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Brett and Matt were enjoying an early evening drink in town to discuss the events of the week. It had certainly been eventful, so much had happened, it was hard to believe that in his first week at the university Nick had ended up in hospital. Both men drank half their lagers in silence, Matt was the first to speak.
‘It’s such a relief that Nick’s scans were encouraging. No serious damage and providing he makes good progress he should be able to go home after the weekend.’
‘Yes, that is good news, though I doubt he will be able to do any practical chemistry for a while.’
‘No, well, we’ll just see how he gets on, the rest of the team should be able to use his breakthrough and improve on it.’
‘I had a call from Phil Sweetman earlier today,’ said Matt.
‘Oh, what about?’
‘Well, it seems that Dan had a real heart to heart with him today. Admitted to snorting coke. He’s going to have counselling and has promised to stop using drugs, so he’s not going to be suspended. But the bad thing is he gave a large amount of the supply of UP-627 to those drug dealers, so the project doesn’t have much left.’
‘Shit, that’s bad news. Any idea why they wanted it?’
‘No, it’s still a mystery. The police are investigating but so far there’s no news. Whether someone got their wires crossed and thought it was psychoactive?’ Matt shrugged.
‘Dan had no choice as it seems they kidnapped his girlfriend.’
‘Fuck, really? But this is Persford, nothing like that happens here!’
‘That’s what you said before and look what Zac got up to.’
‘True, well, I hope they get the bastards.’
‘Anyway, on a happier note, tell me again about your meetings in London.’
‘Well, it all went swimmingly, once I gave them the hard sell and managed to persuade them that an investment in PersCure was the best thing since sliced bread. I turned on the charm, gave them all the facts and they were hooked.’
Matt nodded and smiled. How he wished he’d actually witnessed the meetings. He was sure that Brett was spinning him a tale but he didn’t want to burst his bubble. He knew Brett of old and he always wanted to create the impression he had kissed the Blarney Stone. The end result was what mattered so he would allow Brett his touch of embellishment.
‘Fancy another?’ asked Brett, ‘Anyway, isn’t this on expenses, it must class as a business meeting.’
Matt merely shook his head and handed over his glass. He texted Emma to say he wouldn’t be too long before he was back and she replied that he needn’t rush. Brett returned.
‘So it looks like Vendura Advisory might find us some more clients and this Marsfield guy is interested in being a major investor in PersCure. With that sort of backing it will give us the kudos to push for a flotation on AIM, don’t you think?’
‘Hey, wait a minute, let’s not get ahead of ourselves, we’ve got a lot of studies to get through and some of those might have to be put on hold until we can synthesise some more material thanks to the hapless Dan.’
‘Well, you shouldn’t knock me for being enthusiastic. How about a chaser to go with that? A little celebration?’
‘OK, then, just a small one,’ said Matt.
He watched his friend at the bar ordering the drinks and saw the barmaid laugh uproariously. Despite their ups and downs and his apprehension when they’d started their partnership things seemed to be going well. Hopefully, when Brett tied the knot with Annabelle he would have a further steadying influence. Things looked quite rosy at the moment and he was seriously beginning to think that this venture could be very successful.
**
Andy Walters had left Brensford Manor feeling somewhat deflated but the phone call from his colleague Mike had given him new energy. Not only had it confirmed that Lee Percival was missing from the club but they now had a firm name for a missing female. Mike and Paul were heading off to Lee’s last registered address and Andy was going back to the station to see what he could unearth about Karolina Dabrowski.
‘Shani, you might as well go home now, it’s late, so I’ll see you on Monday. Take tomorrow off and have a rest.’
‘But sir, it’s fine, I don’t mind coming in tomorrow.’
‘No, I’ll see you on Monday, I’ll come in tomorrow and follow up a few leads but realistically there’s nothing you can do until Monday. Thanks, you’ve done more than enough.’
‘OK, sir, well thanks.’
Andy made himself a cup of strong coffee and logged on to his computer. He checked police records in the UK for Karolina Dabrowski but she didn’t feature. He would have to contact Interpol to request anything held on her in Poland. He also needed them to access her medical and dental records. Then it would be a waiting game to see what information, if any, came back and then Alistair Gordon, the pathologist could give his verdict.
He sent a brief message to Alistair to update him and also to ascertain whether he felt there was a reasonable chance of extracting any DNA from the female corpse. There was a possibility they could find some hairs with follicles attached at her residence for comparison. Things were really starting to come together. He felt sure they would soon know the identities of the three incinerated victims. Whether they could bring a case against Ron Radford was another matter. Hopefully in the next hour or so he would hear back from Mike about what he’d discovered at Lee Percival’s flat.
**
Mike Harris told Paul to wait in the car whilst he went to Lee Percival’s flat. He rang the buzzer for Flat Four but there was no reply, He then rang each buzzer in turn until he got a response. He identified himself and the door was released. Mike entered the shabby lobby which contained some post boxes labelled with the six flat numbers, a couple of bikes and a pushchair. He walked up the stairs to the first floor where Flat number three was located. The young girl who had answered the door buzzer was standing at her flat door looking worried.
Mike showed his identification and she scrutinised it carefully. She was wearing a black vest top which showed her tattooed arms off well. She sported some ripped jeans and a number of unattractive piercings around her eyebrows, one of which looked slightly infected.
‘Have you seen the occupant of Flat Four, recently?’
‘You mean Lee?’
‘Yes, Lee Percival, he works at The Flamingo club.’
‘Ugh, that place, disgusting. I’ve not seen him for a couple of days but he works evenings and nights mainly.’
‘When did you last see him?’
‘Can’t say exactly. But I saw him out of my window and he was getting in a van. It was stood idling outside and it was making quite a racket.’
‘Did you see the driver? Or get the registration?’
The girl rolled her eyes at this point. ‘No, I didn’t. Is that all, only I’m a bit busy at the moment.’
‘You’ve been very helpful Miss?’
‘Ms Harford, Jenna.’
‘Well, thank you, if you think of anything else, give me a call on this number.’
She took the card and slammed the door shut. It hadn’t been the most productive of interviews but it seemed likely that Lee was indeed missing and it was possible that the van she’d seen was the one burnt out in the field. He went out to the waiting car, he was thoroughly exhausted. He would update Andy and then go home for a well-earned rest, there was nothing more to be done today.
