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Lee Percival was now on his way to Brensford Manor for his early evening meeting with Cole. He’d started to get anxious when his ten-year old Vauxhall Astra had been reluctant to start. He was seriously worried it might develop major problems which would prove to be expensive. That was why he was desperate to keep his job as a doorman at one of Cole’s clubs and hopefully, he would get a little bonus for this latest information update. He needed to create a good impression and make sure he was first on the list should any additional assignments present themselves. He’d been so lucky to make acquaintance with the slow-witted Scott whose girlfriend Erin worked at the university. It had been one of those chance encounters which had appeared initially innocuous but had become a rich seam of treasure to be exploited.
He stopped at the electronic gates and pressed the intercom buzzer. The usual hired help answered and he gave his full name. After a pause, there was a buzzing noise and the gates opened slowly. He drove slowly up the driveway, past the carefully tended lawns and parked around the back near an annexe where Cole had his office. Alighting from his car, he straightened his jacket and checked the fly on his trousers. He pulled his shirt away from his armpits and took a quick sniff at them. He hoped that his anxiety had not caused him to sweat too much. Wiping his hands on his trousers he ventured round to the door of Cole’s office and rang the bell.
**
Nick and Polly were sitting down to a meal of tofu vegetable curry with pilau rice. So far they’d just discussed the school visit and Polly had suggested Nick tried to forget about it for a few days and perhaps look for some more schools to contact rather than giving up completely on the idea of teacher training. It was good advice and after all, there was no rush. Polly told Nick how someone from the catering department at the university had been to see her to report a colleague whom they were sure was ordering more supplies than necessary and then selling the food staples on to businesses in the surrounding area. Although the catering was contracted out to a separate company all the costs were being passed on to the university so it was a matter for investigation. Polly had begun to think there was no department immune from dishonest employees. It was a further vindication of the decision to establish her role and draw up the detailed whistle-blower policy.
After clearing the meal away and washing up Polly said she would get on with some ironing.
‘No, wait a minute,’ said Nick, ‘let’s have a coffee, there’s something I need to discuss with you.’
‘Oh, what’s that? I thought we’d exhausted the teacher training subject, at least for a while?’
‘It’s something else. It’s been a busy day.’
‘Intriguing,’ said Polly, but inwardly her stomach was churning. There had been numerous occasions in the past when Nick had wanted to discuss something and it had been a difficult situation. She hoped that they weren’t going to be revisiting those days again.
‘I had a phone call this afternoon,’ Nick explained.
‘Yes, who was it?’
‘Matt Pearson.’
‘Oh, yes, well I told you I’d bumped into him the other day. He’s OK isn’t he?’
‘Yes, all seems to be going very well with the consultancy he set up. They’ve secured a contract with the university to support them with this spin-off company for cancer treatment. It all sounds very exciting.’
‘Well, that’s great, I’m really pleased for him. Anything else?’
‘There’s an opportunity for an experienced chemist to help out, troubleshoot, give advice, that sort of thing.’
Polly raised her eyebrows. ‘Go on.’
‘He offered me the job. It’s for six months. Good salary. Well, not quite as good as at BioQex, but very reasonable, for an academic environment, that is.’
‘Well, sounds great? Are you interested? When does he want to know?’
Nick paused and finished his cup of coffee. He felt a bit embarrassed about his next response and felt his neck start to flush. ‘I’ve accepted. I told him this afternoon. Straightaway, I just felt it was the right thing. After all, it’s only six months and I can still look into schools.....and it will be good for my CV...’ Nick was gabbling now, his words spilling out in an uncontrolled stream. He knew he should have discussed it with Polly first and he was worried about her response. He paused to see her smiling at him and she reached for his hand.
‘Nick, Nick, slow down, it’s OK.’
‘Really? You don’t mind? You’re not annoyed with me are you?’
‘Of course not. I’ve seen how depressed you’ve been getting stuck in the house having the lovely Ryan and Kylie next door for company. Believe me, I’d feel the same. I don’t know how you’ve been able to put up with it for so long.’
Nick smiled back at her, a huge wave of relief washing over him. He reached for Polly and hugged her.
‘When I was leaving this morning, Kylie ran out to her car. She started the engine and then the door opened and she chucked out her empty water bottle, the wrapper from her sandwiches and an empty fag packet and just left them on the pavement. I noticed they’ve now blown on to our driveway. So I know what they’re like.’
‘What, cheeky trollop,’ said Nick. ‘I’ll go and clear it up, I need to take out the recycling anyway,’ and he got up to go outside.
‘Never mind that now,’ said Polly, ‘I’ve got a better idea. There’s something I need your help with in the bedroom,’ and she beamed at Nick. All thoughts of the litter were forgotten for a while.
**
Daniel Lythgoe heard his girlfriend Jessica return from her Pilates class. He was in the bathroom of their flat and quickly turned the lock on the door. He shouted out to her, ‘Hi, just in the loo, won’t be a minute,’ and set about clearing away the remains of a line of cocaine he’d just been snorting. He suddenly felt infinitely better, positively buzzing. He just hoped he didn’t look too hyper or she would start to suspect something was wrong. He washed his face in cold water to calm his mood and emerged from the bathroom.
‘Hi, Dan. Everything OK?’ she asked, stepping back slightly and studying him. ‘Have you got a cold?’
‘A cold? No, why?’ Dan wiped his nose, starting to panic that some white powder remained visible around his nostril.
‘Your nose looks to be running a bit and you sound a bit nasal,’ replied his girlfriend.
‘Oh, no, it’s nothing, I’ve just had a bit of a sneezing fit, that’s all,’ said Dan hurriedly, escaping from her gaze to go and sit down in front of the television.
‘How did it go with your big meeting today then?’
‘Oh, great, things are really moving along now. We’re going to have someone joining us from industry to help out. I hope he fits in though and isn’t too bossy.’
‘Well, the main thing is that you get this project off the ground. It will look really good for you in the future.’
‘Yes, that’s true,’ agreed Dan.
‘Just one thing I wanted to mention to you. I checked the joint account today and there’s not much money left in it. You’ve withdrawn nearly two hundred pounds over the last fortnight. What have you been spending it on?’
Dan had to think quickly. Jessica must not under any circumstances find out where the money had gone. ‘Oh, I forgot to tell you, had a flat tyre the other day, and Pat at the lab needed some readies so I helped him out a bit.’
‘Why did you pay for the tyre with cash? We usually use the card as we get the reward points,’ she pointed out.
‘Oh, their machine was playing up, kept refusing the card, you know how it is?’
‘Well make sure you get the money back from Pat won’t, you. He’s no right asking you for a sub, we can’t afford it. Tell him to find someone else in the future.’
It was fortunate this conversation was being conducted through the door to the bathroom as Jessica was getting changed and showered after her class. Otherwise, she would have seen her boyfriend’s agitation during his interrogation. There was no mistaking the fact that Dan had a drug habit which threatened to get out of control. A few months ago when he’d been short of funds he’d had to steal a laptop from the university in order to service his coke habit. He was worried sick that the dealer’s demands might turn out to be even more onerous. He had to keep his habit secret from the university nor did he want to get caught stealing. The portents were certainly bad, that wasn’t in dispute. Just how bad they proved to be he would discover very soon.
