Steven wanted to investigate... but STOP signs were flashing inside his head. If he started asking questions of WHO in Geneva, it would quickly be construed as interference in what was an MI6 and US Intelligence affair and that could lead to general... unhappiness. Apart from that, it had been Jane Sherman at MI6 who had told him about Lagarde being under investigation and he didn’t want to betray her trust. On the other hand.... he didn’t think that contacting people at Beer Sheva University could be seen as interference. The Israelis had not done anything wrong and were not under investigation. All he had to do now was think how to approach them.
‘What exactly do you want to find out?’ asked Jean next morning when Steven voiced his hesitation about contacting the Israeli lab.
‘We know that Petrov — before he was killed — intended sending whatever he was making to Phillipe Lagarde at WHO in Geneva, and this wasn’t the first time he had sent off such a package. It would be good to know if they were all addressed to Lagarde or, if indeed, they were all sent to WHO in Geneva. I’d also like to know how they were sent — presumably he couldn’t use the normal mail service so some kind of courier service must have been employed.’
‘And a specialised one,’ said John Macmillan who had joined them. ‘He wouldn’t have wanted anyone interfering with the contents so he’d probably use the threat of dangerous organisms being inside to ward off official nosiness.’
‘The university would have supplied the necessary labelling and documentation,’ said Steven, ‘It’s not unusual for strains of bacteria and viruses to be exchanged between university labs.’
‘And it would be the perfect cover for new synthetic drugs if that’s what he was up to,’ said Macmillan.
‘So, what’s my interest?’ Steven mused. ‘What good reason could Sci-Med have for asking questions that the intelligence services may have already asked?
‘Press a different button,’ Macmillan suggested. ‘MI6 and US Intelligence are concerned with criminality and threats to their countries’ security on an international scale; we deal with threats to the UK arising from the actions of members of the medical and scientific community. I suggest you start by telling the Israelis exactly who you are and mention that you are aware of the serious questions being raised over what Petrov had been doing in their lab. You could suggest that you would like to be assured that none of the containers he had been sending out were addressed to premises in the UK — nonsense, of course, but I think it will sound reasonable enough — you can then tag on any of the other questions you want to ask as part of the general conversation.’
‘Brilliant,’ said Jean.
‘Absolutely,’ added Steven.
Steven said who he was and hung on the line while someone in Microbiology at Beer Sheva University went to find, ‘Dr Zimmerman’. The wait seemed to go on for ever before he heard someone fumble with the receiver.
‘Dr Eli Zimmerman here. I don’t think I’m familiar with the Sci-Med Inspectorate,’ said the voice.
Steven explained that they were a small investigative group and said what they did, adding, ‘We’ve been around for quite some time.’
‘I know,’ said Zimmerman. ‘I just checked.’
Steven smiled as he heard the reason for the wait.
‘What can I do for you?’
‘I understand that no one is very sure what Dr Petrov was working on in your lab, Doctor, but there has been some talk of him designing the kind of synthetic drugs which can be a substitute for heroin and are hugely addictive. I also understand that he sent out material from the lab from time to time?’
‘My understanding too,’ said Zimmerman.
‘I was worried he might have been sending such material to the UK. Can you assure me that was not the case?’
‘I’m afraid not.’
‘You don’t have a list of the addresses?’
‘Oh yes, we have a list, Dr Dunbar, it’s just that I can’t assure you. He sent two containers to the UK.’
‘Oh dear,’ said Steven for want of something better to say. He had been totally taken aback and now Zimmerman was laughing... This was all going splendidly. Not.
‘Fear not, Dr Dunbar, the two parcels Petrov sent to the UK were presents to his father in London, a bit naughty but he used the same containers and labelling as for the ones he sent to Lagarde in Geneva because it was easier and the courier could be relied upon to deliver them without interference from customs and the like.’
‘Which courier would that be, Doctor?’
‘MedTrans International.’
‘Ah, well known for moving donor organs around quickly and under controlled conditions,’ said Steven.
‘Indeed.’
‘Thank you for your help, Dr Zimmerman and for putting my mind at rest, I take it all the other packages he sent out went to Phillipe Lagarde in Geneva?’
‘Yes.’
‘Not too many, I hope?’
‘Four in all, I’m told.’
‘Well, I hope that the authorities at WHO managed to locate and deal with them if the rumours about synthetic drugs are true?’ said Steven pushing his luck.
‘I’m afraid not,’ said Zimmerman. ‘I understand Lagarde redirected them to other addresses almost as soon as they arrived in Geneva.’
Steven sighed despondently and said, ‘I suppose we can now expect another highly addictive drug plague to erupt on the streets of... do you know where Lagarde sent them, Doctor?’
‘I’m afraid not.’
‘Well, let’s hope the relevant authorities can minimise the damage,’ said Steven. ‘Many thanks again for your help.’
Steven put down the phone feeling a very long way from being assured that all was well. He felt sure that Petrov’s story about sending presents to his father might be baloney. He could have used his ‘naughtiness’ as a cover for sending whatever he had been working on via a respectable specialist courier to a private address in London. Petrov’s father could well be involved in Malenkov’s operation.
‘Well done,’ said John Macmillan, ‘any thoughts on where you go from here?’
‘I’m going to talk to Jane Sherman again at MI6.’
Macmillan raised his eyes.
‘There’s a chance she might not know what we’ve just found out so, if I tell her, it might assure her that we are on side with her and redress the balance a little. We’ve been gathering crumbs from the MI6 table lately, let’s throw her a couple.’
‘Nice to have Machiavelli on our side,’ said Jean.
‘And then what?’ asked Macmillan.
‘So much depends on what was in the flasks that Petrov was sending out,’ said Steven.
‘You don’t go along with the synthetic drug theory?’
‘On its own, it does sound plausible,’ said Steven although his facial expression said that he was struggling. ‘But everything around it, the murders, the money... just doesn’t add up.’
‘Nerve agents are very popular these days,’ said Jean.
‘And plentiful,’ said Steven dismissing that suggestion too.
‘Well, it shouldn’t be long before Porton Down do their stuff,’ said Macmillan, ‘and the guessing games can stop. How is your good lady by the way?’
‘She should be coming home soon,’ said Steven. ‘I was worried she might consider staying on but the authorities have recognised that the micro-management system they came up with for Equateur has no chance of working in Kivu Province. It’s a question of circling the vaccination wagons at a distance to contain the virus. Actually, Tally asked me to look up something for her... I’ll be in the library if you want me.’
The WHO report on the 2014-16 Ebola outbreak was a little too esoteric for the library to have in hard copy so Steven sat down and used an online computer link to bring it up on the screen in front of him. It didn’t take long to find what Tally was concerned about. The report clearly reported that no deaths had been attributed to use of the experimental vaccine at the time, although several minor side effects had been noted. Steven turned to the summary at the end of the report and found himself mesmerised by the huge numbers. It was impossible not to imagine the sheer horror of the same thing happening in the UK, something that hadn’t happened on such a scale since the post-war pandemic of so-called Spanish Flu in 1918 or the sweep of bubonic plague in the mid seventeenth century. In his mind, he saw the disease spreading out from the site of any major airport in the country — one sick person arriving at the wrong time in the wrong place was all that it needed.