Terminal Reaction

by Dawn Marsanne

  Polly decided to start with the tender process for the cleaning contract. She thought that this might be the most difficult as she anticipated there to be many companies which had registered an interest but only a fraction of these had actually submitted a tender. How strange thought Polly, surely a contract with the university could be extremely lucrative. The university was unlikely to close down so there was the distinct possibility if you did a good job your contract would be renewed. There were over twenty archived tenders, the successful one being allocated to Persford Cleaners. She opened up the tender, it covered total costs on a weekly and monthly basis, hours of work supplied, number of staff involved, additional costs incurred such as insurance, overtime rates, it was very extensive and detailed. It all appeared very professional. She then looked at the other tenders, the total tendered costs differed by as much as eighty thousand pounds. She looked back at the successful contract and saw that it was at the very top end of the tendered amounts. Well, they’d certainly not awarded the contract on the cost basis alone. But cost wasn’t everything, it depended on how well the job was done. Most companies provided testimonials from satisfied customers to support their application. Many were very impressive. She looked back at the successful tendering company, there were no testimonials at all. She looked at the company on Google. It had a website but was extremely amateurish so there was little information, that in itself wasn’t a problem, after all, it was a cleaning company, not one providing IT services for example. Further hits on Google showed some information on directors of Persford Cleaners, it looked like husband and wife team, Mike and Jenny Wharton. She continued to stare at the screen, Wharton, that rang a bell, Edith Wharton author, Polly had read some of her novels. However, that wasn’t the only reason the name Wharton was jangling bells in Polly’s brain. Wharton was also the surname of one of her colleagues, namely Luke who was sitting a few feet away.

  **

  Brett was back in his office enjoying a coffee after a tour of the building to survey the vandalism. He’d been to speak to the staff who had been shocked at their company becoming a target. There would be some disruption today as the glaziers would need access inside and outside of the building. He also reminded them not to leave any confidential papers out on their desks as members of the public would be traipsing through. Most staff, however, seemed to be taking it in their stride putting it down as an isolated incident as nothing similar had ever happened before on site.

  Once back in his office he’d drafted an email to all staff reminding them to be vigilant. To report anything suspicious without hesitation and to be careful who they chatted to outside work. They should be careful that their security passes were not visible when leaving BioQex and not to reveal where they worked to people unless absolutely necessary. They needed to be confident that disclosing such information wouldn’t put them at risk from animal rights activists. It was a sad state of affairs that they had to keep quiet about their employment but it could be the start of a phase of targeted attacks by the animal liberation front. Piers was going to contact the other life science companies on the site to see whether they’d had any incidents however small. Mark Jameson said he wasn’t aware of anything being reported to security but it was worth checking.

  He needed to keep an eye on the time as at 11 a.m. he and the rest of the senior team were going to go together to the funeral of Bob’s wife. It was at the crematorium situated just outside Persford. They’d never met Joan but were going to show support to their colleague. The service would be short, only half an hour and then Bob’s family had arranged light refreshments at a pub nearby. They would go along to that before returning to work in the afternoon.

  This disruption over the vandalism had taken up a couple of hours and he was supposed to be re-examining Mel’s finance projections and considering her recommendations for expansion. He hoped that he wouldn’t end up having to post notices for vacant positions but he needed to be prepared, the vote at the board could go either way. He’d no idea how Jonathan Barrow would vote on Mel’s proposals. He was psyching himself up for spreadsheet mode when his mobile rang. The caller’s name visible on the display took him by surprise and he fumbled with his cup, nearly spilling it on the papers on his desk. He was momentarily caught by indecision, should he let it go to voicemail, should he answer it. Just before he knew the voicemail would cut in he swiped across the screen.

  ‘Hello, Brett here.’

  ‘Morning Brett, there’s something I think you might like to know.’

  Chapter 15

  Ez was at work unloading a large delivery from a lorry and wheeling cages of supplies into the warehouse prior to distribution to the shelves in the store. He felt dreadful. He’d taken several painkillers when he’d got up but they’d so far had little effect. In an hour it would be time for his break and he would take a few more along with a couple of glasses of water, his throat was parched. When he’d arrived back from his mission last night he’d been so wired he couldn’t settle to go to sleep. He’d consumed the best part of half a bottle of whisky which helped to induce drowsiness and after donning his headphones he finally dropped off, sometime between 11 p.m. and midnight he estimated. He’d woken several times in the night, the first time in a blind panic at what he’d done. He’d been so reckless, what had he been thinking? The effect of the drink was stopping his brain working logically, he was a complete mess mentally. Conflicting thoughts kept bombarding his brain. He couldn’t make sense of them. Lying awake in the early hours he’d tried to evaluate things. It hadn’t been very conclusive but he’d at least resolved to start taking his antidepressants again. He’d taken one this morning along with painkillers for his headache. As had happened before they had started to make him feel drowsy and slightly detached. That was one of the reasons he’d stopped them before and he’d oscillated between taking them and missing doses. They weren’t an instant cure, and the doctor had explained that they needed to be taken for a few weeks to feel the benefit. He would try to persevere this time, well he hoped he would but it was making his monotonous job even more difficult. He kept rubbing his eyes to allay sleep, he hoped he had managed to stack the things in the right place otherwise he’d been in for a bollocking. He’d half considered phoning in sick but the prospect of a full day in his grotty flat gave him the incentive to have a shower and get ready for work. At least when he was working the temptation to drink could be resisted.

  ‘Alright, Ez?’ asked Gary, wheeling an empty cage back towards the lorry. He stopped suddenly, ‘God, Ez, are you OK, you look rough.’

  ‘Oh, I’m OK, didn’t sleep very well last night, that’s all.’

  ‘You look like shit, perhaps you’re coming down with something, you should be at home in bed. Preferably with a good woman,’ he joked.

  ‘Chance would be a fine thing,’ replied Ez, ‘who’d want me?’

  ‘Oh, come on mate, don’t be like that, you’ve just had a bad run of things recently. Things will pick up.’ Ez muttered something, remaining unconvinced by Gary’s optimism. ‘Look when’s your break?’

  ‘Half an hour, thank goodness,’ replied Ez.

  ‘Same for me. Look I’ll see you in the staff room, let’s have a chat, see if I can’t cheer you up?’

  ‘Thanks, Gary,’ replied Ez, ‘see you soon.’

  **

  In London, the FCA was continuing to monitor BioQex’s share price. They had noticed that three days ago a large sell order had been placed. They were busy trying to trace the owner of that particular contract and also hoping they could find the destination of the proceeds from the share sale. If they could glean enough information they would be able to prepare a case for the Serious Fraud Office (SFO). The seriousness of the fraud would determine whether it was investigated by the police or at a higher level by the SFO. The FCA also had criminal prosecution powers so there may not be a need to involve the fraud squad. Published guidelines had been drawn up to assist in deciding how cases should be dealt with should
they be of potential interest to more than one agency. At the moment that was far from certain but Alex Goodwood felt that they had a good chance of securing a conviction.

  Alex Goodwood was head of the section covering insider dealing and market manipulation. He had a small team working for him which used forensic software to monitor share movements. This would highlight particularly odd patterns of trading. The software still needed skilled employees to analyse the data it generated. One such investigator with a specific remit to cover the pharmaceutical industry was Olivia Frensman. She had first noticed someone who appeared to be stake building as it was called in this relatively new start-up company. There was nothing wrong in this per se, but suspicions were aroused when inordinately large purchases occurred prior to a recent announcement that a compound had reached a milestone. Olivia had identified the dealing house responsible for the share purchases and was now in the process of issuing a policy notice to them reminding them of their need to comply with an FCA investigation. There had been no opposition to assisting the FCA and they were complying fully. Olivia approached Alex’s office area to update him on progress.

  ‘Hi Olivia, how are things?’

  ‘Fine, moving along nicely. We’ve identified that the buy orders were placed from within Forteen Bank. We don’t yet know whether it was part of a fund management portfolio that they were running or for a private individual. However, they should have that information for me by the end of the day.’

  ‘That’s great Olivia. If it’s an individual we need to do the necessary research on him or her and find out whether they still have the money or whether it’s gone offshore. Can you handle that?’

  ‘Of course, no problem,’ replied Olivia.

  ‘We then need to know whether this individual was acting on information he knew or whether they were tipped off. It’s the person disclosing the information we need. Of course, they may be acting in cahoots with someone at Forteen Bank,’ and he paused. ‘Any previous record of dodgy dealings at Forteen?’

  ‘No nothing, it’s clean as far as I can see.’

  ‘OK, well let me know as soon as you hear, I reckon we will soon have a report to compile.’

  ‘Sure, speak to you later.’

  Alex felt energised. They were going to pay BioQex a visit next week, just a general one to look at accounts and so on. The preliminary visit usually served to rattle a few cages, but it might just be that by then they would have a name. That would give them even more leverage when they spoke to the senior team there. His positive mood had been given a significant uplift.

  **

  In the staff room at the supermarket Gary was drinking his flask of coffee and eating a chocolate biscuit whilst Ez downed some more water and took another couple of painkillers. They sat in companionable silence for a few minutes checking their phones for messages then Gary spoke to Ez.

  ‘Say, Ez what are you doing at the weekend?’

  ‘Oh, not much, might watch some sport down the pub or something, go for a cycle ride, I’ve not really thought about it.’ Ez was too embarrassed to say that he would probably spend much of it sleeping or wandering around the town, he hadn’t much money for socialising or hobbies, any spare cash went on booze which helped to dull the emotional pain he was suffering at the moment.

  ‘Well, the Missus says she wants a house-warming sooner rather than later. She wants to celebrate being in our new house. Doesn’t care what it looks like, or the garden, just wants to have people round whilst the weather is nice.’

  ‘Oh, well hope you have fun,’ said Ez flatly.

  ‘Would you like to come along? I’m asking a few of the guys from here, so you will know some people.’

  ‘Oh, I’m not sure,’ stammered Ez, the invitation had taken him completely by surprise and he was awkward in social situations.

  ‘Well I can’t force, you, just thought you might like some company,’ said Gary, ‘I promise not to invite my neighbour, you know, Kevin at number twelve, the one who works where your brother used to work.’ Gary stopped suddenly feeling once again he’d put his foot in it by mentioning Ez’s recently departed brother. However, he needn’t have worried as it was precisely this throwaway comment which had piqued his colleague’s interest.

  ‘Well, it’s kind of you, I’d like to come along, if you’re sure,’ added Ez, his mood brightening a little.

  ‘Great, we thought Sunday lunchtime would be good, say from noon onwards.’

  ‘Excellent, I’ll look forward to it. Can you text me your address?’

  ‘I’ll do it now,’ replied Gary.

  Ez had been wondering how he might find out more about the employee at BioQex who had initially been arrested, albeit wrongly. It was this arrest which had alerted the drug gang to the fact that Zac might be about to be discovered. Once again Ez’s mind had started to fixate on this, he held the guy responsible, not his brother. His brother had never had a chance to explain, never had a trial, had never been able to plead any mitigating circumstances. The police might have been lenient had Zac agreed to identify the bigger players. Once Ez’s train of thought set off down this path he failed to realise that his brother had been ruthless and had actually framed his innocent colleague. Although Kevin wouldn’t be at the barbecue he hoped to engineer a chance encounter, perhaps if he got talking to him he might be able to find out who Zac’s colleague was. It was time for his colleague pay. He didn’t know how exactly he would pay but he would make sure he would and when he did pay he would pay dearly.

  Chapter 16

  ‘Hello Matt, how are things?’ asked Brett who was rather unnerved to find his old friend and adversary on the line. His mind was racing, what on earth did he want? Matt had broken off contact after their rather dark period earlier this year where events had barrelled out of control. They were both now slightly older and hopefully slightly wiser. Since then Brett had turned his life around and started a new chapter. He sincerely hoped that Matt wasn’t going to try to open old wounds.

  ‘Not bad, I’m still in Persford, studying for an MBA actually.’

  ‘Wow, well that’s interesting, how’s it going?’

  ‘Not bad, but I’ve only just started the course, and it’s part-time so not too arduous. Anyway, it’s a business related matter I wanted to speak to you about.’

  ‘Really, well how can I help you?’

  ‘I think it’s better if we meet in person, I don’t really want to go into it on the phone.’

  ‘You are being mysterious, I’m starting to feel a bit uneasy,’ replied Brett, genuinely feeling perturbed. He’d assumed he’d never hear from Matt again. He’d looked at his Facebook page a couple of times but there’d only been some family pictures from a holiday, nothing very revealing.

  ‘Do you fancy a drink one evening?’

  ‘Well, yes, if you’re buying,’ joked Brett, ‘where do you suggest? And not Bells Wine Bar, before you think of suggesting it!’

  ‘What about Barista Nuovo in the centre of town, it’s quite convenient.’

  ‘Yes, I know it, when suits you?’

  ‘Tomorrow evening about 7 p.m., otherwise next week, I want to spend the weekend with my family.’

  ‘Friday’s fine, see you there, I assume I will still recognise you?’ joked Brett, ‘no need to be wearing a buttonhole and carrying a rolled up copy of the Telegraph.’

  ‘Ha, no I’m still recognisable, see you tomorrow.’

  Brett put his phone down and stared into the distance. What on earth could Matt want to discuss with him? Something which he didn’t want to discuss down the phone. Perhaps he wanted to use BioQex as a case study for his MBA, but surely that could have been discussed by phone. He would just have to wait and see. It was already difficult to concentrate this week what with the FCA bombshell, then the vandalism, Bob’s wife’s funeral and to top it all mysterious Matt. He just hoped he could get through the rest of today and tomorrow without a major disaster.

  **

  On Thursday aftern
oon Nick had a few spare moments and decided to check the websites of the manufacturers of the nitrile disposable gloves which had been in short supply, there was no mention of any problems. He googled supply problems regarding the items but nothing came to light, so it wasn’t as if there were shortages in any particular item. He found it hard to believe that they had suddenly started making serious errors fulfilling the orders, it was possible but not probable he surmised. What he needed to find out was whether there was any record of the return of invoices, did the company have a sophisticated enough tracking procedure for orders? He decided to go and speak to Amanda their departmental assistant to see whether she had any ideas.

  ‘Hi Nick,’ said Amanda, looking up from her laptop, ‘everything OK, you look very serious.’

  ‘Oh, sorry, yes, just thinking. I wanted to ask you something.’

  ‘Sure, sure, pull up a chair.’

  ‘When something is ordered through the stores, do we store an electronic record of the submission?’

  Amanda frowned, ‘Not sure, I don’t think so, we probably keep paper copies. I guess if the company has to ask for a refund or a replacement they send some sort of invoice and return the money but that’s not my area. You need to speak to Finance.’