Terminal Reaction

by Dawn Marsanne

  ‘Nick, there’s no need to be cruel. Kirsty’s doing a lot better and she needs this as a development goal, without a good showing in a new venture like this she could well be at risk of being let go in her next appraisal. I truly believe she wants to do a good job and I need to give her a chance.’

  Nick remained silent, fuming inside. He could feel his shirt sticking to his lower back. He hoped the damp patches under his arms weren’t starting to show.

  ‘Look, there’s money available for new equipment so start to order what you need. Also, the good thing is we’ve got some of the materials we were going to pass on down the road for them to make a start on the synthesis. It’s just been a shock to you.’

  ‘Certainly has,’ said Nick, his pragmatism starting to take over now that his initial anger had subsided. It’s just a pity we’re not needing to make compound 561, that was a much easier synthesis. The trouble with 896 is that it’s got that dodgy step. Well I don’t mean dodgy but it has to be handled properly otherwise it could be hazardous,’ and he paused for thought. Billie decided it best that Nick was allowed to speak aloud and talk through his concerns. After all, he was the one having to deal with all this and she had to admit she wouldn’t want to be in his shoes. ‘I guess the contractors were happy with the risk assessments though, otherwise they wouldn’t have agreed to cost it. It will just have to be OK, we don’t have a choice.’

  ‘Thanks, Nick, I knew you’d be amenable, you’re a good chemist and this will give you extra experience. I can’t help feeling that something’s going on here and it makes me nervous about the future.’ Billie suddenly stopped worried that she’d overstepped the mark. She was Nick’s supervisor and she shouldn’t be spreading rumours or causing additional worry, the poor chap had just had bad enough news as it was.

  ‘What do you mean? Worried about the future,’ asked Nick feeling even more disconcerted than he did ten minutes ago.

  ‘Look, I shouldn’t have said anything but I heard and it may only be a rumour that those visitors the other day were something to do with some financial authority and the company might not have been disclosing all the information it should, or something. I don’t know any more detail. But the company might get a fine or something, perhaps this is why there has been a halt on capital expenditure. I don’t know, it’s all a bit odd.’

  ‘That’s all I need,’ muttered Nick, ‘Polly and I are saving up to get married, I can’t afford to lose my job and we’re looking for somewhere to buy as well. Shit, there’s always something to worry about here,’ he added.

  ‘Well, there’s no point in worrying until we know exactly what is happening. Do you think you might be able to make a start on that synthesis in a few days?’

  ‘That quick? Well I’ll try but can you talk to Kirsty for me? And please tell her that she needs to make sure she is one hundred percent rigorous with her safety and so on.’

  ‘Of course, I’ll speak to her, and thanks Nick for being so helpful on this, I’ll make sure Brett knows how you’ve agreed so readily.’

  ‘Well not exactly readily,’ added Nick.

  ‘No but I’ll put in a good word for you,’ smiled Billie and she winked at Nick.

  Chapter 29

  In good time for his 11 a.m. appointment at Brigstock and Wellman, Brett was waiting in the reception area. He’d been offered tea or coffee but had declined, preferring to drink water. He didn’t want any more caffeine to cause his pulse to race any more than it was currently. He’d had no messages from Annabelle but texted her just to say that he was about to have his meeting with Emma Pearson. A couple of minutes later Emma came out to greet him and they headed up the stairs to her small office. Emma had been no fan of Brett in the past, having met him a couple of times socially over five years ago but she’d spoken to Matt recently and he’d assured her that he felt Brett was a reformed character and she should judge him on the evidence in front of her. She’d not really had any choice in the matter of representation as she needed a high profile case to boost her reputation following her career break.

  ‘Please take a seat,’ said Emma closing the door to her office.

  ‘Thanks,’ said Brett, removing a folder from his briefcase.

  ‘Now, we spoke on the phone and I have a general idea of the charges the FCA are bringing against you but we need to go into events in much more detail in order to build a defence.’

  ‘Sure, I’ve brought all the paperwork you requested,’ and Brett handed over a plastic wallet containing financial records and account details which Emma had requested.

  ‘Super, I’ll look at those later when you’ve left, let’s get back to what happened since you started at BioQex, I need to get a full picture.’

  ‘Gosh, well it’s been a busy six months but I can go through things with the aid of my diary.’

  So Brett filled Emma in on his tenure at BioQex highlighting major achievements of the company, press releases, compound successes and everything he felt relevant. Emma made notes on her yellow legal pad, stopping him at regular intervals to clarify details.

  ‘So when did you first notice that your post was going missing?’ asked Emma.

  ‘Well, it’s difficult to pin an actual date on things as I don’t get much post these days. Most things are online now, but I know that some people sent me birthday cards and I didn’t get them. Also, my credit card statement went missing and I know the date that should have arrived, well within a day or so.’

  ‘So your birthday is August 10th? Is that right?’

  ‘Yes, and the credit card statement should have arrived on August 18th, so it’s around that time.’

  ‘And did you get any post between then and when did you say the post started again?’

  ‘No, actually, only one letter arrived during a four week period. I’d been so busy with work I didn’t really think much of it but I realise now that I should have cottoned on to it earlier. I feel a bit foolish really,’ said Brett contritely.

  ‘Don’t worry, we can all be wise with hindsight,’ said Emma sympathetically. ‘Now normally rogue postmen target certain sorts of post, credit cards, birthday cards with money in them although hardly anyone sends cash these days. It would be very odd for someone to steal all your post.’

  Brett listened to Emma and realised she was correct, it was strange. Why hadn’t he considered that? ‘So what’s your conclusion?’

  ‘Well it seems to me that someone has fraudulently re-directed your mail so that he could get enough items of post to act as identity documents. Presumably, with those, he could then open those bank accounts the FCA showed you. This is a targeted example of identity theft.’

  Brett listened in silence, he felt abused and violated. Emma continued. ‘In order to re-direct your post he would need your signature, a copy of something like your driving licence to get your date of birth, address, and that would be about all. Perhaps he or she created a fake email so that they could communicate with Royal Mail that way. Have you lost your wallet or driving licence recently?’

  ‘No, nothing like that, I always keep it with me and at work, I keep things locked away in my drawer or cupboard. Perhaps someone got the details from the DVLA?’

  ‘Well it’s possible, but somehow I think a person has been able to get access to your personal documents without you realising and things have developed from there. I really need you to give this some thought. This could give us the pointer we need.’

  Brett suddenly had a horrible feeling. It washed over him from head to toe. Could Annabelle have taken him for a fool and scammed him? Was this the reason for her sudden coolness once he revealed his FCA interview. Surely not, it couldn’t be her, could it? He was stirred from these most dreadful thoughts by Emma speaking to him.

  ‘Dr Chandler, are you feeling OK, you look rather pale, can I get you something to drink? Shall I open a window?’

  ‘Er, no, sorry, I think it’s just the stress I’m feeling a bit hot at the moment,’ and he loosened his tie.
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  ‘Let me get Veronica to bring you some water, I see you’ve finished that bottle,’ and Emma rose to speak to her assistant outside the office door. She returned and started to flick through the papers Brett had brought with him and then there was a knock on the door, his water was brought in by Veronica. Brett sipped it and found he was starting to feel slightly better. ‘I will start to prepare your defence based on your current good record, evidence of identity theft, lack of history with the bank this account has been opened with. So far they don’t have enough evidence to charge you. It’s lucky actually that someone purchased those items on your credit card. They were collected from a retail outlet in London, so unlikely you would have done that.’

  ‘Thank you, well I feel a bit more confident having spoken to you, but I’m still worried about my interview next week in London at the FCA.’

  ‘Don’t worry, I’ll accompany you of course. In the meantime I want you to go back over the last few months and go through everything you did with a fine-tooth comb. All your movements, try to think laterally, the answer lies somewhere and we need to find it.’

  ‘Yes, well I’ll certainly do that, I’ll start this evening and get back to you hopefully very soon.’

  ‘Excellent, well once you get your appointment with the FCA let my secretary know and we can make arrangements to travel down to London. Hopefully, I’ll hear from you before then anyway. I’ll also be consulting with the senior partner here regarding the issue of insider dealing. He’s represented someone on a similar case and his input will be useful.’

  ‘Thanks, Emma, sorry Mrs Pearson, I’ll speak to you soon,’ and they both stood to shake hands. Brett planned to leave work at a reasonably early hour, perhaps go to the gym to burn off some anger. It might help his mind work differently and work out how he became the victim of fraud. He wasn’t confident but anything was worth a try.

  Chapter 30

  Following his meeting with Billie, Nick went back to his desk but he found he couldn’t concentrate. He quickly popped into the lab to check all was OK with his reactions and to make himself available should Kirsty need him. She wasn’t around so he scanned what was happening in her fume-hoods but all seemed to be well. She was working much more tidily now which was pleasing. Noticing that a large box had been delivered to him he went to check the label and saw that it was a batch of starting material for the large-scale synthesis. This had been due to go off-site to their contract company had their quote been accepted but it was sadly destined for processing here. As it was a rather large box Nick decided to take it along to the other laboratory so he could take stock of anything which was needed. It was a much more unpleasant working environment, being at the end of the corridor it had only a small window and so there would be much less natural light. Nick felt quite depressed that he would be spending a considerable amount of time in here. He had a look through the cupboards and saw that they would need to restock with quite a lot of glassware, some could be commandeered from his own lab but they would need to either raid the storeroom or put in a special order. That, of course, would cost money but the senior team didn’t seem to realise this, they were hell-bent on implementing their new strategy with little or no consultation. The way Nick felt today he didn’t really care whether the company went belly up or not, that might force his hand to change careers, perhaps he’d already had the best of times in research.

  He felt he needed to escape this gloomy atmosphere so he retraced his steps back to his own lab and then out to his desk. He was just in time to see Kirsty heading off with Billie for a chat. No doubt she would be as thrilled as him when she found out about her new opportunity. He really didn’t want to be around when she came back so he decided to take an early lunch and go and sit outside in the sunshine. He wanted to phone Polly to tell her about his day and also to check that she was coping. She’d been extremely stressed with her new job. Usually after her Zumba class on Monday evening they would spend a bit of time relaxing before bed, watch some TV or just chat about the day, but last night she said she needed to look up some background information on the web which would help in her job as she had a meeting the following day with another department within the broader finance group. Nick went to bed leaving Polly hard at work in the lounge, he’d no idea what time she’d actually turned in and when he awoke she was already up and dressed. He’d encouraged her to take this job but now he felt guilty as she was obviously working with some awful people who were dishonest and soon she would have enough information documented to go to the next level. Nick felt she should have already reported them but she wanted to make sure she wasn’t premature in her whistle-blowing, she wanted to have a cast-iron case.

  The sun was stronger than Nick had anticipated so he moved to the shade of some small trees out of view from the main entrance to BioQex. He now had a partial view of the rear and could see that the recent graffiti had been painted over albeit not in an exact shade of grey-green paint. It looked rather a mess, in fact, luckily it wasn’t in full view of any visitors. He ate his lunch and read through some papers he’d brought out with him and then heard the approach of a largish vehicle. It was a delivery lorry and it headed around the back to the goods entrance. The van waited for a minute or so its diesel engine spewing out horrible black fumes causing Nick to stand up and move a short distance from his bench. Kevin opened the rear gate and the van revved up, causing more fumes to billow out and Nick to move even further away cursing to himself. Once the atmosphere cleared Nick moved back although to a slightly more distant bench as the van would at some point be leaving with a second dose of pollution. From his vantage point, he could see Kevin marshalling the unloading of a large number of boxes and check them against an inventory. There must have been more than thirty of varying sizes stacked up ready for a youngish chap to wheel them in on a porter’s trolley. He’d not seen this assistant before, he must have been sent on work experience from the job-centre, this happened from time to time to some poor unsuspecting youngsters who must go home each night with a blinding headache or earache from listening to Kevin’s incessant twaddle. In fact, Nick could see from the large black lettering on the boxes that it was doubtless another supply of consumables such as gloves, tissues, and so on. Yes, and I wonder how many of those will actually be available on the shelves he thought.

  He whipped out his phone and took a quick photo of the size of the consignment, it might be further evidence for him. He’d still not worked out a plan for how he was going to approach the issue of Kevin, he needed to write everything down and have a full dossier of evidence, otherwise, it would be his word against Kevin’s. As he was in the shade his phone’s flash operated as he took the photo and he swore to himself as it caused Kevin to look over in his direction. ‘Shit,’ muttered Nick and ducked down below the back of the bench. Kevin continued to look over in his direction but was then distracted by his mobile ringing. He answered then stopped speaking, looking back over his shoulder presumably wanting to be out of earshot of his young protégé. The only problem was Kevin was now wandering in Nick’s direction through the gate which needed to be closed and out towards the front of the building. Nick desperately wanted to hear what Kevin had to say that was so private, he could guess but he wanted to have proof, it could be something to do with last night’s delivery. Nick had to make a decision, get proof or reveal himself to Kevin which would no doubt stop his conversation. He grabbed his plastic sandwich box and his papers he’d been reading and crept to hide behind some bushes. In his haste, he dropped a couple of sheets of papers and they fluttered on the wind heading in Kevin’s direction.

  ‘Yes, I can do that, same again,’ Nick heard Kevin say. Nick had activated the voice record on his phone and increased the volume to maximum. His heart was pounding in his chest as he crouched in the shrubbery trying to keep deadly still and remain unnoticed. Thoughts of what he might say if discovered were racing through his head, it would be so obvious to Kevin he would just have to come clean and report hi
m that day. ‘No chance this week, forget it mate, too risky, possibly next Monday but I’ll have to confirm.’

  This was excellent stuff thought Nick although it would be good to have more detail. He continued to listen to the conversation.

  ‘Same place, outside Sidz?’ and Kevin paused, ‘why not? Another pause, ‘well where do you want to meet up then?’ Come on come on thought Nick, I need some specifics, this isn’t enough if only he could hear the other side of the conversation.

  ‘Say again, reception’s not very good around here, you’re breaking up. Did you say large or extra large, I didn’t get it,’ excellent thought Nick, come on, more more. ‘Right, thirty extra large, two dozen large, masks, how many?’ His friend then spoke for much longer and Kevin started to pace about looking agitated.

  ‘Now come on I’m not sure, listen, you fuck off yourself, don’t threaten me. Oh you will, will you? Well it works both ways!’ Kevin was shouting which was such good news for Nick. ‘I’m not sure about that, I never intended to get into that sort of stuff, only the items I’ve already supplied. I’ll have to get back to you about that, hang on, I’ve got to go now,’ and he ended the call as his assistant was shouting about something, needing to know what to do. Kevin pocketed his phone and strode back to his helper. Nick breathed a sigh of relief. He’d now got his evidence on record. He played it back and although you had to strain to hear at some point it was acceptable. Kevin had just incriminated himself, Sidz was the garage he’d seen on Monday evening. Nick was going to relish every minute of Kevin’s undoing.

  **

  Bob’s afternoon was taken up with meetings with his biology teams to adjust work plans due to Pete’s absence and the fact that they had no idea when he was going to be able to return. All of the staff were very understanding and amenable to having their workload altered at short notice. Fortunately, they were an experienced bunch and Bob was confident he wouldn’t have to keep such a close eye on them. He returned to his office to find that his solicitor had called and left a voicemail message asking him for some extra paperwork related to his wife’s estate. Bob listened to the message again so that he could make notes of exactly what was needed. Whilst he was working he managed to banish the pain of Joan’s death into the background, it returned with intensity as soon as he set foot through his front door. However, this call from the solicitor had brought things flooding back during work hours. He didn’t fully understand the message but it was something about the Lasting Power of Attorney which they’d drawn up in case Joan’s decline was long and protracted. Sadly she’d died before the document had become active. Joan, Joan he implored silently, why did you leave me so soon? Uncharacteristically his detached persona left him and he put his head in his hands, weeping silently.