The Malthus Pandemic

by Terry Morgan

CHAPTER 57

  At the River View Hotel, I was now encouraging a discussion on where David Solomon might be. To me, Thailand looked the most likely place and it was Jan de Jonge who, without any prompting, confirmed it.

  "He back-packed in Thailand when he was younger and still had a girlfriend - half Thai-half English - a lecturer in microbiology and biotechnology Her name was Pim."

  It was something that I thought Colin might work on but this wasn't the time or place to phone or email Colin. I sat back and glanced at my watch. It was now well into the afternoon and since my unannounced arrival at lunch, I think I had slowly persuaded the three men of my integrity. A kind of trust based on some common sense had slowly taken over. Jan de Jonge in particular seemed willing to do anything to help.

  "So what do we all do?" The question from Guy Williams was exactly the same as mine but I daren't admit it. I wanted to return to Cairo - in fact I wanted to go back to UK to see Anna - but I really had no idea what to do next. I hoped Larry Brown might have managed something. Was he still in Nigeria or had he gone to the USA? And what about Kevin? And Colin would be waiting for the next call from me. More importantly, so would Anna.

  In the past, I have often found that the next move would be forced upon me. And so it turned out.

  We were just finishing an exchange of phone numbers and I'd ordered a last coffee as a prelude to the three Shah Pharmaceuticals men going back to work and me returning to Cairo when I saw, from where I was sitting, a man walk through the hotel foyer and go up to the receptionist.

  I had seen the man earlier that morning from the car as I watched the movements at Shah Pharmaceuticals. The Pakistani man was now dressed not as he had been that morning - all in white - but in grey trousers and a blue shirt. The dusty shoes, socks and dark beard, though, were the giveaway.

  "How good are your Pakistani engineers?" I asked.

  Guy Williams laughed, Jan de Jonge shook his head. "I have to tell them everything," he said, "What screw to put where, which way round a filter goes. Fortunately the equipment comes partially assembled otherwise we'd struggle."

  "So who sent them?"

  "Al Zafar. We got an email from someone called Ahmed in Jordan saying they were on their way."

  "Don't all look at once but is that one of them?" I asked. "He's stood by reception."

  Philippe clearly misunderstood. He turned around. "Yes," he said, his name is Rahim."

  Rahim saw Philippe and then the three others. With not the slightest sign of recognising work colleagues, he turned and walked quickly out of the hotel. I turned, looked out of the window behind and saw him in the car park on a phone. A sense of genuine unease now stirred inside me. I suspected that not all the Pakistanis were engineers. I have seen this before but if you are running a dodgy business then you need one or two trustworthy spies working inside.

  I hit dense evening traffic as I was driving back into Cairo and had come to a grinding halt when my mobile phone sounded. It was a text from Colin: "Phone me ASAP."

  I was tired, hungry and very thirsty but still desperate for some news and so I stopped the car and phoned.

  "Message from Jimmy, Daniel. I recorded it but, as usual, it's long. I'll give you the gist. He's moved into his brother's house near the Shah factory - I tell you this only because he is now able to watch things at night without being too far from his bed.

  "Mmm," I said, "Please get to the gist."

  "Firstly, he is no longer the cleaner and neither is Lucky. Lucky was made redundant yesterday. Luther Jasman has had two week's notice. It looks like the whole place is winding down or rapidly going over to a different function. But he says there isn't much night security now - only movement sensitive lighting.

  "The Frenchman, Dominique Lunneau still runs the place. Two different Pakistanis and four Arabs of unknown nationality have moved in. All the original Pakistanis except one have gone to Cairo. You may know that. That means Lunneau now has a staff of about eight. None are Kenyan.

  "Now Jimmy want to wander around inside the whole place, not just the small part he had been cleaning for two nights. But he wanted some clarity on what he was actually looking for. I said anything suspicious - that's usually enough for Jimmy. But I told him to be bloody careful.

  "But all that was two days ago, Daniel. Jimmy has been very busy since.

  "He met his friend Jomo again - the redundant salesman. I don't know what the hell Jimmy told Jomo but, suffice it to say, Jomo spoke to Luther Jasman and they agreed to meet for coffee.

  "Lo and behold, of course, Jimmy turns up for coffee as well.

  "Hello Mr Jasman, remember me? I'm the one who offered to find you some students. But I am an imposter, Mr Jasman. I lied. In fact I'm a private investigator, part of an international team based in London looking into a possible case of germ warfare.

  "But it's jolly good news that you've been fired Luther as all hell is about to break out at Shah Medicals. CIA, MI6, Kenyan Security Forces are all about to descend. But you'll be safe now as long as you keep your mouth shut. Your new wife is also safe now so don't worry. Don't tell her anything. But listen, Luther. I need help."

  Colin paused. "Following it so far, Daniel?"

  "Yes, Colin. Keep going."

  "Can you steal me a set of keys, Luther, says Jimmy. I need access to all parts of the premises. Once you've stolen them write and say you've found a job in Mombasa and then run away for a few days. You and your wife can stay with my Auntie Bahati - she runs a B and B by the beach. But don't tell anyone, including your wife.

  "Believe me, I'm trying to shorten it, Dan. Just bear with me.

  "Luther does his bit - steals keys, hands them to Jomo who hands them to Jimmy. Luther, scared stiff, gets on the train to Mombasa. Jimmy even buys him two tickets. Then the exciting bit. Jimmy breaks in using the keys at two o'clock last night. And what does he find? Let me find my list. Ah, here it is.

  "Boxes of inhalers like the ones used by asthmatics. Twenty boxes labelled as - wait for it - "Breath Easy" - it's a well known brand name of an asthma inhaler made and sold by one of the top six pharmaceutical companies - label looks identical to the originals - lovely counterfeit job apparently.

  "Next - ten boxes simply marked "Vaccine" in black marker pen on the outside. Inside? Hundreds of unlabelled ampoules with a clear fluid inside. One box carelessly left open next to a machine - possibly a labelling machine but no labels found. Quality control would normally have a fit, but there is no QC.

  "Finally sixty cardboard boxes of what Jimmy described as 'tiny aluminium cylinders the size of cigarette lighters.' They were inside boxes labelled - and you'll love this, Daniel - "Malthus A Respiratory Virus."

  "Jimmy took photos, re-taped the boxes and says they looked as good as new. He was in bed by 4am but wants to go back again tomorrow night to look in Dominique Lunneau's office. That's it Daniel - a precis, a summary, the gist."

  For a moment, sitting in my hired Toyota on the side of a noisy main road on the southern outskirts of Cairo I did not know what to say. Colin helped me out.

  "Where are you, Dan?"

  "In my car on a congested highway in Cairo wondering what to say."

  "You need to phone Anna, Dan. She's worried."

  "Yes, I'll phone her as soon as I get to the hotel. Phone her now for me Colin - tell her you've spoken to me. OK?"

  "Sure, anything else?"

  "Yes," I said, "Check out the following: Thammasat University, Bangkok, National Science and Technology Centre. See if you can find a lecturer in microbiology and biotechnology. Her name is Pim. That's all I know. I need anything on her - emails, phone numbers anything and if you need to talk to anyone in Thai, ask Anna."

  "Pim?"

  "Yes, Pim something - like Anna is not really Anna but something longer."

  "But you've already got a Thai girlfriend, Dan."

  "Yes, I know but I'm too tired for your jokes, Colin. Fact is I think she might be David Solomon's girlfriend."
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br />   "Christ. Well done. And when are you coming home to see yours?"

  "Soon. But any news from Larry? Any news from Kevin? Gut instinct is telling me we're too late. By the time the wheels of international bureaucracy and diplomacy start to go around, we could be in the middle of a pandemic - a Malthus A pandemic. So I think I'll head for Nairobi and join Jimmy. I've done all I can here."

  Back at the hotel, I phoned Nagi and deliberately played down what I had found at Beni Suef.

  "It's a bunch of innocent expatriate scientists doing research and development work for the main company. Yes, the main company is Al Zafar but they are so naive they hardly know who they are working for. Scientists Nagi - give them a microscope and a few test tubes and they do as they're told. By all means get someone in to inspect their premises and ask a few questions if you like but the main problem is elsewhere. That's why I'm off to Nairobi tomorrow morning. And thank Maria for me, will you? She' a natural and if she wants a regular job ask Colin to put her on his list."

  Business side over, I settled myself for a long talk with Anna.