The Malthus Pandemic

by Terry Morgan

CHAPTER 21

  These days, Colin has a couple of women in his office to help. Both of them are ex Metropolitan Police but the speed at which Asher and Asher works sometimes astounds me. The SIS could learn a few things from Colin but don't tell him I said so. It was 11.30 pm in Bangkok when I thought I'd check my emails. I don't get many and I was only looking for one. But it was there already and must have been sent around 5 pm GMT. Colin's little team had produced this report within six hours. Some civil service.

  "007," the email began. "As promised - see attached - a few notes for which you need to thank Karen in my office for the speed, not me. I've been pounding the streets of London most of the day and night. And it's cold and it's bloody raining. Colin."

  I smiled to myself, opened the attachment and read:

  "Report on Shah Corporation:

  Shah Corporation - established 2001 - international trading arm for Al Zafar Agencies Ltd, a company originally registered in Jordan in 1998. Al Zafar is solely owned by Mohamed Abdul Rahman Kader - nationality uncertain but either Egyptian or Jordanian.

  Al Zafar is mainly an agency for a long list of international companies in baby foods, health foods and pharmaceuticals.

  The organisation has offices bearing the name Al Zafar in Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar and Abu Dhabi. Latest figures suggest a profitable company - turnover end of 2009 USD 60 million - but unlikely to be accurate.

  Our Kuwaiti agent says Mohamed Kader is a multi millionaire with business interests in several other companies - am trying to obtain more detail.

  Shah Corporation was set up as Shah Medicals in Egypt in 2005. No information on the Egyptian company. Al Zafar/Mohamed Kader is involved somehow - perhaps owns it.

  Shah Medicals Pte. Ltd is based in Singapore - small - Al Zafar is involved somehow - perhaps owns it - sells to pharmacies in Singapore and Malaysia. Our Malaysian agent says it is unusual for an Arab to set up a company like this in South East Asia. Local manager - David Chua.

  Al Zafar/Mohamed Kader recently bought Hong Kong company, Chin Seng Trading - no detail.

  Shah Medicals (Nairobi) set up very recently - no detail but thought to be a takeover of a local pharmaceutical distribution company also going by the name Shah, which may have been a useful reason for buying the company. Al Zafar/Mohamed Kader is involved somehow.

  Shah Medicals may include Shah Pharmaceuticals, Shah Technick, Shah Africa, Shah Trading - still trying to unravel this.

  Our Kenyan agent Jimmy Banda is out of town but his secretary Louise says the company was in the news recently - apparently expanding into manufacture. Mohamed Kader was there. He was interviewed on the radio. Personal note: Louise says she used to buy hand cream from old Mr Shah's pharmacy and her mother used to buy sore throat pills and other Indian and African remedies. Suggests Shah has long history.

  Mr Shah (he was already 82) retired on the proceeds of the buy-out but he was well respected - a prominent pharmacist of the old school - ex President of the Pharmaceutical Society etc.

  Other information:

  Mohamed Kader may (unconfirmed) also have offices or agents in Jakarta, Bangkok, Jeddah, Cairo, Athens, Istanbul and Lagos, Nigeria.

  Al Zafar name is officially registered in several countries.

  According to our Kuwaiti agent Mohamed Kader trained as a doctor in Cairo but failed or was thrown out of University (unconfirmed). Started as a medical salesman in Amman before setting up Al Zafar agencies."

  I logged off and laid back on the bed.

  Colin and his team had, as usual, performed brilliantly but there was not much more about Mohamed Kader than I had already dredged from my memory except, perhaps, a few pointers to suggest the company was more widely spread than I thought and worth more investigation. But I knew I could still be chasing something that was totally unconnected to Virex's problem. Except that - and I kept returning to this - both Amos Gazit and Charles Brady seemed to have suspicions about one or more companies who were at the trade show. Which one? And why?

  The origins of Greg O'Brian were also starting to interest me. So what should I do next?

  It was now midnight and as I lay there thinking I'd better go and find Anna, the main hotel telephone next to my bed rang and startled me. Hesitant, but thinking it might be Anna checking on my whereabouts, I rolled over and picked it up.

  "Daniel?"

  "Yes?" I said and immediately recognised the voice of Amos Gazit.

  "It's Amos Gazit. Sorry to call you but I think you should know something. I just had a call from Boston - Charles Brady. He told me to inform you, in strictest confidence."

  Gazit paused as if uncertain how to put it.

  "We seem to have lost one of our own senior researchers. He's a guy called Jan De Jonge. He failed to turn up on Monday morning. We've checked it out and he appears to have just disappeared. I told you we were worried about an inside connection, but this guy was not one of my suspects. He's a Dutch guy. Been with us three years. Worked in my department, for God's sake. Know him well. Nothing to suspect. Single guy. Most worrying thing is he was closely involved in the development of the material we lost. In fact he had been responsible for modifying an electrophoresis technique we were using."

  I moved the phone to my other ear and sat up.

  "Go on," I said.

  "Charles thinks there's a connection. Asked me if you had anything yet. I told him it was far too early. Police not told yet, nor his family in Holland. Reckon to give it a day to see if he turns up. But, I can tell you, we are not confident. There's a chance he might show up but things are too coincidental to be anything else."

  Gazit rambled on a while longer, clearly shocked by the news. Eventually he stopped. "Well," he said, "What do you think?"

  Gazit was clearly clutching at straws and I, Daniel Capelli was the only straw within touching distance. But I had no idea what I thought. It was obvious that Virex did not want any publicity about this. But families and others had a right to know and needed an explanation. That meant the police should know. The public may then get to know. Everyone might get to know.

  "I assume you're in the hotel, Amos. Meet me downstairs in the lobby."

  I left the room and found Amos Gazit already waiting amongst the potted ferns. Together we walked through the hotel, past the closed souvenir and gift shops and through the restaurant bordering the river where a pianist was still playing in the midst of tables surrounded by a few late diners. We stood at the iron railings bordering the ten feet fall into the river flowing silently below. Gazit leaned on the railings and was the first to speak.

  "So what can we do?"

  "I really don't yet know," I admitted. "It seems likely there is a connection here with what you've lost but we still can't be sure. There are too many unknowns. It's difficult to know where to start. Tell me, Amos, how much were the police, FBI etcetera involved with the Biox disappearances? Did Biox deliberately keep it quiet for corporate reasons just like you? Did they just adopt the stance of this being adults deciding on a career move somewhere unknown, but nothing suspicious? Is that what you should do with this Dutch guy? For the sake of your financial situation, stay cool, treat it as unimportant - just an ordinary employee deciding to move on? Can you do that?"

  "I don't think we should make a big public issue out of it, that's for sure."

  "I spoke to Biox about their disappearances," I admitted. I expected a shocked response and got it.

  "You did what? Why?" Gazit almost shouted.

  "Don't worry. I didn't tell them about Virex or what you have lost, but I had to dig a bit more to find out about their own problems. It was useful but I still haven't got enough to go on." I put my hand on Gazit's shoulder. "Don't worry. Let's take a stroll down there. I like the river at night."

  It's true. I like rivers at night. But there are ways to make the experience a little nicer. One way is not to go strolling with a stocky American in his fifties who's sweating with nerves.

  We strol
led slowly on the raised walkway. Moths and a thick concentration of other exotic insect life circled the streetlights. Water slopped against the wall beneath us adding to the throaty roar of late river taxis drifting across on the warm, windless air. Am I getting the mood?

  "Tell me more about this Dutch guy," I said. "Putting the problem of theft aside for a moment, can you think of any reason why he should suddenly take off like that?"

  "He was just a very quiet guy," said Amos Gazit. "Like I said, he’d worked for a Dutch pharmaceutical company for two years and joined us on a recommendation - poached if you like - by consultants we sometimes use. He was first rate. He had already done some virology in Boston before going back to Holland. Then he came back again. As I said he worked under me. Obviously he knew a lot about what we were looking for. Spent a lot of time getting some of the extraction and purification techniques right. Used to work late, often in the lab after most everybody else had gone. I was often still there of course and we used to chat a bit. Mostly about work. He was always interested in the business side. Often checking with me on the time scale we had been set. Not that there was a fixed one, but it showed his concern for quick results."

  Gazit paused. He looked across the river but was seeing nothing.

  "I'm beginning to see he may have had another reason. He also used to talk politics a bit. But we all do, don't we? He didn't like the way Europe was going. Too centralized for him. Kept saying that Britain was the only place that seemed to think things through and ask questions. There were too many people, the world was overpopulated. He was a biologist who cared about world resources but conversations were never long. Sort of short bursts."

  "Did he know the two guys from Biox?"

  "Yeh, I was wondering if you were about to ask that. Thinking about it, the answer is yes - probably. We were all in and around Boston a lot. The scientific community is quite close. And we all used to meet up at congresses and so on but I don't think it was anything more than that. On the other hand I don't know what he did in his spare time. He liked to go to the gym a lot. He played tennis at a club that several other staff frequented. Other than that work was his main interest. He had written a few papers on Herpes virus with some people from the company in Holland. Useful for what he was doing for us but only because understood the research methods. I think he also mixed with students from Boston University - but where is the harm in that? He probably crossed paths with David Solomon who I know also spent time at the University. He used to complain about pay a bit but I can't think why. He was well paid, like everyone at Virex although he did ask me about part-time lecturing once. I told him to forget it. Focus on his real job."

  "So, why would he go? Sounds a bit like politics with the two from Biox but why has your man gone. Can you pin it down more firmly?"

  "I really can't say. Unless he was promised a lot of money to reveal what we were up to." He paused. "Yeh," he continued as if he might have hit on something, "Money might be the reason. He genuinely seemed to think he was worth a lot more than we were paying. He was being paid more than he would have got in Europe and the cost of living in the US is no higher. I must admit I couldn't understand him on that point."

  "So, money," I concluded, "It was a real hang up of his was it?"

  "Real hang up? Not sure. An issue? Maybe. But maybe there was something else biting him."

  Gazit turned to face me. "Whatever, Jan's problems were, if this proves to be connected to the other disappearances, then I think you must agree, there is something amiss here. These guys are going somewhere and, unless they're dead, they are going to surface somewhere, sometime. But where? Who is it? What's going on?"

  Because of Gazit and his problem I had spent another night in the hotel and not spent it with Anna. Gazit and I finished chatting around 2pm and after I'd phoned Anna to say sorry again I had lain on the bed thinking. I then fell asleep fully dressed. But at six thirty I was awake, showered, dressed and so hungry that I called room service and ordered a full American breakfast. As Virex were paying I didn't give it too much thought.

  But by seven thirty I had checked out and was in a taxi heading for Anna's side street apartment. At eight I knocked on the door of room 118 and waited. The door was unbolted from inside and opened just a fraction on the chain. Anna's sleepy eyes peered through the small opening.

  An hour later, we were lying on the low bed, she, on her elbows, peering down into my eyes.

  Now, let me explain that I am not always the tongue tied, apologetic wimp you may think. Now and again, conditions being perfect, I can perform like any male lead in a black and white, post-war film drama. I don't need a neat, greased-up haircut, a dark suit or a cigarette and my leading lady does not need to be wearing long, flowing skirts, petticoats and red lipstick and to be smoking her cigarette on a silver holder. But I can still talk like Cary Grant if I want to.

  We were lying on Anna's bed and, at the height of my dialogue, two cockroaches had been watching and, presumably, learning. I had started cautiously enough but soon got into the swing. The start was all about my business, the travelling and the risks I sometimes took when investigating criminal activity. It was very romantic.

  "Perhaps, Anna," I said, finally, "I should not be telling you this but I need to share my life with someone."

  That's when my nerves started. Could I trust her I asked himself. But you had to trust someone. Could I mix my business with a companion and share my most private feelings? Could I make it work? Finally, I said, "So, will you come with me?"

  And in saying that I knew I had made one huge decision. Anna fell onto my chest, the long hair flowing over me. "When are you going?"

  "Today." I whispered in her ear.

  Anna sat upright, the smile first evaporating then replaced by an expression of surprise and doubt mingled with excitement. "Today?" She repeated it to check what she had heard.

  "Yes, I need to buy air tickets. You won't need a visa for the first part. But I need to go today - later this evening."

  Anna looked at me. She was probably still trying to fathom me out. I knew I'd been a bit of a challenge. But I think it went OK. Anna's life is beautifully simple. Mine is just too damned complicated. But perhaps that is the attraction. "I must go now, Anna," I said. "I've got a lot of things to do today. Do you want to come with me?"

  She smiled and nodded energetically. For once she said nothing. But no words were necessary. I was convinced.

  "Then, while I’m out, go, pack your case. Take enough for a few days. Tell the apartment office you are going away for a while. I'll come for you around six this evening."

  "Where are we going?" Anna asked.

  "Singapore," I said.

  It was late evening when we arrived at Changi Airport, Singapore. After going through my normal routine of buying a new phone and local SIM card, we took a taxi to a hotel I often stay at just off Orchard Road. Tired from a long day, we both slept soundly until at six, my usual waking time, I heard the rustling sound of a newspaper being slipped under the door.

  Although given second place to a speech by the Singapore Prime Minister, the other front page story was about the Bangkok Conference. And, just to prove Amos Gazit's comment about a media frenzy the headline read: "New Influenza Fear - WHO concerns." Below it was a small photograph of the Thai speaker Doctor Vichai.

  I showed it to Anna. "So, why did you go to this meeting?" she asked.

  It was a good question. I had attended the meeting at the suggestion of Charles Brady, Virex's President. But why? I still had no clear idea except that Brady had suggested it and that I still harboured a gut feeling that there was something that I hadn't yet been told. I re-read the article and then the quote from the WHO:

  "............WHO is currently investigating reports of an outbreak of respiratory infections with similar symptoms to the Thai cases in Kano State, Northern Nigeria and one case in Kenya. The number of associated deaths in Nigeria is unknown. The Kenyan patient is known to ha
ve died.................."

  So, no longer was it just about Thailand but Nigeria and Kenya. This was news to me.

  Breakfast over and with Anna still apparently content to look out of the window of the twelve story hotel window at the panoramic view of Singapore in daylight, I decided to make a few phone calls. Shah Medicals was top of my list. I asked to speak to David Chua.

  "Sorry, he's out on a sales visit. Who is calling please?"

  I'd quite liked being Doctor Mike Stevens for two days so I decided to continue. "My name is Mike Stevens, from the UK. When will he be back?"

  "I think about one hour. Can I ask him to call you?"

  "No, thank you. I'll call him.."

  I then called another number. This time, the accent was clear and definitely English "Good Morning, British High Commission."

  "Good morning. May I speak to Caroline - trade and investment - please?"

  "Can I have your name, please?"

  "It's a private call. Just say it's Rupert Bear from the Henley Regatta. She'll understand."

  The response was quick. "Rupert Bear uh! Still wearing your little scarf in this weather are you? Hang on a moment."

  There was a minute of silence and Anna again looked at me. I was still smiling at Anna when a plummy, female English voice answered.

  "Is that really you Rupert, dear?"

  "Hello, Caroline. How are you? Still keeping the wheels of British industry spinning from your tropical hideaway?"

  I put the phone on "speaker" for Anna to hear.

  "How nice to hear from you, dear. It's been so long. Thought you might have caught your death when you fell out of the boat last time we met. Too much champers you know. Not good for a man with your weak will. Bit warmer here, though, isn't it? Where are you, darling? In town are you? Coming to see me? Hope so. What's it this time? Catching big time foreign fraudsters again are you. Or is it something more refined?"

  "I'm holed up here for a day or so but wondered if you could fill me in on a couple of local companies," I replied. "Medical industry to be precise. Not normally my speciality, but then, what is, you might ask. Please don't ask me why I'm into this particular business at the moment - I don't want to have to spin you too many yarns. Can I pop in and see you? Only keep you a few minutes."

  "Better still, Rupert, dear, you can take me to lunch. Just had a cancellation. Seems they don't want me at their official lunch today after all. I'm beginning to put that sort of thing down to budget constraints so that I don't feel too personally insulted."

  "Love to. Shall I pick you up or meet you somewhere."

  "Meet me at the Mandarin Hotel, OK? Say about one."

  "I'll be there. See you later."

  I turned to Anna and smiled again. "I shall be out for lunch today. I'm taking a lady out."

  "Who did you talk to?" Anna asked, with just a hint of hurt. "And why does she call you Rupert?"

  "She's someone I know, Anna. Don't worry. This lady is fun for ten minutes and then she's hard work. But she might help." She calls me Rupert because it is her nick name for me."

  "Nick name?"

  "She gets confused about what my real name is."

  "Yes," said Anna. "I understand."

  An hour later I tried Shah Medicals again. This time, David Chua was there.

  "My name is Michael Stevens - I'm from UK - an export agency - Asher & Asher. We work for a group of companies manufacturing over-the-counter medicines for marketing in South East Asia. I'm here to meet some local distributors for possible co-operation."

  "We may be - very competitive lah - not so easy, lah. What have you got? It needs to be better or cheaper than the competition, lah."

  "I can't say much at this stage," I said, "but the group is quite big - industrial chemicals, toiletries, that sort of thing - big European market share, also in the Middle East - now looking towards South East Asia."

  I paused, waiting for a sign of interest from the other end of the line. "We might be," David Chua said, "We are just getting organised with a better sales team in Singapore and Malaysia."

  I finally fixed my meeting for late afternoon at the Hyatt Hotel and, business side of things organised, asked Anna if she'd like to go shopping. "You might need more than one bag of clothes," I said, realising that I, myself, could, when necessary, live out of a single bag for weeks on end. And, frankly, I have never gone shopping in my life.