‘Afraid not,’ said Binnie. ‘Want me to have a prod at him?’
‘Anything’s worth a try right now.’
‘Like that, is it?’
‘A long time ago someone told me never to go to war with the establishment because, as he said, you’ll always lose. I feel like I’m confirming his belief at every turn.’
‘But you work for the establishment,’ said Binnie.
‘I thought I did,’ said Steven ruefully. He made to open the Land Rover door. ‘I’d better let you get on with your work,’ he said.
‘I’ll call you later if I get anything out of John,’ said Binnie.
As he drove off, Steven doubted whether Binnie would be able to persuade his friend, Sweeney to tell him anything. Friend or not, Sweeney had clearly been scared about what he had got himself into. He would probably see keeping his mouth shut as the safe option. Steven started to wonder if breaking into Sweeney’s office at the Dick Vet might be a better idea. Surely Sweeney would have written down his findings about the rat, he thought, but on the other hand it seemed equally probable that all such evidence would have been removed by the people who’d applied pressure to him. He reluctantly concluded that a break-in was probably a non-starter. The chances of success would have to be very good indeed to warrant such a risky venture and they weren’t. His phone rang. It was James Binnie.
‘I’ve just remembered,’ said Binnie. ‘I did tell someone else about taking the rat over to the vet school,’ said Binnie. ‘I mentioned it to Tom Rafferty.’
‘Rafferty?’ exclaimed Steven.
‘It was the day he called me over to see his dog, Khan. ‘He kept insisting that Khan was genuinely ill and that was the reason he seemed to be getting meaner every day. Although I told him that, in my opinion, Khan had always been mean, I had to defer to the fact that owners always know their pets better than outsiders. I remember mentioning to him that I was going to be going over to the vet school in the next few days to have an analysis on the rat done. I offered to take over a blood sample from Khan at the same time.
‘That would make sense,’ said Steven. If Rafferty had known about Binnie’s intention then it was a safe bet that Childs and Leadbetter would also have known. It must have been them who had arranged for pressure to be put on Sweeney to kill the report.
‘Sorry about that,’ said Binnie. ‘I should have remembered earlier. I’m not sure if it tells you anything?’
‘It does,’ said Steven, without saying more. He thought about what Binnie had said as he drove on. It was always nice when things fitted and there was satisfaction to be had in understanding just how Sigma 5 had come to know about the rat autopsy.
Steven went back to wondering about the change in the rats’ behaviour. Sigma 5 knew that it was specific to Blackbridge because they weren’t targeting any other GM sites. But if it wasn’t the crop itself and it wasn’t the use of glyphosphate or glufosinate herbicides, what else could it be? The crop itself had been tested… but the weed-killers hadn’t! he concluded. Just supposing that Agrigene were using a different kind of weed-killer at Peat Ridge! Phillip Grimble, Agrigene’s technical manager had said that same crop was being tested at different sites to try out different herbicide regimes. Could that be the source of the problem? Were they using an unlicensed herbicide? Something really toxic?
This certainly seemed to be a possibility but why on earth should a high level, covert government operation be mounted to cover something like that up? Why wouldn’t the authorities just throw the book at the company and be done with it? Steven decided that there was only one way to check on this. He would pay an unannounced visit to the storage barn at Peat Ridge Farm and check out what they were using for himself. While he was up there, near the canal, he would also try to get another rat for forensic examination. This time a Sci-Med appointed pathologist would carry out the autopsy. There was no guarantee of course that all the rats in the canal area were afflicted with whatever it was, but in view of McNish’s death it certainly seemed likely that a majority were.
Steven decided that he would go to Peat Ridge Farm that very night. The idea of doing something positive appealed to him. He thought about what he would need in the way of equipment and decided not that much. He already had dark clothes and a balaclava in his bag at the hotel. He had good quality trainers for any climbing that might be involved, although he hoped that wouldn’t be necessary. The only thing he needed that he didn’t have at the moment was a series of small plastic bottles for taking samples from the chemical containers stored in the barn and something to carry them in. And maybe one bigger plastic container, suitable for a whole rat should he manage to get hold of one.
He decided that he would approach Peat Ridge from the canal towpath. He would go well after dark when the soldiers engaged in the rat cull would have left for the day. He would of course, have to avoid the patrolling private security men but their presence didn’t worry him too much. These men were all right for dealing with amateur intruders. Being ex-Special Forces gave him a distinct edge in that department.
Going in from that side would give him access to the back of the Peat Ridge barn where presumably the chemicals were kept. There did not seem to be anywhere else suitable and it was certainly the only place on the farm that the rats might have access to in view of its dilapidated state. He thought it would be ideal if he could gain entrance from the rear too, rather than have to try for a front door entry where the yard lights were kept on all the time these days. He would play it by ear. He felt a slight thrill of excitement as he set off for the city to find a shop where he could buy some plastic containers and a small black rucksack.
Steven set off just after eleven thirty. It was a clear night and a half moon was shining brightly. He headed for a large lay-by he’d seen on a previous occasion, about half a mile east of Blackbridge, where he planned to leave the car before continuing on foot. It wasn’t a proper lay-by and it was on a very minor road so the car shouldn’t attract too much attention. He thought the site was probably used as an intermediate dump for sand and salt mixture in winter for subsequent application to the surrounding roads. It was important that he approach from the east he thought because, with a prevailing west wind, he would be downwind of the patrolling dogs.
Steven slung his rucksack over his shoulder and locked the car before putting the keys into his right hand jerkin pocket and zipping it up. He checked the zips on all his other pockets. He didn’t want anything falling out. He climbed over the fence separating the road from the field on the south side and started out across the field towards the canal towpath.
Crossing the field presented no problem — there was a rough path round the perimeter, which he followed, but things became more difficult when he climbed over the fence at the other side and had to drop down from a low stone dyke into an area of rough ground and tall trees. The trees blocked out what light there was coming from the moon and the ground here was very soft from the rain of the previous night. There were also a great many boulders here that he kept stumbling over and he guessed that the field behind him had probably been cleared of these stones at some time in the past.
He was beginning to run out of expletives when he reached the fence bordering the ground leading to the towpath. He climbed over it and up on to a more solid footing. Once up on the towpath, he pulled down his balaclava over his face. Moonlight was reflecting off the water of the canal and he didn’t want his face becoming visible as he ran lightly along the path to past the southern edge of Crawhill Farm and under the canal bridge to the perimeter fence of Peat Ridge.
When he saw the lights of the farmyard over to his right, he crouched down and remained motionless for fully five minutes, just listening and watching the patrolling guards. He was pleased to see that there only seemed to be two although both had dogs with them. When he felt confident that they were not varying their patrol pattern — it was obvious that their mere presence was meant to be a deterrent — he waited until the gap between patrols was greatest and went under the wire. He ran towards the back of the barn in a low crouching run and threw himself to the ground to remain motionless again, just listening to the sounds of the night. He was now at the southeast corner of the building so his view of the farm buildings, which lay slightly to the northwest, was obscured.