metropolis: 'What do you know about Freddie Brown?' After all, the tone implied, you're just a local plod from Humberside.

'Nothing,' DS Dawson replied, 'except that I've got him on remand up here in Scunthorpe.'

There was silence down the end of the line. 'Have you ever heard of something called DarkMarket, DS Dawson?' the voice continued. 'No, never. Why?'

Dawson's fish was even bigger than he realised.

But the news also came as some surprise to SOCA. Freddybb had

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