Terminal Reaction

by Dawn Marsanne

  ‘Don’t be unkind,’ she admonished.

  ‘Well I’m going to be saying something to management if he keeps running down the stock levels of things, it’s not good enough. Anyway, you’ve not said anything about your day.’

  ‘Not much to say really. I’m still learning the ropes and trying to get my head around all the contracts which are in place, the ordering system, it’s a hugely complex department. It’s only once I can understand how things are operating that I can suggest improvements. I’ve been tasked with finding savings of at least ten percent and they really want more. Otherwise, I think there might be redundancies.’

  ‘Really? Well, it won’t be you getting the push I’m sure. They must have confidence in you to have offered you the job.’

  ‘Oh, I know that it’s just that I don’t think I’m very popular with the rest of the office. They know I’ve been brought in to scrutinise what’s happening and they are being very guarded. But they will have to provide me with the information I ask for, or I can’t do my job.’

  ‘Well give it time, you’ve only been in this new role for about three weeks.’

  ‘I know,’ sighed Polly, ‘Monday’s are hard though, the mood is always rather down.’

  ‘You’ve not said much about your colleagues, what they’re like. Are they a friendly lot?’

  ‘Not especially. I’ve tried to be friendly but they are very cool. I went to sit with them at lunchtime and they sort of stopped speaking, it was very awkward.’

  ‘Oh, that’s a shame, poor you.’

  ‘Something else I’ve just remembered. That woman who’s been there quite a while, Phyllis, in her fifties I would estimate, asked me was I married and so on, then asked me where you worked and when I said BioQex she sort of bristled. Didn’t like it at all.’

  ‘Why, what do you mean, did she say anything?’

  ‘She said something about pharmaceutical companies making a lot of money out of drugs. By overpricing them, or something.’

  ‘Well BioQex isn’t making any money at the moment,’ replied Nick, ‘we’ve nothing on the market, nor will we have for a while yet.’

  ‘Then she asked me did you do experiments on animals. I said you were a chemist, not a biologist but she just looked blankly at me. Then she asked me were there animals on site?’

  ‘Shit,’ said Nick, ‘well she’s obviously one of those animal rights supporters. What did you say.’

  ‘I said I didn’t think so, you were only a small company, and had to contract out a lot of things.’

  ‘Good, that’s the right answer. Just don’t let her drag you into anything,’ advised Nick sounding concerned.

  ‘I won’t be having anything to do with her socially after that,’ said Polly, ‘the rest of the team don’t seem too bad so far but they are very much a clique and now I’ve joined, it’s as if they see me as an outsider.’

  ‘Never mind for the moment, remember you are only doing your job,’ and he yawned and stretched. ‘Let’s go to bed, I’m shattered. Enough work talk for one evening. It’s probably only a temporary, what shall we say, blip for both of us,’ and they got up switching off the lights and headed off to the bedroom.

  Chapter 9

  On Wednesday afternoon Matt was due to attend a lecture on campus at Persford University. He’d spent Tuesday at home reading some background to the topic for the lecture. It was the first lecture in the Accounting and Finance module. Particularly appropriate thought Matt as he’d been checking his bank statement that morning in fact and had noticed that the university had taken two duplicate direct debits of just over a thousand pounds. He’d opted to pay by instalments as he was no longer working. They could have afforded to pay as a lump sum, but fifteen thousand was a sizeable amount so they had paid the twenty-five percent deposit upfront and then there were ten monthly instalments due. Fortunately, Emma’s salary had just been paid into their joint account otherwise they would have gone overdrawn. All the same, it meant they’d had to transfer some money from their savings account to cover their direct debits and expenditure. They had no idea how long it would take for the duplicate payment to be refunded but Matt was heading over to the student services department prior to his lecture. He wanted to make sure that this double payment wouldn’t happen again.

  Having received an apology, he headed over to the snack bar to pick up a coffee. As it was after the main lunchtime rush there wasn’t much of a queue. He bought his latte and then realising he had over half an hour before the start of his lecture decided to sit and drink it in the seating area rather than walk straight over to the lecture theatre. He was checking his emails on his phone when he was conscious of a shadow, indicating the approach of someone. He looked up and found himself looking at a young woman. There were a few seconds before either of them spoke, then Polly broke the silence.

  ‘Hi, it’s Matt, isn’t it?’

  ‘Yes, oh, hi, Polly, good to see you! How are things?’

  ‘Well, OK, mind if I sit down? Or are you in a rush?’

  Matt moved his bag and his jacket from the spare seat and moved it out slightly so Polly could take it.

  ‘I’ve got about fifteen minutes then I need to head over to my lecture.’

  Polly looked surprised.

  ‘Oh, sorry, I guess you don’t know, I’ve decided to study part-time for an MBA, Executive MBA to be precise. Decided I wanted to move in that direction and it also means I can share the childcare with Emma, Toby’s at nursery three days a week now.’

  ‘Sounds like a nice balance,’ said Polly.

  ‘Yes, it is, much better than when I was at BioQex. I do miss the science, but, well,’ and he paused, ‘it’s better,’ he said.

  ‘It’s nice to see you, I just wanted to thank you again for your support when Nick, well, when Nick had his spot of, er, well trouble a few months ago. I know you contacted the police and offered to be a character witness. It was good of you.’

  ‘Nonsense, it was the least I could do. Nick’s a good chemist and a good employee. How is he now after that awful assault?’

  ‘Well, he’s OK, much better actually, although he’s rather prone to headaches. I’ve insisted he takes it easy, well easier than he used to at BioQex. He’s doing OK though.’

  ‘Well, that’s good to hear, and are you still in publicity, or was it marketing here?’

  ‘I was in that department but I moved a few weeks ago. I’m now in the Finance Department, specifically procurement.’

  Matt nodded, ‘well that’s excellent, a new challenge for you.’

  ‘Certainly is,’ said Polly, looking around and checking who else was taking a break at that precise moment. ‘I’ve taken over from someone who left suddenly, although I’m not officially allowed to say why that was,’ Matt nodded and winked at that point. ‘Well, I’ve got some experience of being in accounts, I did an accounting qualification before I joined the university, I worked for a small engineering company. Anyway, they wanted someone to examine the processes in accounts, look at efficiencies that sort of thing, and I’ve been tasked with saving at least ten percent of the budget.’

  ‘Goodness, that’s quite an undertaking,’ said Matt, ‘good luck with that. Mind you I’m not surprised really, the university has grown so much in the last few years and it wouldn’t be surprising if their accounts department hasn’t kept pace with things. I’m sure things need streamlining.’

  ‘Yes, they do seem to be a bit old-fashioned in the way they do things, it doesn’t seem very transparent from what I can see at the moment.’

  Matt looked at his watch and started to gather his things.

  ‘Sorry Polly, just keeping an eye on the time. It’s funny you should mention processes in your department. I’m early as I’ve just been over to Student Services as they took two duplicate direct debits for my course fee this month. Good thing I spotted it as we would have gone overdrawn and then we would have been charged bank fees. They’ve promised to refund the money in a few days.
Some complicated explanation about some new software or something. Anyway, it’s all sorted now.’

  They stood up and said their goodbyes. Polly walked back to her office mulling over her conversation with Matt. It had been good to catch up with him, he was such a nice guy. It was very interesting what he’d just told her. She wondered how often this was happening, double charging for course fees. It could be a one-off, these things were bound to happen. However, it was worth remembering. She was conscious that she was turning into Nick, reading too much into things. She’d accused him so many times of inventing conspiracy theories. This was the first time she’d been in this situation but she had to admit she was going down the same path as her fiancé. She’d only been in her new financial role for a few weeks but she’d been concerned by what she’d seen so far. There was little accountability and little regulation. At the moment she had no direct proof but she had a suspicion that things were not as rigorous as they should be. Lack of controls could be serious and if the wrong people were employed it could mean only one thing, an opportunity for fraud.

  Chapter 10

  On Wednesday morning Piers Frobisher was looking forward to a relatively normal day ahead. No major meetings were scheduled, their new hire, Melanie seemed to be settling in nicely and all in all things seemed to be in good shape. However, all that changed when Amanda knocked on his door and brought in the morning’s post. Amanda sorted through the mail and dealt with most items without having to involve Piers or the other senior team members but this particular item was marked for the attention of Piers, so she took it into him.

  ‘Some post for you Piers,’ she said, handing him the envelopes.

  ‘Thanks, Amanda, how’s your morning going?’

  ‘Fine, fine, everything’s under control. I’ve been finding some files and documents for Melanie as she wanted some past records and accounts to study. Can I get you a coffee or anything Piers?’

  ‘Oh, coffee would be great thanks, I hadn’t realised that it’s already mid-morning.’

  ‘Certainly, I’ll just be a couple of minutes,’ and Amanda headed off to make Piers a small cafetière of his usual coffee.

  Piers looked at the letters. One looked like it was from the university, probably an invitation to attend some science day or other. The other was postmarked London, he opened it with his silver letter opener, and frowned. He was so busy reading the letter that he failed to notice Amanda’s return with his brewing cafetière. She set it down and had reached the door before Piers thanked her. He was shocked by what he was reading. The letter was from the Financial Conduct Authority, the FCA and was a matter of concern for Piers and the whole company. He went out to Amanda and asked her to call a meeting of the senior team in half an hour, if they had anything arranged they needed to rearrange it, this took priority.

  **

  Ez Milburn was taking a twenty-minute break in the staff area at the supermarket where he worked. He was struggling with a lingering headache, the result of too much vodka the night before. He desperately needed some water to drink. He’d cycled to work this morning rather than driving Zac’s old car as he’d been worried about still being over the drink drive limit. He’d recently read a newspaper article describing how after a heavy session the previous night you could still have enough alcohol in your system to fail a breathalyser test. He quickly drank several glasses of water and sat down to look at one of the tabloid newspapers which someone had left on the table. He was soon joined by a couple of colleagues, Shelley and Gary.

  ‘Hi guys,’ said Ez, ‘everything OK?’

  ‘Well as good as it ever is working here,’ said Gary, ‘I’m shattered actually, what with moving house last Friday, and then working over the weekend here when I really wanted to be sorting things out at home. I’m off tomorrow and Friday so might be able to unpack a bit more. The wife’s getting annoyed at living out of boxes and not being able to find anything.’

  ‘Yes, it’s a pain, but hopefully, it will be worth it,’ said Shelly, encouragingly.

  ‘Have you met your neighbours yet?’asked Ez.

  ‘Only on one side, the other side is an elderly couple, they don’t go out much, I might pop round there in a few days, introduce myself.’

  ‘What about the ones you have met?’ asked Shelley.

  ‘They are a middle-aged couple, Kevin and what was it, no I’ve forgotten what he said his missus was called. Trouble is he was talking so much I found I was switching off. I was trying to take some stuff around the back and put it in the shed and he came wandering up the path, wittering on about this and that.’

  ‘Oh dear, he sounds a nuisance,’ chuckled Ez, ‘guess you won’t be inviting him round for a barbecue then?’

  ‘Not bloody likely,’ said Gary, ‘anyway, he’s at work during the week, he’s a storeman or something. Manages some storeroom for a firm up at the science park.’

  Ez’s interest suddenly increased at this point and he put down the newspaper he was flicking through.

  ‘Did he say which company he worked for?’ asked Ez.

  ‘He did, but I can’t remember exactly. Bio something, not been going for very long, makes drugs I think he said.’

  ‘Wasn’t that the one which had some trouble recently,’ asked Shelley, then she paused suddenly. ‘Oh God, sorry Ez, I’ve just realised, your brother worked there didn’t he?’ she flushed deeply and reached over to Ez, putting her hand on his arm.

  ‘Yes, he did, BioQex is the name of the company,’ said Ez his voice betraying no emotion.

  ‘Jeez, sorry mate, I’d forgotten, been so busy with our move and so on.’

  There was an awkward tension in the air and Shelley picked up the paper discarded by Ez. She was lost for words but thankfully Gary decided to intervene with some placatory words.

  ‘Listen, Ez, we are really sorry about what happened to your brother, it was tragic. I know he might have been bending the rules but it was never completely proved was it?’

  ‘No, but they found drugs on him so I guess he was guilty,’ added Ez.

  ‘Yes, but he was only doing it to earn a bit extra wasn’t he, you said it was his car which needed work doing on it. Anyway, you mustn’t feel that what he did in any way reflects badly on you. We’re still your mates don’t forget.’

  ‘Thanks, guys,’ said Ez, ‘I just wish I’d known what he’d been doing and then I could have spoken to him, told him to forget it. I feel a bit responsible as he was doing it to help me, I don’t earn much and I wasted a lot of money gambling. If I’d not done that then we wouldn’t have been so short of money. It’s partly my fault,’ Ez put his head down on his arms. The conversation had brought back the awful memories of a few months ago and he was feeling depressed as a result of too much booze the night before.

  ‘Well, in my opinion, the management should have stepped in to stop it, shows that the managers are just sitting around in their offices not really bothered what’s happening. If they had found out and stopped him he would probably still be alive as the police wouldn’t have got involved. That was what got his killers alerted wasn’t it.’ This was rather an oversimplification and a not entirely accurate version of events but Gary was trying to make his colleague feel better about things.

  ‘Well from what I heard it was some bloke there who started checking up on your brother. Wasn’t he the one who the plod arrested first?’ Shelley had now rejoined the conversation now that Gary had found a way of shifting the blame from Zac.

  ‘I don’t know all the details,’ said Gary, hoping that this conversation would soon be over, he still felt he’d been rather insensitive.

  ‘The police did arrest someone because he had a package of data on what Zac had been doing and they initially thought it was him,’ said Ez, ‘so they told me but they didn’t tell me the name of who it was.’

  ‘No, I’ve no idea either,’ added Shelley, ‘oops, is that the time, I’d better get back on the till, otherwise my manager will give me a right telling,’ and Sh
elley rushed off.

  ‘Yep, I best get back to my work as well,’ added Ez. He headed off feeling even worse than he had earlier. However, as he started to stack the shelves again he thought back to what Gary had said. He began to think that it hadn’t been such an unfortunate conversation after all, the seed of an idea was starting to form in his mind.

  **

  In one of the meeting rooms in BioQex the senior team consisting of Piers, Brett, Melanie and Jonathan were assembled. The three members other than Piers were feeling extremely anxious as to why they had been summoned at such short notice by a highly stressed looking Piers who had unusually loosened his tie and undone the top button of his shirt. It was also unusual that Piers decided to forego the usual pleasantries of an introduction and plunged straight into the reason for the summons.

  ‘Right, sorry for the short notice, but the reason for me calling this meeting is this letter,’ and he held it up in front of his three colleagues. He was met by three puzzled faces looking at him. ‘It’s from the Financial Conduct Authority, the FCA,’ explained Piers, ‘and it’s potentially worrying, though I sincerely hope it’s a mistake. I won’t read it all out but they are concerned about some movements in our share price.’

  ‘So?’ asked Jonathan, ‘it’s gone up on the back of our press releases which have raised our profile considerably.’

  ‘True,’ said Piers, ‘but it’s the timings of these rises apparently. They monitor movements for the three days either side of any key announcement, such as a takeover, some milestone being reached in a trial, or proof of concept and so on.’

  ‘I’m still not completely with you on this,’ said Brett.

  ‘Well, it looks as though they think that our share price rose more before the announcement than it did afterwards. So they are concerned that there has been some leak of information before the official announcement,’ there was an audible gasp from his senior team.

  ‘Yes, chaps, that was my reaction. They want to speak to us and foremost me, as they suspect insider dealing.’