by Alex Caan
Zain got the sense that Simon was trying to protect Julian Leakey, assuming that police business would be office gossip and possibly not something he would want shared. That sort of loyalty was touching, but Simon’s irritating positivity was not.
Leakey’s office was at the top of the building, floor six, with views over Horseguard’s Parade, the same view as PCC Hope’s office had, though from the opposite direction. Behind thick doors were four desks, two were occupied by women about the same age as Simon and two were empty. A door led from the room into, he assumed, Julian’s office.
‘Mr Wells, would it be OK to have a quick word with yourself in Mr Leakey’s office please?’
Zain felt the two women staring at him.
Simon obviously wasn’t sure what to do; it wasn’t protocol to let anyone into the office, but then Zain was a cop. The tussle in his head came to a halt, and he agreed, taking Zain through the closed door.
Chapter Twenty-Four
The closed doors had suggested a much bigger room beyond them, but the actual office barely had room for a desk and chair, and a couple of chairs for visitors. Simon offered one of these to Zain, and took one himself.
‘I’ll get Clara to get us some coffee?’ he said.
‘That won’t be necessary. I’ve had a lot already this morning. Thank you, though.’
Simon smiled, but his nerves were echoing off him, his left foot tapping under his chair. Zain scanned Julian’s desk, which was covered in files, memos and a desktop computer. A phone was on the floor to the side.
‘I try to keep it organised, but it’s organised chaos according to Julian,’ said Wells. There was a familiarity in the way he said Leakey’s name, a fondness even. Or was he posturing for Zain, trying to show that he was on a first-name basis with the man who effectively ran DFID? Zain didn’t care, instead he took out his phone and showed Simon the 3D fit.
Simon’s face was a study in emotions. His smile was replaced by curiosity in his knitted eyebrows, before his eyes opened slightly wider in recognition and finally shock as he realised what being shown a 3D fit of a face with the eyes closed meant.
‘I’m sorry to break it to you, but we found Mr Leakey’s body this morning.’
Simon was staring from the phone to Zain and back, his hand over his mouth. He started to hyperventilate, and suddenly loud sobbing erupted from him. Zain was taken aback. It was the sort of reaction he had expected from the wife, not the PA. Even when she had confirmed Julian’s identity, Anya Fox-Leakey barely did more than shed a solitary tear. Her whole ‘she was living on hope’ argument felt about as genuine as her crying.
Still, she didn’t exactly fit the mould of a bioterrorist. And he didn’t think she could access that sort of weapon, let alone hate her husband enough to carry out killing him. Then again, what did he really know about them? He was hoping Simon or some of the other staff might be able to help. But Simon was blubbing away. Zain tried to be sympathetic, but he didn’t have the time. Or the patience.
‘Must be a shock,’ he said. Simon’s answer was to cry louder. ‘Let me get you that drink? Clara you said?’
Zain popped his head out of the door, where Simon’s cries had clearly been heard. The two women were standing up, halfway across the office.
‘Sorry, which one of you is Clara?’
A woman with straight dark hair and a hair band stepped forward.
‘Do you mind just getting him something please, anything that can help with shock?’
Clara nodded and hurried out of the door. Zain smiled at the woman who was left.
‘You alright? What’s it like working here then?’ He tried to speak over Simon’s sobbing, but instead closed the door on him. ‘Sorry I didn’t catch your name?’ said Zain, holding out his hand.
‘Emma,’ said the woman, taking his hand in hers. She had shoulder length auburn hair, and glasses. ‘Is he OK?’
‘Yes, I’m sure he will be fine. I’ll need to speak to you and Clara as well when I’m done.’
Emma nodded.
‘How is Julian as a boss?’
Emma shrugged her shoulders, but didn’t say anything as Clara came in with a mug of coffee. It was hardly going to numb shock, but then the Civil Service probably didn’t have a supply of alcoholic shock absorbers. Hot chocolate or tea with copious amounts of sugar would probably have worked better, he was thinking.
Zain was curious though. He expected Simon to give him a haloed version of Julian Leakey. But with Emma’s nonchalant shrug, he knew she would be the one to give him a dose of reality. And tell him who the real Julian Leakey was.
Chapter Twenty-Five
Kate’s headache was worse, and inside the forensic suit she was feeling feverish.
Dr Kapoor took Kate’s temperature again. ‘No change really.’
Kate wasn’t surprised. She could feel her body start to ache in the joints.
‘I wonder how PC James Alliack is getting on?’ she said.
‘I can ask Professor Gerard when we next speak to him.’
As if on cue he called the laptop. Dr Kapoor answered.
‘So test results are back,’ he said.
There was a pause. Kate wanted to shake the man.
‘Negative.’
‘What exactly does that mean?’ said Kate.
‘We tested Julian Leakey for every one of the Category A viruses, but he has none. There was no presence of smallpox, Ebola, plague. Nothing at all to link to any of those.’
‘I thought it took days to be sure?’
‘Normally yes, but during the Ebola outbreak we developed a more sophisticated test locally. It hasn’t been trialled enough to be released to others yet, and I do have to caveat it strongly, but we believe it is so sensitive it can detect the presence of Cat A’s in their early stages after infection. A product similar to say an early-pregnancy-test kit.’
Kate bit back the reprimand that he was using the pregnancy analogy because they were both women.
‘What if they are mutated? Dr Kapoor said someone could manipulate the genetic code?’ she said instead.
‘They could change its behaviour potentially, but not eliminate the core of those diseases. We would still be able to partially match their DNA even if there had been substantial changes to how they work.’
‘So what is this? Something new we haven’t seen before? I saw his body, Professor, I saw what this did to his insides in the autopsy. Normal viruses and diseases don’t simply melt a person’s brain.’
Even on the grainy Skype images, Kate could see Professor Gerard was taken aback by her abruptness, but she didn’t have time to placate grown-ups; she needed some answers quickly. Her mind was already reeling from all the scientific jargon she had heard.
‘We checked for antibodies in his blood, to see if his body was fighting any form of unknown virus and we tested for antigens to see if anything had invaded his system. There was nothing there.’
Kate wanted to believe this, but if it wasn’t a virus then what the hell had happened to Julian Leakey? She knew she should be relieved, but instead she was worrying about exactly what had gone on.
‘What are we looking for, then?’
‘We’re exploring Dr Kapoor’s theory about neurotoxins.’
‘Have you found any evidence yet?’
‘Nothing so far. I’ve accelerated tests on the brain-tissue samples we took, but they can take slightly longer. We only have tests for specific neurotoxins we have identified, and there are hundreds out there we have no tests for. Neurotoxins tend to be diagnosed when symptoms of poison manifest in live subjects.’
‘So what does this mean for us?’ said Kate.
‘We tested your blood samples for any type of pathogen, and again there is nothing to suggest your immune systems are creating antibodies to fight an infection, especially from a Cat A. We also tested for antigens to detect any invading virus.’
Kate felt some relief, but the aches were getting worse and she was feeling nauseate
d.
‘What about the neurotoxins? Could we be infected with those?’
‘It’s unlikely. You aren’t displaying any symptoms, and I don’t think you ingested enough blood for there to be any risk. I can’t be completely sure, but if you are in agreement, Doctor, I would like to remove you both from quarantine?’
Dr Kapoor checked with Kate. What could she say? It didn’t make sense. Julian Leakey had died of something, and she had been exposed to his blood. Did she go home and wait for her own body to start manifesting symptoms? Would she be putting her mother at risk? Her team? Eric?
‘Oh, DCI Riley, there is something interesting that came up in our testing of the samples Dr Kapoor took. The results were quite startling.’
‘How so?’ said Kate.
‘Well, Julian Leakey’s shirt? The one he was wearing underneath his black cloak? It was drenched in blood. We assumed it was his. Only, when we tested the sample, that isn’t the case.’
She held her breath.
‘He seems to have been covered in someone’s else’s blood along with his own.’
Kate felt her pulse pick up and her heart start hammering. Then she felt the acidic burn of bile at the back of her throat. She rushed to the steel sink and emptied her guts into it. A few seconds later she heard Dr Kapoor do the same behind her.
If they weren’t infected with anything then why the hell were they both so ill? And why was Julian Leakey drenched in another person’s blood, and who did it belong to?
Chapter Twenty-Six
Simon’s view of Julian Leakey, well the view he could give through protracted sobs, was the one Zain was expecting. Julian was an attentive boss, attuned to his staff’s needs, with great rapport and interpersonal skills, loved by anyone who came his way.
‘You make him sound like a saint.’ This was met by more histrionics from Simon. Zain was exasperated, and led him out of the office, asking instead to see Clara and Emma. Clara didn’t add anything much to what Simon had said. Her praise was less sycophantic but still gave the impression Julian Leakey was the sort of person who didn’t have enemies, who treated everyone with respect. When Clara left the office she went straight to Simon, consoling him, and the two began to talk in furtive whispers.
When Zain asked to speak to Emma, they stopped whispering. They watched Emma walk across the office towards Zain, and then they began to whisper again. Zain closed the door on them, harder than he should have, but they were irritating the hell out of him.
*
Emma was nonchalant about Julian’s death when Zain broke it to her. She didn’t seem particularly intrigued either when he said it needed to be kept quiet for now. They were all signed up to the Official Secrets Act and knew the results of reneging on what he was asking them.
‘I get the feeling you’re not exactly a Leakey cheerleader, unlike your colleagues?’
Emma took her glasses off, and started to clean them unconsciously using the end of her shirt. She checked the image of Zain through them, then carefully placed them back on her face. She looked right through Zain, then over his shoulder.
Zain waited. Inside he was screaming at her to get on with it.
‘It’s a bit disrespectful to speak ill of the dead,’ she said. Zain’s heart sank. Great, so she wasn’t going to bury Leakey under meritorious diarrhoea like her other two colleagues, but was instead going to say nothing. ‘Some people though,’ she went on, ‘don’t deserve that sort of respect.’
Zain heard applause inside his head.
‘That’s quite a strong opinion?’ he said, trying to keep his voice calm.
‘It’s an honest opinion. The man is an obnoxious bully. Was. Pardon my French, detective, but he was a complete and utter wanker.’
Zain was impressed. Most people buckled under the nerves of speaking to cops, talking far too much drivel, clamming up or just making up things they thought the police want to hear. Rarely did you encounter someone apathetic enough to communicate clearly.
‘I mean, don’t get me wrong. He had changed of late; was a lot better. After Natalie left, you know? After she did what she did. I’m sure Simon must have mentioned it to you?’
Zain shook his head.
‘I can’t say I’m that surprised actually. He’s half in love with him. Sorry, that was bitchy.’
‘Bitchy is fine, if there’s truth to it. Neither Clara or Simon mentioned any of this to me.’
‘They didn’t really see the worst of it, or rather they weren’t the ones being targeted. You know on my second day here, I’m in a meeting with Julian and some senior colleagues. Here I am, new to the post, still learning the ropes, and in a room full of some of the most senior civil servants in the country. I got a bit bored while they were talking about some dull white paper, and started to drift. I then became aware the whole room was silent, and they were staring at me. Because Julian was. He had stopped speaking to stare at me, and then he asked me what he had just been saying. I didn’t have a clue. I tried to pretend, make something up, but he just berated me in front of everyone. It was humiliating.’
Zain didn’t think that was particularly crushing, or a warrant for murder.
‘And that was just the start. He had no qualms about shouting at people in public. He threw me out of so many meetings because he wasn’t happy with some notes or some analysis. I don’t even do the data analysis around here, but still he’d want me to go and fix it. After a while I just got used to it, we all did.’
‘Was leaving not an option?’
‘I started applying for jobs in my second week, but nothing came up. I was close to quitting so many times, but then Natalie was going through so much worse. And I need my salary; I’m saving up to get married and buy a place. Although the latter is pretty nigh on impossible.’
Zain didn’t say anything about his own pad. He had been lucky, getting a key-worker flat in Waterloo.
‘What sort of things was Natalie experiencing?’ he asked.
‘Oh it was horrendous. I don’t know why he had it in for her; she never really said. But the amount of times she ended up crying after he had a go at her. I just remember having to pick up the pieces; there were days when she couldn’t bear to come into the office. It was a crazy time. She lasted about four months, and then she left. But boy, she had the guts not to go quietly.’
‘What do you mean?’
‘She took him all the way to a tribunal. Through HR and the legal process. It was months of meetings, interviews, evidence gathering. Julian was put on suspended leave for a couple of weeks. The look on his face when he was told, that was a classic. He stormed into the office banging everything he could, grabbed his phone and just went home. Simon running after him like a fucking poodle, pardon my French. Nothing happened to Julian of course, he’s too powerful and important. Still, after all of that, he became a much nicer person. Which isn’t the sort of nice normal people are; he was still a twat, excuse my language, but just became more tolerable and tolerant.’
Zain was building a much more layered version of Julian Leakey now. And if there was a tribunal, there should be official case notes he could access. Just how nasty did it get?
‘You don’t know what the issue was, or what was discussed at the tribunal?’
‘No, I really don’t. Natalie wasn’t here during the process, and she said she didn’t want to say anything in case it harmed her case. She was a mess though. I saw her by chance once, she came in to see HR, I was coming back from lunch. I didn’t recognise her at first. I mean she was wearing office clothes, but her hair was unwashed and all over the place, no make-up. She was trembling, literally shaking when she spoke to me. Poor cow.’
‘Do you have contact details for Natalie now?’
‘No. After the tribunal I lost touch. It didn’t go well for her. I called her a few times, emailed. She went off social media, and I never knew where she lived. Then she changed her number, so my calls and texts didn’t even get to her. I suppose she wanted a clean break
from here.’
‘What do you mean by it didn’t go well for her?’
Emma took her glasses off again to clean them, before speaking to Zain.
‘You’ll probably find out anyway.’ She sighed, as though it was difficult.
‘Anything that might help us paint a picture of Julian is important at this stage, I can’t emphasise this enough. Please, Emma, anything at all.’
‘Natalie, well she ended up in hospital. Suicide attempt. And not just the once either, she attempted it a few times. Had to be put on suicide watch. And then that wasn’t the end of it. She started sending Julian messages, threatening emails, and when her address was blocked, she started to send him texts and letters. It was really painful to watch.’
‘How did Julian react?’
‘Oh I didn’t care about him, I mean it was sad to think Natalie was going through so much. Julian deserved everything she said and did, and more.’ Emma stopped. ‘I don’t mean that. Sure I hated the bastard some days, but I wouldn’t wish him dead.’
‘I’m surprised the other two didn’t mention any of this to me.’
‘Well they have their reasons.’
‘Simon and his affections. And Clara?’
‘She’s half in love with Simon. It’s funny what infatuation can do.’
Zain knew how, closed up in a small space, infatuation could grow unfettered. Like fungus in the dark, until it took hold and did irreversible damage.
Kate flashed through his mind. He shifted her away, or tried to. He just hoped she was OK.
‘You don’t know what happened to Natalie, then?’ he asked.
‘No, she just disappeared. Clara once let something slip about a restraining order, but I think she was just being nasty.’
‘So you have no way of contacting her?’
‘No, sorry. HR might.’
‘Have you still got her old number?’ Zain could easily track her down with any information that Emma could provide. He didn’t say this, no need to elaborate just how insecure and interconnected data was.