Secrets of Blue and Gold

by Lynn Watson

  ‘It’s a big trend, isn’t it, these old barns and outbuildings around the countryside being taken over as new-style manufacturing plants and warehouses?’

  ‘And making the products in the UK gets round the import issues, if you’ve got something to hide or you’re operating on the margins. The problem is, as we’ve seen with Junoco, it can also be an easy target for commercial enemies or ordinary criminal types; too unprotected.’

  They were almost at the shop now. Fran stopped walking and turned to Vicky, touching her arm to slow her down and allow the conversation to continue.

  ‘It’s ironic, don’t you think, that Daniela aims to encourage greater curiosity and imagination, but she doesn’t want or expect us to be curious about what’s going on with the business and who’s trying to scupper it? I mean, we don’t know what danger we might get into, being involved in this.’

  ‘It’s a fair point, but she always said she would inform us on a need-to-know basis and we have to trust her judgement, to some extent. If we ask too many questions, she’ll get shot of us in the blink of an eye.’

  Fran wanted to defer to Vicky’s view, as she always had up to now, but she felt dissatisfied and unnerved by her response. She had come close to admitting that the Junoco business might be operating illicitly, while Daniela herself always used carefully nuanced phrases. Fran wanted to pursue it, but they had arrived at Frocks and Chocs, so she just murmured in agreement and aimed her key fob at the door entry panel.

  It was the quiet period between Halloween and Bonfire Night parties and the build-up to Christmas festivities. Fran ordered a wider range of accessories to maximise the stock of small gifts, as well as a supply of the leather items and embroidered evening bags that had sold so well since she introduced them back in the spring.

  Busy with unpacking, she sensed she was being watched and looked up. It was Kirsty again, staring in the window. Fran turned away and started to open another box of display items, wondering if she was checking her out or just window shopping. She didn’t appear to have recognised her, but it was impossible to tell. In any event, she was back in town and Marcus would no doubt know about it soon enough, if he didn’t already.

  She finished her shift in the early afternoon and paused for a moment in the shop doorway, wanting to verify that Kirsty had gone. This was what happened when you allowed yourself to be lured in. There was the street girl, whom she still spied every now and again, and Kwesi, and now Kirsty. Not that Kwesi was any problem. Actually, she was getting fond of him and he had come round twice for drumming sessions, along with Marcus on the saxophone.

  The coast was clear both ways. She would stop to buy bananas and grapes for Sahara on the way home, and four strawberry tartlets for Lily and herself.

  As she predicted, Lily was at her door within a few minutes of running past to change out of her school uniform and pick up Sahara.

  ‘Is she hungry?’ asked Fran. ‘The choice is bananas or grapes, special treat.’

  Lily put Sahara in her box and held a grape above her head, making her stretch upwards to reach it. Fran sat on the floor beside her and they took it in turns to feed Sahara the grapes. The legendary hamster cheeks filled out again and again as yet another fruit was greedily accepted and quickly shoved or sucked to one side or the other.

  ‘Now, tell me about the missing cats, Lily. What’s happened?’

  ‘Okay, I will. There’s Marmalade, you know about her and there have been no sightings. Then there’s one called Leonie and another one called Sooty. I know they have gone missing from putting up the Marmalade posters. They all disappeared late in the evening. The Sooty people found a dead mouse on the path, which means he’d come back in the night, but that’s the only trace. I’m making a new poster, with all of them on it. I’m waiting for a photo of Leonie and then I’ll print it out. I wanted to call the police but it’s the same as the pigeon in your chimney; my mum says they’re not interested.’

  ‘The posters are a good plan. Otherwise, you just have to keep your eyes open for any sign of the cats or any suspicious activity. Don’t get into trouble, though, and let me know as soon as you have a new lead in the investigation. We’ll plan it together, okay?’

  ‘And we won’t have anyone in charge. We’ll both be the boss.’

  Fran brought out the strawberry tarts and Lily was quiet as she munched her way through three of them, along with a glass of milk.

  ‘My brother Ferdi is coming home for Christmas, with Dad, but Dad’s staying with Gran.’

  ‘That’s great. You’ll have fun together.’

  ‘You know your little sister, Marina. What did she die of?’

  No one had ever asked her this question, as the subject was closed when she was so young and she had mentioned Marina to almost nobody before arriving in London. Even Judi had never asked her directly about it, all down the years.

  ‘It was an accident, a road accident.’

  Suddenly she saw herself carrying a big, multicoloured plastic ball in her arms as she walked beside her father, running after it as it rolled onto the road.

  ‘I think I dropped a ball. Marina’s pushchair tipped over the kerb. There was a motorbike. I think she fell out, I don’t know. My dad picked me up and someone took me into a shop.’

  She sat back on her knees with a hand clasped over her mouth and breathed out in a whistle between her fingers. She had eaten the Junoco truffles with Andy last night and it had made her come out with this account of the ball and the pushchair – but was it true? Was this how it happened: the motorbike, the black figure flying through the air, the terrible noise?

  ‘Oh, Fran. I didn’t want to make you cry. That was mean of me.’

  ‘It’s all right, Lily, it’s not mean. It’s probably a good thing to cry about it.’

  She sniffed, stood up shakily to find a tissue and stared with blurred vision at Guacamole, who shifted his gaze towards her, nodding sagely and so discreetly that it eluded even Lily’s razor-sharp observation.

  Chapter 11

  ‘I’m sorry, Fran, but I had to call someone. This is doing my head in.’

  ‘Andy, what is it? What’s the problem? Where are you calling from?’

  ‘I’m stuck at my friend’s place. I’m working on her bathroom and getting it done, bit by bit, but there’s something creepy about this house; I don’t like it, it’s spooky. When I’m in the bathroom, I’m stripping the tiles and it feels like the walls are closing in on me, and the shower fitments and taps are behaving strangely, coming on and off, as if there’s an evil force trying to get rid of me. And the guy next door doesn’t help, either. He’s complaining about me doing the cutting out front because his wife is ill and can’t cope with the noise, but there’s nowhere else to do it.’

  ‘Oh God, it sounds weird and horrible. You said the bathroom’s tiny. Maybe it’s making you claustrophobic and you’re getting paranoid as well, being there on your own.’

  ‘There’s not enough room to swing a flipping cat, that’s true. It is oppressive, but that sort of thing doesn’t usually bother me, and never like this. I’m losing things too, tools and so on, and then finding them somewhere else in the house. Tell you what, it’s like a bad trip; everything’s distorted and my mind’s playing tricks on me – either that or a poltergeist. I think it’s your chocolates, Junoco. I know it was a couple of days ago, but it began almost as soon as I got here and I’m prone to strong reactions with drugs, as Judi may have told you.’

  Fran had been so well drilled by Daniela that she was tempted to correct him about using the word ‘drugs’, but it was the wrong moment and anyway, she was starting to wonder herself what the distinction was, given that people had used natural foodstuffs as psychoactive drugs for thousands of years.

  ‘No, Judi never told me. I imagined the two of you were immune to bad side effects, like you’d built up resistance over time, although that’s simplistic and probably unscientific. If it is Junoco, I’m sorry and I hope you won’t hold i
t against me.’

  ‘Don’t be daft. I took it voluntarily and didn’t wait for you to explain what was in it. It didn’t do the trick for me this time, that’s all, what with that night terror and now this bizarre experience. Actually, I feel a lot better now I’m talking to you, so I’ll crack on with it and call you again this evening, if that’s okay?’

  After ending the call, Fran drummed her phone lightly against the palm of her hand, thinking hard. She had been meaning to contact Alice, the psychology lecturer, and this was the time to do it. With luck, she would agree to meet up and Fran could pick her brains, as well as discover more about her.

  She told Vicky about Andy’s reaction when they met in the office later to look through the customer comments and diary entries on the forum area of the website.

  ‘We can’t be sure, but I’d say it was a Junoco effect, given that his imagination has run wild, except it took him over and he hasn’t been able to harness it or take control. He sounded really freaked.’

  ‘Maybe it was too soon, after Judi died, I mean. His emotions are in turmoil. Did he take both chocolates, by the way?’

  Fran considered the question. She had eaten her second truffle on the way to the kitchen to get them some nibbles, so she hadn’t noticed.

  ‘I didn’t see him have it, but it wasn’t there when I tidied up, so yes, I think so. Why do you ask that?’

  ‘Well, it’s the second one that’s supposed to give you focus and concentration, while the first one unleashes the imagination. I’m right, aren’t I?’

  Had she missed this crucial piece of information or never been given it? It made sense and was glaringly obvious, now she thought about it. Daniela explained the Junoco effects in terms of ‘releasing and harnessing’ and said they were most effective if you took the blue-wrapped truffle before the gold. Up to now, however, it hadn’t occurred to Fran that the first and second truffle might have different proportions of chocolate and berry seeds.

  Vicky had returned to trawling through the customer comments on the site. ‘The feedback is mostly very positive – people reporting insightful dreams and rediscovering their talents, that’s a big one. The word “creative” comes up a lot and some of them say they feel more empathic and interested in other people, as well as wanting to learn stuff. Then there’s a group, the neutrals I call them, who are disappointed because they haven’t felt any effect, and a small number who’ve had a negative experience like your friend Andy. I’d say the bad reactions are in line with what we expected. They’re similar to well-recognised sleep disturbances – nightmares, sleepwalking, anxiety and night terrors. We’ve had no reports of more outlandish or dangerous side effects.’

  They left the shop at five, by which time it was dark outside and the Christmas lights and decorations were twinkling in most of the shop windows along the parade. Fran pulled up her coat collar against the biting wind and made her way straight home, as Vicky didn’t have time to stop for a drink.

  When she turned into her street, she raised her head as it was more sheltered here and saw Marcus walking home in front of her. His loping gait was easy to recognise in the darkness and she quickened her pace to catch up with him.

  ‘Hi, Marcus, I haven’t seen you for a while. Where have you been hiding?’

  It was less than a week since they last spoke, but she had the impression he had hurried into the house to avoid her when she had almost bumped into him on the garden path.

  ‘Fran, hi, I’m trying to keep out of Kirsty’s way, that’s my main objective at the moment. She’s being a nuisance, but she’s lost her job at the nursery because she missed too many days, so I’m hoping she’ll soon magically disappear. How about you; is everything okay?’

  She ought to mention that she had spied Kirsty earlier on, but she didn’t want to put him off balance and lose the opportunity to talk about the other subject on her mind.

  ‘Yes, I’m fine. Actually, I wanted to ask you about that Bright Minds research project. You said you’d found out more about it, but every time I’ve seen you, we’ve been with Kwesi or Lily, so I haven’t had a chance to ask. And I’ve also been preoccupied with the Junoco launch and things going on at the office.’

  They had arrived at their front paths and she paused, waiting for a response and wondering whether to invite him in for a beer or glass of wine. Marcus put his hand on the latch of his gate and turned towards her.

  ‘I’m sorry but I shouldn’t have said anything. I didn’t know a thing about it and it was stupid of me to speculate, very irresponsible. I can’t say any more.’

  ‘Oh, okay. It’s just that it came out of the discussion we had about Junoco, the legal side of it, and I’m still trying to get that straight in my mind. I shouldn’t have pushed it just now.’ She took a step towards him and tried to read his expression. ‘I hope you haven’t got into any trouble over it, Marcus.’

  He looked embarrassed, irritated or shifty, she couldn’t tell which.

  ‘It’s not a case of getting into trouble, don’t think that. Please can we not mention it again?’

  ‘Okay, if that’s what you want. Well, have a good evening and I’ll let you know when Kwesi is next coming round.’

  He smiled, clearly relieved to be back on safe ground. ‘Please do that, or when our intrepid detective Lily makes a decisive breakthrough in the case of the missing cats.’

  ***

  Alice’s office in the psychology department was in one of the older university buildings, which were now surrounded by soulless office blocks thrown up in response to the rapid expansion in student numbers over the years. She came along the corridor to greet Fran at the top of the stairs and seemed genuinely pleased to see her again.

  Fran had prepared her introduction but didn’t know how far she was going to take it after that. She might have to disregard Daniela’s strict instructions on what information could be divulged, if she was to gain Alice’s confidence. And then there was the Bright Minds research that Marcus had clammed up about. It was none of her business and probably irrelevant to the Junoco venture, but she was curious about it and intrigued by the little she had heard.

  ‘I’d like your expert opinion on something, Alice. Well, perhaps two things, which may or may not be connected. Thank you for making time for me.’

  ‘No problem, I’ve got forty-five minutes or so before meeting my PhD student. I enjoyed the interesting conversation we had after the lecture, which I seem to recall was interrupted by Professor Fred and his flailing wine glass.’

  Fran smiled at the suggestion that the professor was something of a buffoon, as well as a world-renowned neuroscientist. She had enjoyed his lecture and felt a bit let down when he came up to them afterwards in that arrogant and mildly lecherous way. Still, she remained determined not to judge him on the initial encounter, when it was his big occasion and he’d had a few too many.

  She gave Alice a quick rundown of how she had become involved with Junoco the previous spring, what Daniela had told her about the mystery ingredient, and how Vicky and Ned came into the picture. By this stage, Alice was leaning over her desk and nodding encouragingly, so she went on to describe her personal experience of the Junoco effects, the customer comments and the peculiar effect on Andy, whose hallucinations and extreme paranoia had continued on a sporadic basis for three days until he managed to finish fitting the bathroom (‘but not to my usual standard or anything like it’) and fled back home.

  ‘What I want to know, Alice, is the composition of the Junoco truffles, what’s in them. I’m not sure I believe Daniela any more, that it’s just the chocolate and the forest berry seeds. I haven’t mentioned the fire to you, or the business rival called Infrared who’s hounding Daniela and might have deliberately started the fire, because I’ve already overstepped the mark, but I have to say I’m worried about the risks, about where it’s going and if I’m getting too far out of my comfort zone.’

  ‘That’s understandable, from what you’ve told me. I’m a psyc
hologist, so I’m not into that kind of lab analysis. However, my research spans various disciplines and it shouldn’t be hard to arrange for an analysis to be carried out here at the university, informally of course. Anyway, it’s quite a story – fascinating! If you leave it with me – and the chocolates of course – I’ll get a test done as soon as possible. It will probably be early in the New Year, realistically, with the Christmas vacation almost upon us.’

  Send the truffles off to the lab for analysis, as easy as that. Crikey, what had she done? What if the results showed something dubious? Or worse, much worse, if Daniela found out?

  ‘Oh, thank you so much, Alice. I really appreciate it, especially when you hardly know me. I’ll pay for the test if you let me know how much.’

  ‘Well, I want to know too, it’s my business to be nosy. I’ll try and get it done for free. What’s the second thing you wanted to talk about, that might be linked?’

  Fran took two Junoco boxes out of her bag and handed them to Alice. Then she relayed the sketchy details she had gleaned from her exchange with Marcus about the government’s planned research project on schoolchildren using natural brain supplements, vitamins and nutrients. Alice listened for barely a minute before holding up her hand to halt the flow.

  ‘I know about this. Professor Fred is a leading advisor on the programme and his team are carrying out the initial selection of the products. I’m involved too, or I will be when it gets underway. I’m devising the interview questions and doing that side of the analysis. It’s quite exciting and I’m looking forward to it.’

  ‘What, are you really involved in it, this actual research programme, Bright Minds? What an amazing coincidence!’

  ‘Yes, and now I’m the one who’s said more than I should, because it’s highly confidential and there won’t be a public announcement for some months yet. I’m surprised you know the project name, as it’s very hush-hush. You’re right that it kind of relates to your work with Junoco, but there’s nothing irregular or fishy about it, it’s all above board.’