Terminal Reaction

by Dawn Marsanne

  It was just coming up to 11 a.m. as he arrived at the police station. He went through the revolving door and into an empty reception. The desk sergeant looked up and asked if he could help.

  ‘Er, well yes, I hope so, I just wanted to ask a bit of advice,’ said Nick hesitantly.

  ‘Certainly sir, what is it you need to know?’

  ‘Well, I wanted to know what I can do about someone who’s targeting me, vandalising my car, sending malicious letters, that sort of thing.’

  ‘Oh, dear, sorry to hear that you feel you are being victimised. Do you have evidence of a particular person, photos, videos, that sort of thing?’

  ‘Well no, I’ve not seen anyone to be exact but I received a threatening anonymous note, and I had a screw in my tyre and some dog shit, sorry, faeces of some sort and food smeared on my car,’ and he showed this morning’s photos.

  ‘I see, sorry to hear that, I can see from the photos it must have been very upsetting. Do you have the letter in question?’

  ‘Yes, it’s here, but my girlfriend and I have both handled it so it will be covered in fingerprints.’

  The sergeant smiled, they were unlikely to send a note to forensics at this stage. Unfortunately the note could have come from anyone as far as he could see, it was very vague. He handed it back to Nick.

  ‘Well the police are able to issue a PIN, a Police Information Notice, in cases like yours but it doesn’t in fact, carry much weight. It’s not a notice of any wrongdoing and doesn’t charge a person, it just serves to make them aware that a victim has identified them as the likely perpetrator.’

  ‘I see,’ said Nick absorbing what he’d been told.

  ‘The thing is, without concrete evidence it is probably not a very wise step, although it is of course, your decision. It can sometimes make matters worse. Although of course if the perpetrator is provoked it may mean they can commit an offence which can be recorded, but it may also mean the intensity of the harassment is increased and so the unpleasantness may also increase. Sometimes it is just best to leave things to fizzle out of their own accord, but that depends very much on the nature of the person and the lengths he or she is prepared to go to. There’s not really any right answer I’m afraid, it’s a grey area.’

  ‘So you are saying it’s best to try to ignore what’s happened then,’ asked Nick, a note of petulance creeping into his voice.

  ‘No, sir, I am merely presenting you with the information for you to consider. This is the situation as it stands. Of course, if there is any injury to a person or actions become more serious we would be obligated to investigate the crime further.’

  ‘Well thanks anyway,’ said Nick, his manner softening somewhat, ‘I need to go away and think about this.’

  ‘Of course, sir. Here’s a leaflet you may find useful. It gives various contact numbers and helplines, it’s worth a read.’

  ‘Thanks, I’ll take a look,’ replied Nick and he left the police station heading back towards his flat and the revolting task awaiting him.

  Chapter 35

  Nick finally arrived at work around lunchtime. He felt like he needed a shower after washing the disgusting stuff off his car. The sponge and rubber gloves he’d used were in the bin and the bucket he’d used was in a small communal utility cupboard on their corridor having been washed out several times with disinfectant and the water having been flushed down the toilet. He didn’t want the bucket in their flat, they would buy a new one at the weekend. He’d not wanted to delay any further as he realised that Kirsty was due to try out the first step of their large-scale synthesis on a trial amount this afternoon and he wanted to be around. He’d phoned her briefly from the university explaining his late arrival and that she should wait for him, on no account should she press ahead with the reaction alone. They would have plenty of time to set it up that afternoon. If it looked OK after leaving it overnight they would repeat on a bigger scale then they would be ready for the scale-up on Monday morning. Not something Nick was looking forward to but he’d been in touch with his friend Gio at the contract synthesis company down the road and he’d told him that they’d not had any problems with it despite several runs. They’d forwarded all the safety analysis of the reaction which was a big help and showed a large temperature window within which they could operate.

  Nick quickly forced down his sandwich whilst sitting at his desk checking his emails, so he was ready for an afternoon of chemistry by 1 p.m. when Kirsty was due back from lunch. He checked his own reactions whilst waiting for her to return and noticed Kevin entering the lab carrying some supplies. He felt awkward in Kevin’s presence now after recent events but could hardly avoid him as it would mean either rushing past him out into the corridor or retreating back to the office area and he didn’t want to appear that he was in any way intimidated by Kevin.

  The boxes of gloves were slammed down on one of the communal benches by Kevin whose face was set in an angry grimace. ‘Four boxes of large gloves and four of medium,’ he said aggressively, ‘I think those was the ones you was looking for last week?’

  ‘Thank you, that’s great,’ replied Nick, trying to remain unflustered.

  ‘So you see the order came through OK after all,’ he was still glaring at Nick.

  ‘Well yes, that’s good, after all those delays and shortages,’ he added, unable to resist the jibe.

  ‘Well these things happen, don’t they. I told you that company has become hopeless, sending the wrong order and so on.’

  ‘You did say,’ added Nick, wondering where the conversation was leading.

  ‘So you can see why I was a bit annoyed this morning to have someone from finance, some slip of a girl, assistant to Melanie, phoning me to say she wanted to see all my invoices and orders and me to do a full stock take. Apparently, we are over budget on consumables and it’s all my fault!’

  Nick couldn’t believe his ears, he’d had a word with his friend Stefan in IT to ask whether they could trace orders and mentioned that he thought that there was a problem with stock levels, although he hadn’t gone so far as to suggest that he thought Kevin was thieving. He just wanted to set in motion awareness about the budget and that there might be some dodgy practices in operation. Nick remained silent, merely shrugged at Kevin’s revelation.

  ‘Well, I told her, whatever her name was, that it wasn’t me that used all the gloves it was the chemists who get through umpteen pairs a day and often waste them. Not my fault that we are getting through them like a dose of salts.’

  ‘We are merely abiding by the safety rules, Kevin,’ added Nick tactfully. Kevin appeared severely rattled, he could see a vein pulsing in his temple and he was a high colour. He started to advance across the lab towards Nick, his air was menacing, his fists clenching and unclenching.

  ‘Of course, it wouldn’t be because someone decided to meddle in things which need not concern him, no of course not,’ spat Kevin. Nick stepped back a couple of paces not wanting to breathe Kevin’s sour breath which had been noticeable all the time he worked there. One particular word, meddle, resounded with Nick, the same word used in the anonymous letter that had been delivered to their flat.

  ‘Look, Kevin, I think you should calm down and leave the lab, I am finding your attitude rather intimidating. It’s best you leave before things get out of hand.’

  ‘Oh, you know what’s best for me do you. Well, I know what’s best for you, Mr Nick,’ he snarled. ‘You can’t resist can you? Always poking your nose into other people’s affairs. Not the first time is it? Do you know the other evening for one moment I even thought you were following me? Such a silly thought, don’t you think?’ He thought he noticed Kevin glance past Nick’s shoulder towards the office area but he couldn’t be sure whether he’d seen anyone else as Nick had his back to the office.

  ‘I really do not want to continue this conversation any further Kevin, you are starting to harass me and I will have to report you,’ and Nick gently pushed Kevin to one side as he was blocking him
in against the bench. Suddenly Kevin cried out and stumbled, throwing himself to the floor, howling in pain, clutching his arm and his stomach.

  ‘Ow, you bastard, you hit me, ow, my arm hurts, get off me!’

  Kirsty had now entered the lab and her jaw dropped, she couldn’t believe what she was seeing.

  ‘Stop it you git, Kevin, I never touched you, oh fuck!’ shouted Nick. ‘Get up and stop acting!’ Nick was pacing around in frustration, flapping his arms and pointing in a gesture as if to say look at this idiot on the floor, it’s nothing to do with me.

  ‘What’s going on?’ asked Billie who had now entered, standing next to Kirsty whose mouth was still hanging open.

  ‘Nothing’s going on, Kevin’s decided to audition for RADA,’ said Nick sarcastically. ‘He’s been threatening me, and now he’s trying to make out I’ve assaulted him, I never touched him.’

  Billie rushed over, ‘Kevin, are you alright, are you hurt?’

  ‘Oh, I’m OK, I should be alright, just about,’ he added, dusting himself down and rubbing his arm and holding his back very theatrically. ‘I’ll probably be bruised. I don’t know what got into young Nick here, I’d just brought him some gloves and the next minute he started accusing me of all sorts. He’s in a very bad mood today, you need to watch yourselves. Anyway, I’ve got work to do,’ he said tottering off back down to his storeroom.

  ‘Nick, I need to speak to you,’ said Billie sternly.

  The whole episode had been cleverly orchestrated by Kevin who was now the victim, Nick laughed to himself. Well, there are two sides to every story and Billie was just about to hear his side. Despite the incident reflecting badly on him professionally, Nick felt that Kevin had revealed some key items of information. He now had proof positive that he was waging a campaign of intimidation. After the chat with Billie, he would be making a phone call. Kevin had just overstepped the mark.

  Chapter 36

  After the ugly encounter with Bob, Brett’s day brightened when Emma phoned to let him know that she’d had some discussion with the FCA and they had been in full agreement that they should investigate Giles Wentworth as a matter of urgency. Hence all further interviews with Brett were on hold pending their findings into the illicit activities. She had just completed a document summarising the information Brett had supplied and it had been faxed to the FCA. A written document signed by her on Brett’s behalf was also in the post to them. Now for the slightly less pleasing news, she would also be sending him details of her fees up to now. He didn’t need to pay them initially and he may well be able to claim back any legal costs from Giles if it could be proved that he’d acted maliciously. Brett sincerely hoped so because at over two hundred and fifty pounds an hour he’d already run up a bill of around a thousand pounds. At least nowadays he actually had some savings, no longer did he spend every penny of his salary and more. He had a financial buffer to shield him from the unexpected.

  Billie had just emailed him asking to speak to him urgently on a staff matter as she put it and he’d suggested she drop by to see him at about 3 p.m. He just hoped it wasn’t another serious problem, each day seemed fraught with one disaster or another at the moment. Melanie had also sent him a reminder that they had done nothing about drawing up plans for expansion of the workforce. She’d suggested a few combinations of staff of different grades both in chemistry and biology. Unfortunately, that would mean running the proposals through Bob as Head of Biology and that was something he was not prepared to do just at the moment, not after his last conversation. He might even pass the buck to Piers, maybe he might command a bit more respect from bad-tempered Bob.

  He couldn’t wait for the day to end as he was going to see Annabelle this evening. He’d been missing her desperately. It really was true about absence making the heart grow fonder. He hoped that he would be able to stay over at her house again tonight although he’d not actually mentioned that today, he felt it better just to go round for a meal and see how the evening developed. He was worried that Annabelle still suspected he’d been dishonest. He was determined to prove his innocence and restore her confidence in him. Emma’s call had given him the confidence that their relationship would soon be back on track.

  **

  The atmosphere in the lab was strained after the incident with Kevin. Nick felt embarrassed that Kirsty had witnessed it even though it had been staged. It was hardly the example to set to a supervisee. She had also seen Nick taken off for a private meeting by Billie but upon their return, their mood was relaxed as if there had been some key revelations which had altered Billie’s opinion of Nick. Either way, they had both decided that the best course was to keep away from the subject and had the radio playing through the computer in the lab with music for company. Having the background noise meant they could keep conversation to a minimum. It was good in a way that they had the tricky reaction to concentrate on. Nick had sat down with Kirsty to go through the risk assessment prior to starting any experimental work and now everything was proceeding well. By 4 p.m. all the reagents were added and the reaction could be left safely overnight. As a precaution, an additional perspex blast screen was placed in the fume-hood surrounding the reaction. This was standard procedure in the event of anything potentially explosive. When the reaction was scaled up they would be performing it in the other lab which was slightly removed from the other laboratories. Kirsty had done a good job in stocking it with some large scale glassware in preparation for next week.

  He now had the opportunity to sneak outside the building and make some private phone calls. He’d had some texts from Polly that day saying that she was safely installed in her new office and able to make good progress with her work. She was feeling much happier now and looking forward to her evening out. That reminded Nick that he needed to confirm back to Mark that 7.30 p.m. was a convenient time and that Mark should make the final decision regarding a venue and text him back. Having got his social calls out of the way he looked in his wallet for a scrap of paper he’d been given earlier that day and punched in the number. It was time to make someone realise he had tried to bully the wrong person.

  Chapter 37

  Nick arrived home at 6.30 p.m. having visited a jet car wash on the way back. His vehicle was now looking back to normal. He was worried about leaving it unattended this evening so despite going out for drinks with Mark he decided to drive it into town and park in a public car park. It meant he would be limited to a pint or so and then have to switch to soft drinks but he didn’t mind really. His main purpose was to chat with Mark rather than down copious amounts of beer. Today had been a roller coaster of emotions, he could hardly believe so much had happened. Polly had texted to say she’d now met up with Libby who had stopped by the university to collect her and they were now on their way to meet up with the rest of the gang. Nick threw all his clothes into the washing machine and set it going, no way was he wearing those things the next day after washing the disgusting mess off the car. He ate his second sandwich of the day then stepped into the shower and let the warm water wash away some of his tension. Dressing in some clean chinos, a checked shirt and newish trainers he grabbed his lightweight beige jacket and left the flat. He bumped into his neighbour James and asked him whether he’d noticed anyone suspicious hanging about in the car park.

  ‘Nobody, sorry, mate,’ replied James, ‘why, something been happening?’

  ‘Well, I had a screw in my tyre one day and then someone trashed my car, covering it with shit and all manner of things.’

  ‘Shit, oh sorry, I mean, that’s awful,’ said James, ‘most likely yobs with nothing to do. We could do with a camera in the car park.’

  ‘That’s true, but I think it’s someone with a grudge against me rather than yobs, I’ve a good idea but I just need the proof.’

  ‘Mate, that’s terrible, can you do anything about it, without proof.’

  ‘I think I can, he needs teaching a lesson, but don’t mention it to Polly if you see her, she’s a bit upset about it
, I want to tell her myself. She doesn’t know about the car situation, apart from the tyre.’

  ‘No, I won’t tell her and I’ll keep an eye out, my flat overlooks the car park so I’ll look out from time to time.’

  ‘Cheers, mate, now got to go, catch up with you soon, and thanks!’ and Nick sprinted down the stairs to his hopefully still clean car.

  **

  Brett found that he didn’t need to ask Annabelle about staying the night. As soon as he walked in through the door she embraced him and soon they were undressing each other. Although it had only been three days since he’d seen her he felt like it was an age and his passion overflowed, he was hardly able to contain himself. Somehow they made it upstairs to the bedroom. So it was after 8 p.m. when their thoughts turned to dinner and Annabelle said she would microwave something out of the freezer.

  ‘It was so good to get your message that the FCA is investigating this odious Giles,’ said Annabelle as they sat together on the sofa eating individual microwaved pasta meals. ‘All you can do is wait now but it’s sounding much more positive.’

  ‘I feel so relieved,’ said Brett, ‘it’s not over yet but Emma sounds very confident.’

  ‘How are things going at BioQex then?’

  ‘OK, some hassles but we have that clinical trial coming up on Friday, fingers crossed it will be successful. I’m not sure I should mention this but it could do well for the share price. Oops, hope I’m not leaking secrets,’ he joked.

  ‘I don’t think I’d be stupid enough to buy your shares whilst in a relationship with you,’ said Annabelle.

  ‘Talking of that trial, I had a bit of an incident with Bob McKewan, Head of Biology. You met him at Piers’ barbecue, grumpy sod, do you remember him?’