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Four monitors bathed the otherwise unlit room in a soft glow. The ticking of the wall clock supplied a soundtrack for the night. Two switched rhythmically between internal views, another alternated views of the rear. The last maintained a steady oversight of the glass entrance doors and the street beyond.
The business sector on the northern edge of the city centre had no attraction for the average party animal, despite its proximity to several nightclubs. There was no fast food, no flashing lights and no night taxi rank. This put it in a no go zone for all but the few in a hotel room or apartment there. After midnight, if there was tumbleweed in Liverpool, this is where you’d find it.
It had been months since anything interesting had appeared on three of the monitors. The last time was when two hooded figures broke in and stayed long enough to be captured by the Police. The footage of one of them trying to outrun the Police dog was particularly amusing and ultimately very satisfying for those privileged enough to see it.
The front entrance was different. Often it’d revealed comedy drunks, male and female urinators, couples having sex and the occasional ‘domestic’ dispute. Tonight, since not long after midnight, it’d stolidly recorded the building facades opposite, together with the dark entrance to the narrow cobbled roadway cutting between them.
Until, that is, just after 3 am. On the opposite pavement, a woman coming from the direction of the city centre walked unsteadily past. She stopped then returned to stare into the gloom of the alley. After checking to her right and left, she disappeared into its depths. Twenty seconds later, a figure dressed in dark clothing, hoodie covering his face, walked briskly into view. Without hesitation, he followed her into the gloom.
A full two minutes elapsed before the man in the odd pants with a small light coloured rucksack on his back walked past the entrance and continued out of view into the city. Fifteen seconds later, he came back and walked slowly along the cobbles. When he reached the periphery of light, he stood still.