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Brett was waiting for Nick when he arrived down at the coffee bar a few minutes after 3 p.m. He immediately stood and shook Nick’s hand warmly, actually putting his other hand on top and beaming at him.
‘Nick, hi, so good to see you!’
‘And you! You’re looking well!’
‘Likewise. Look, take a seat and I’ll go and get the drinks. What would you like?’
‘Latte, please.’
‘Coming up, not much of a queue, I won’t be a minute.’
Nick sat down and relaxed. How different to those embarrassing encounters they’d had when Brett had first taken the helm as CSO at BioQex. It was remarkable how much Brett had seemed to change during those months directing the research at their former company. Nick had at first found Brett’s personality abrasive and brash and had suspected him of some underhand practices. However, without Brett’s bravery after the laboratory explosion, Nick might not be sitting there at that moment. In truth, he owed his life to Brett.
The drinks arrived along with two pastries.
‘Thought we’d have something to eat. I only grabbed a quick sandwich at lunchtime and I’m starving. Which do you fancy? You choose.’
‘Oh, this one, thanks! I’ll have to make sure I go for a run one evening,’ joked Nick.
‘Anyway, how are you getting on here? Early days I expect.’
‘Well, yes, but I’ve made a start on some chemistry, not sure whether it will work out though.’
‘Well, that’s great. It’s a good team here, shame about Professor Plum, I mean Plumpton,’ joked Brett.
‘Yes, I couldn’t help thinking of him as Professor Plum, either,’ said Nick.
‘I was just thinking,’ said Brett, ‘we’ve got Professor Plum so maybe Erin is Miss Scarlet?’
The two men smiled.
‘She can tie me up with some rope in the conservatory anytime!’ said Brett.
‘I think I need to keep my mind off Erin,’ said Nick, ‘otherwise, I’ll be messing up my reactions!’
‘I just wanted to say that we have every confidence in you to make a real contribution,’ said Brett and he paused to wolf down some of his pain au raisin. Nick ate some of his pastry and they sat in companionable silence for a few moments. Nick had decided not to mention any of the recent events or suspicions about Dan, Polly had urged him to go to the Head of Faculty as Dan was employed by the university and not PerzSolve.
‘Well, thanks,’ said Nick feeling rather embarrassed at the praise. ‘So, do you think we will get the necessary investment from venture capitalists? Matt mentioned something about a high level of interest.’
‘It’s looking very encouraging indeed. I’m off up to the smoke this week, in fact, got some meetings with some of the big boys.’
‘Great stuff. Sounds good.’
‘Anyway, how’s Polly getting on? Remind me, what section is she in?’
‘Well, she’s heading up a section which is responsible for whistle-blowing, although the actual title is complicated, I can’t remember exactly, it’s part of Corporate Governance, er what is it? Anyway, doesn’t matter. But she’s really enjoying it, though it’s a bit stressful.’
So the conversation continued to flow easily and Nick was amazed to see that nearly an hour had passed. ‘Sorry, but I’m going to have to call it a day now, got a reaction to check over,’ said Nick, putting his cup on his plate and sweeping up some flakes of pastry with his hand.
‘Yes, me too, but we’ll catch up again soon.’
They stood to say their goodbyes and Nick wondered whether Brett was going to hug him but he was relieved when he stopped short of that and patted him on the shoulder. Nick headed back to the lab feeling quite happy. It had been a welcome and pleasant diversion after a poor start and there wasn’t long before he could finish and head home.
**
Lee had slept rather better than the previous night which was good as he had a busy evening and night ahead. RB was going to collect him and they were going to head over to the university to collect the goods from Dan. Then he had his shift at the club and Scott was due to meet him over there at 3 a.m. When he awoke at 4 p.m. he’d had some texts from Scott to say that all was in hand. He had obtained a van which was parked in a secluded side street with false number plates. It was a couple of miles from its usual address so he was confident it wouldn’t be spotted. It had no trade names or distinguishing features so should not attract any attention or trigger people’s memory. Lee was impressed. Scott could prove to be a valuable addition to the team. He had just time for a shower and a trip to the cafe for a cooked breakfast. He needed something to sustain him throughout the hours ahead.
**
Nick returned to the lab and took some samples from his reaction to analyse. As he’d not actually run any samples before, he asked Hannah to accompany him just to show him the login procedure. He was familiar with instrumentation from his time at BioQex but all machines were slightly different and he didn’t want to make any mistakes. There would be about a half-hour wait for the results so he went back to his desk to complete some paperwork.
He noticed Dr Phil Sweetman approaching and hoped he wasn’t coming to see him. Their exchange last week in the corridor had been less than friendly and he’d vowed to keep out of Phil’s way unless absolutely necessary. However, Phil seemed to be in a better mood today and smiled at Nick pleasantly.
‘So, how goes it, Nick?’
‘Oh, well, fine, thank you. I’ve made a start. I’m just waiting for some data actually.’
‘Excellent, well, that’s good to hear. Keep up the good work. Perhaps we could have a chat in a week or so when you’ve had a chance to get settled in?’
‘That would be good, just let me know when.’
‘Now, where’s that Dan got to? Oh, here he is,’ said Phil, turning around as he heard footsteps approaching.
‘Hi, Phil,’ said Dan, sounding rather weary.
‘Hi, Dan, just came to remind you about tomorrow evening.’
Dan looked blankly at Phil. He had clearly no idea what he was talking about.
‘I thought you might have forgotten. I’m talking about dinner with Professor Zeng, he’s giving the seminar the next day. Radical insertion reactions, is it all coming back to you?’
‘Shit, yes, oh, sorry, that’s this week? I must have got confused.’
‘You’re getting forgetful Danny boy,’ said Phil.
Dan looked pale when Phil called him Danny boy and held on to the back of his chair.
‘Are you OK?’
‘Yes, fine, just felt a bit dizzy, I’m a bit tired that’s all.’
‘Well, this is quite an honour for you, Ian will be there as well. He put your name forward so it’s a chance for you to make a good impression.’
‘Yes, don’t worry, I’ll be there. What time?’
‘We meet at the Senate House for drinks at 6.30 p.m., so if I were you I’d bring your suit with you tomorrow and get changed here. Drop by my office at 6.15 p.m. and we can walk over together. OK.?
‘Great, I’ll look forward to it,’ replied Dan, sounding anything but enthusiastic.
‘Make sure you read up about his work as well, you need to ask him some appropriate questions both tomorrow evening and after the seminar.’
‘Yes, of course,’ replied Dan, looking even more depressed at this latest piece of advice.
Nick was busying himself on his laptop throughout this exchange. Dan was not in his good books at the moment but he did sympathise. These formal dinners with visiting speakers were hard going and stressful. They’d had some seminars at BioQex with visiting speakers but they weren’t that often and as BioQex was a small company they had tended to be an informal affair. Nick had only been required to attend a lunch with a visiting speaker and that was bad enough. He would dread having to attend a formal university dinner where every sentence uttered was being judged. It was at times like that when your mind seemed to go blank and you became completely tongue-tied. Dan would certainly need a bit of help from his illicit substance he thought cruelly.
‘Fucking hell,’ he heard Dan muttering to himself. He started to tap away furiously at his keyboard. Nick felt it was time to retreat to the safety of the lab and tidy up. It shouldn’t be too long now before his data had run. Nick planned to leave about 5.30 p.m., he would have had more than enough for one day. Polly had told him she would get the bus back if Nick could stop off and get some food and provisions at the supermarket on the way home. Some shopping seemed a pleasant prospect after the day he’d had. Hopefully, tomorrow would run much more smoothly.
**
Jessica heard the door of her cell open and her masked guard slid her early evening meal into her. Once again it was a sandwich and a bottle of water.
‘You done the letter?’ He asked. ‘Give it to me and the pen.’
‘What about my bucket?’ asked Jessica. ‘I need it changed.’
‘Give it here,’ he replied.
This was Jessica’s moment. She went to pick it up but accidentally dropped it, slopping urine all over the floor. Some of it splashed on the guard’s shoes and he stepped back quickly.
‘You clumsy bitch!’ he shouted. ‘Oh, fuck, look at my trainers! They’ll stink now!’
‘I’m sorry, so sorry, my hands are cold. Please don’t hurt me! Look, I’ll wipe them, and she bent down to wipe them with her coat.
‘Leave them! I’ll go and wash them. You can keep that bucket. You can breathe in the smell of your own piss as well!’
He stormed off and slammed the door, taking the letter she’d written with him. She sank down on the sleeping bag. The distraction had worked. She still had the pen. Now she had to hope she got the chance to use it.
