As the screen came to life and cast its light over the manila folder, Brook’s eye was drawn to a series of indentations on the cover that he hadn’t noticed before. He held the folder to the light and moved it around to decipher the marks. Something had been written on the folder and, later, vigorously erased, leaving a slightly lighter blue colour on the card.A trace remained so Brook took a pencil and used the flattened point to rub lightly over the affected area. A couple of minutes later he was able to make out the faint outline of what had been removed.Pied Piper63 WS 1st?22/12/73 JW 2nd or 3rd? Wrong MODec 78? 3rd or 4th?Others?No 68. Why? FS?‘The Pied Piper,’ mumbled Brook. A fairytale figure who played a magic pipe to entice rats away from a small German town.He copied the note into his pad then removed all the documents from the Stanforth folder to search for any mention of a Pied Piper, missed first time round. He couldn’t find a single reference. However, by comparing several handwritten reports against the mysterious message, Brook found a match against a report signed by DCI Samuel Bannon, SIO of the Stanforth inquiry.The Pied Piper didn’t just lure away rats, thought Brook, rubbing his chin.
