However he was pleased to see that he had the laboratory to himself, everyone else had left a bit earlier than usual. He was doubly pleased to see his order had arrived, he opened the box and checked, yes, that was the correct stuff. That meant he had just time to put on another reaction belonging to his extra chemistry. He would arrive really early tomorrow morning at 7 a.m. so he could sort it out and remove any evidence before nosy Nick arrived. Just to be on the safe side he would allocate it the number of his previous reaction, in case anyone checked. Things were progressing nicely he thought, if all goes well, in a few days I should have the required material and I can arrange to hand it over and receive a few readies which were badly needed. The garage had quoted him six hundred pounds to sort out his car, but they did reassure him that if he spent that money on it now it should last for at least a couple of years as the car was in reasonable shape.
**
Nick was first to arrive at The Tower for his drinks with Mark so he chose a table towards one side, away from any music speakers, he wanted to be able to chat to Mark confidentially without having to raise his voice. He was checking his phone when Mark strode in apologising for being a few minutes late. Mark offered to get the first round and went to get two pints of lager.
‘Thanks, Mark, cheers,’ said Nick, raising his glass and taking a large gulp of cool lager, ‘that’s just what I needed. How’s your day been, did you work today or have you been off?’
‘I worked a short day, so I went down the gym for an hour, then popped home to see the wife and kids.’
‘How’s all your family?’ enquired Nick.
‘Oh they’re all fine, the youngest is starting school next year, can’t believe how the time has gone. Anyway, how’s things with you now? You have your new CSO? What’s his name, er, Brett? Cocky bastard from what I can see. I had a word with him the other day and he looked down his nose at me.’
‘Yes, that’s the way he likes to treat people, but it’s not just that, I don’t trust him. That’s one of the reasons I wanted to meet up with you.’
‘Oh, yes, sounds intriguing,’ said Mark, ‘what’s been going on.’
‘Well, I’m sure he was the chap Sarah was meeting, you remember, Sarah Grant?’ Mark nodded, indicating he should continue.
‘Well I’m sure he was the chap she was meeting in Bells Wine Bar on the night when she had her accident.’
Mark looked a bit puzzled.
‘Well, maybe he was, but it’s not so unlikely that they might have met, after all, he moved from that company down the road. If they were both single....’
‘Yes, but it was because she was so upset with him that she didn’t watch where she was going and had that accident where she stumbled in front of that car in the car park,’ added Nick, his voice increasing in intensity.
‘Well, they probably just had a tiff or something, anyway, luckily Sarah got better didn’t she, and the police were presumably happy otherwise he wouldn’t have got the job at BioQex.’ Mark raised his eyebrows at Nick, wondering where this conversation was heading.
‘Yes, that’s true but there was another incident. I’m sure he was the person who came to see Matt pretending to be a journalist, Sally told me the name he gave and it wasn’t Chandler. So you see, he’s been hiding something and there was something going on between him and Matt!’ said Nick rather triumphantly.
‘Nick, steady on a minute. Don’t forget Sally wasn’t the most reliable of people was she? I mean she was a lovely girl but a bit dappy, didn’t you think? You don’t really have any hard evidence against Brett, or should it be Brat?’ and Mark chuckled.
‘No, you are right,’ said Nick suddenly looking rather depressed, ‘that’s what Polly is always saying to me,’ and he paused, ‘we need a refill, same again?’
‘Sure, that would be great,’ replied Mark.
There was a bit of a queue at the bar, so Mark sat and reflected on Nick’s news. He did seem rather animated about all this but Mark really couldn’t assign as much significance to it as Nick had and he also didn’t see where Nick could go with it. He started to worry that Nick was developing a bit of an obsession with Brett and it was going to get him into trouble. Sometimes it was best just to keep your head down.
‘Thanks, Nick, that’s good, I like this place, been here a few times,’ said Mark, taking another long draught from his pint. ‘Now, I don’t want to upset you with what I’m going to say but I do think you need to move on from all this and just see how things go for a while, don’t go doing anything which is going to get you into trouble,’ counselled Mark.
‘Oh, don’t worry, I hear what you say, and besides Brett practically warned me off thinking ill of him,’ Mark looked quite surprised at this.
‘Oh, yes, he called me in for a meeting and told me in no uncertain terms that I had been criticised before about gossiping and if there was another occasion when I was found to be spreading rumours I’ll be out on my ear. That’s basically what he said.’
‘Oh, mate that’s awful he threatened you like that, what did Polly say?’
‘I’ve not told her, she’ll go ballistic, she’s of the opinion that I keep coming up with conspiracy theories, she’s worried I will go too far, get the sack. And after my chat with Brett she’s probably right,’ sighed Nick. They both paused whilst considering the situation.
‘Cheer, up, it’s not that bad, and you do a good job with your science, don’t you, otherwise they wouldn’t have given you Kirsty to supervise would they?’said Mark trying to cheer his friend up who now seemed rather depressed.
‘Yes, well I’m trying to concentrate on my work, but it’s been difficult with the shock of Brett getting Matt’s old job, it’s just taken me back a bit and started me thinking about the past. I’m sure he knows it was me who spoke to the police in the wine bar.’
‘Look, let’s talk about something else, you’re looking really down now, we’re supposed to be enjoying this evening, eh?’ said Mark trying to raise Nick’s spirits. ‘Just remember, you are getting through your work OK, not like that poor bugger Zac, he was so upset the other evening when he was working late. His reaction had gone tits up he told me, really despondent he was. That must be why he has to keep working so late, he must keep making a mess of things.’ Mark had hoped that this reference to Zac would cheer Nick up and make him feel superior as the more competent chemist, but it was not to be.
‘Well, I’m glad you mentioned that Mark, I wanted to ask you, what evening was it when you spoke to him?’
‘Er, it was Friday, I’m sure of it, why?’
‘Yes, that’s what I thought you’d told me. Well on Monday morning I checked his notebook and I couldn’t see any record of his reaction failing and when I asked him how his work was going he said it was fine. He’s making an intermediate for me to use and he showed it to me, the reaction had gone well, there was no problem. I just don’t understand it,’said Nick shaking his head.
‘Well, it must have been another reaction then,’ offered Mark.
‘Yes, but he’s not written anything up as not working. It’s very strange.’
‘Well, I think I might know what’s happening. He’s new to the company right?’ Nick nodded.
‘So, he doesn’t want it to look like he makes a mess of any reactions, so he doesn’t write them up until they have worked. Makes sense?’
‘Well I suppose so, but that’s strictly against the rules, you are meant to write it down as you put the reaction on, not to have things in progress with no proper record of what’s happening. It’s a matter of safety. If he was ill and couldn’t come in we wouldn’t know what he was doing and what his reactions are.’
‘Well, it’s the best I can suggest.’
‘And he’s ordering things he doesn’t need for his current plans, that’s another thing,’ added Nick.
‘Well, maybe he was just replacing something he used up?’ suggested Mark.
‘Yes, but that’s really Kevin’s job, not his,�
� replied Nick.
There was a silence where they both sat drinking the last of their pints looking around the pub which was getting quite busy by now.
‘Ha!’ said Mark, ‘I’ve got it, he’s doing a bit of chemistry on the side, been watching that Breaking Bad series,’ and he continued to laugh.
Nick’s face froze, he set down his glass and looked straight at Mark.
‘I think that’s it, that’s what he’s doing!’ Nick was shouting now and a few people looked around.
‘Shush,’ said Mark, ‘people are looking,’
‘No, listen, don’t you see, that’s why he keeps working late! The reaction which didn’t work wasn’t for our project, it was for something else he was making secretly, I bet he’s making some drugs to sell after all some aren’t that difficult to make are they?’
‘Hey, don’t look at me,’ said Mark, opening his palms towards Nick, ‘I don’ know any technical stuff, I’m just a lowly security guard.’
‘I knew it, I knew it, well I’m going to keep even more of an eye on him and when I’ve got some proper evidence I’m going to shop him, cheeky git using the company facilities and making out he works such long hours, jeez, what a bastard. Never mind the harm he’s doing peddling that crap to people!’
‘Nick, calm down, you’ve got to be careful, let’s think about this,’ said Mark, putting his hand on Nick’s arm to try to pacify him. ‘You mustn’t do anything rash, you don’t have any evidence!’ This time it was Mark who was shouting. ‘You could get the sack for a false accusation like this.’
‘Yes but what about the reagent he ordered which didn’t fit in with what he needs for his project work?’
‘Well I’m not a chemist but as an outsider, I don’t think that is enough to start accusing someone of having an illicit drug factory. He could easily find an excuse for that and then you would look a complete idiot. You complain about him, he complains about you and before you know it you will be in Brett’s office getting your P45!’
‘Hmmm, I don’t know,’ said Nick looking quite unconvinced at Mark’s argument.
‘Nick, you’ve got to listen to me, please promise that you won’t mention this to anyone else, you must not, please mate. I wish I’d never said anything,’ and Mark put his head in his hands.
‘OK, but I’m going to keep an eye on him, I’ll find that evidence I need and then it will be curtains for Zac. He will be looking at a prison sentence.’
‘OK but you must be very careful, you don’t know anything much about Zac he might be a nasty piece of work. Now, let’s relax a bit, how about another half pint and let’s go and watch a bit of football on the screen for a bit, I didn’t realise this evening was going to be so tense.’
‘Right, OK,’ said Nick acquiescing, ‘sorry if I’ve spoilt your evening.’
‘Don’t be silly, glad you could talk to me, now, give me your glass, and try and cheer up a bit.’
Nick tried to cheer up but in fact, he was even more troubled than he had been at the start of the evening. Things had just taken a much more serious turn.
Chapter 19
On Friday talk was of the social evening in town where they would get to rub shoulders with the eminent Brett Chandler. Caroline and Kirsty were naturally more excited than Zac or Nick at that prospect. Nick just wanted to get it over with and he also hoped that the bar he’d chosen would be OK otherwise that would be another criticism for Brett to level at him. He’d not had a chance to speak to Billie about the evening but she did say she would be attending. No partners were invited, this was a work do, he was sure quite a few people would regard it as an opportunity to raise their profile and enhance their promotion prospects.
Everyone left work early that afternoon, even Zac had no plans to work late which was quite a surprise to Nick. Since his chat with Mark, he’d carried on checking Zac’s electronic laboratory notebook but could find nothing remiss. He’d also had a covert nosy in his fume-hood at lunchtimes or whenever he though Zac had a meeting. He’d even had a look in the cupboard under his fume-hood to see whether there were any other reagent bottles of interest. He noticed that the bottle which had been delivered on Wednesday was now no longer there, so it had either been used or taken down to the storeroom. When he’d checked, there were no bottles of that particular item in the storeroom so he concluded it had all been used. This was further evidence that it had been used for illicit purposes but the only powders he could see were marked in flasks or dishes with the batch number of the intermediate he was supposed to be making for the project. Some were marked slash A, or slash B, or slash 1 or 2 so he must have had different batches with different purities. It suddenly occurred to Nick that not all those white powders might be the project intermediate they were supposed to be. The only way to tell would be to get some data on them. But he could hardly risk taking samples when Zac might walk in at any moment, it would need to be a time when he was safely out of the lab for a considerable period. This would have to be planned carefully and just at this moment, he wasn’t sure exactly how he could accomplish it.
**
By 8 p.m. most of the workforce of BioQex had arrived at Barista Nuovo in town. Everyone seemed in a good mood and Brett had graciously said there was a tab behind the bar. No doubt this act of generosity would be charged to the company thought Nick cynically. Billie was one of the last to arrive, and as soon as Brett spotted her he quickly finished his conversation with Bob McKewan and sidled over to her, flashing her his widest toothiest grin. He personally led her over to the bar to get her a drink. Poor Billie thought Nick, he hoped she wouldn’t be trapped with him all evening. Whatever happened he would be keeping out of Brett’s way, their last encounter in a wine bar hadn’t been exactly amicable and the events of that evening were still playing out months later.
Even Zac seemed to be in a good mood this evening. Nick decided to be friendly towards him and see whether he could find out a bit of his background.
‘So Zac, glad you could make it,’ said Nick casually, ‘hope you found it OK?’
‘No problem, I used Google maps on my phone, although I had a vague idea where it was, I’m getting used to Persford now, finding my way around etc.’
That was more words about non-scientific matters than Nick had exchanged with him since he’d started. Quite a transformation thought Nick.
‘So how’s your accommodation, where do you live exactly?’ asked Nick, buoyed along with his success at breaking the ice.
‘Fine, it’s over the other side of town, the Highworth area, it’s OK providing you don’t leave it until after 8 a.m. when you get caught in all the traffic on the ring road.’
Nick thought Zac seemed positively garrulous this evening, was the drink loosening his tongue. He pressed on, ‘so do you live alone or do you share?’ Nick noticed a slight tightening of his jaw at this point.
‘I live with my brother actually, he moved to Persford when I did.’
‘Oh, really, where does he work?’ continued Nick.
‘He works at Tesco,’ replied Zac, staring straight at Nick, looking rather less friendly now.
‘Tesco, oh very good, does he like it? What does he do?’
‘He does what most people do there, work,’ said Zac rather bluntly.
Nick could take a hint, he’d gone too far now. That was as much as he would find out from Zac about family matters. There was an awkward silence.
‘So how’s your work going then, you’ve certainly been putting in the hours,’ said Nick rather emboldened now.
‘I thought it was good to work long hours for the company, do you have a problem with that?’There was now a slightly aggressive tone creeping into Zac’s voice and his neck looked a bit mottled.
‘No, of course not, I bet you are going to be the most productive in our group with all the hours you are putting in,’ and Nick smiled at Zac but it wasn’t returned. ‘You’ll be in line for a nice bonus at the end of the year if you carry on like this!’ he added chee
rfully.
‘Excuse me, I’m going to get a drink before the tab runs out,’ said Zac and pushed past Nick towards the bar.
Whilst he was waiting for his drink Zac tried to calm down but his heart was beating really hard inside his chest, he imagined people would be able to hear it. He felt sure Nick suspected something, otherwise why did he mention productivity. That was one thing he’d not really considered, he was putting in all these extra hours but he’d not really made many more compounds for screening than other people on the project. Also with the electronic notebook, it was easy to check what he was doing so nosy Nick could see he hadn’t made much more progress. He could tell him he’d had a few problems and had to repeat things but he’d not had the foresight to write up repeat experiments in his notebook.
Shit, he thought to himself, he’d been really stupid and overlooked that, what with the move to the new company and the stress of starting up his venture again, he’d been careless. Well, he would have to cover his tracks when he went in on Monday. Fortunately he’d made reasonable progress and wouldn’t have to stay late all next week so hopefully, it wouldn’t be so obvious. From now on he would have to have all his wits about him.
**
By 10.30 p.m. people had started to drift away, a few people were becoming quite vocal. Kirsty was starting to look a bit unsteady on her feet so Caroline said she would share a taxi with her. Zac left without saying goodbye to anyone, that was typical thought Nick who had done well to escape Brett’s attention or pointed remarks all evening. He was relieved that the evening had been a success. Billie was still receiving a lot of attention from Brett so he decided it was definitely time to leave, he didn’t want to watch any longer.
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