Steven left with Neil Tyler who said, ‘For what it’s worth I understand why you want to know who’s funding Barrowman’s work, but I honestly don’t know.’
‘I believe you,’ said Steven.
‘Good. You people have probably been checking me out?’
‘Probably,’ agreed Steven with a smile.
‘And getting nowhere?’
Steven gave a non-committal shrug but his smile was still there.
‘In there, I told you what my interests were. What I didn’t say was that my wife was a victim of terrorist bombing some five years ago.’
‘My god, I’m sorry.’
‘When I... got over it I gave up my academic position and became an independent investigator working to my own agenda. I tend to move around a lot and keep a low profile. I’ve managed to amass a great deal of data on the problem.’
Steven digested this and said, ‘But someone knew how to find you and reckoned you were the right man to monitor what Barrowman was up to?’
‘Yes.’
‘Sounds like they made a good decision,’ said Steven. ‘Mind you, what interests me is how they knew all about you when my people came up with a blank.’
‘I agree... that is interesting. By the way, the Moorlock Hall prisoner you asked about in there, was he Malcolm Lawler?’
‘Yes.’
‘Interesting, I read about the place in the papers this morning.’
The two men exchanged contact details, something that gave Steven a stab of conscience when he was reminded of the awful aftermath of giving someone his card. ‘I’ll call you if we find anything new in the stuff taken from Barrowman’s flat.’
‘Thanks,’ said Tyler. ‘Dorothy seems to have had very bad luck with her post-docs... Barrowman is the third who has come to a sticky end.’
They came to the parting of the ways but Steven felt he had been given food for thought. Had that been intentional?
Fourteen
Steven called Lukas Neubauer at the Lundborg labs and exchanged pleasantries before coming to the point. ‘What are the chances of you dropping everything and going through the entire contents of a computer?’
‘About the same as Arsenal winning the Premier League.’
‘That good,’ exclaimed Steven, knowing how big an Arsenal fan Lukas was.
‘I wish. What are you looking for?’
Steven told him.
‘So, let me see, you have DNA sequences from these people and you’re looking for some clear differences from the norm that they all have in common?’ asked Lukas.
‘And anything else interesting you happen to notice along the way.’
‘It might help if you tell me what’s going on here.’
‘How about I bring the computer round and then I’ll take you for a pint and we can talk?’
‘Do you think I’m that easy?’
‘All right, two pints.’
It had been some time since the two men had last seen each other, but their history of having worked closely and successfully together and even faced danger in the past ensured that they quickly slipped into being comfortable in each other’s company. Exchanges of family news — Lukas had twin boys — gave way to Steven giving Lukas a detailed rundown on what Owen Barrowman had been working on.
‘Ah, epigenetics,’ said Lukas without following up.
Steven gave him a full minute to stare at the surface of the table before asking, ‘Is that a problem?’
Lukas came out of his trance and said, ‘When Crick and Watson described the structure of DNA and how it replicated it was such a wonderful moment in science. The world smiled. Nothing but good could come from it.’
‘Absolutely,’ said Steven.
‘I have a very different feel about epigenetics,’ said Lukas. ‘I know it’s early days but it holds so many secrets.’
‘Is that bad?’
‘There may be some we’ll have difficulty coping with...’
Steven frowned and said, ‘I never thought I’d hear that from a scientist.’
Lukas shrugged and said, When I was a young student in Prague one of my lecturers was very fond of quoting from an English poet. He who pries into every cloud may be hit by a thunderbolt.
‘Hardly a comfort for researchers,’ said Steven.
‘I understand that protection can be achieved through the intake of Pilsner beer,’ said Lukas eyeing his empty glass.
‘Coming up.’
Despite it being after seven Steven decided that he would go in to the Home Office to leave Jean Roberts a note. He was surprised to find her still there.
‘No home to go to?’
‘Choir practice night,’ she replied. ‘It’s easier to go directly from here. I could ask the same of you.’
‘I thought I’d come by and leave you a note. Tally’s away at the moment.’ Steven told Jean of her mother’s accident.
‘Nasty, I hope she pulls through. What can I do for you?’
Steven asked her if she could dig out information about the fire in Dorothy Lindstrom’s lab at Yale University which had claimed the lives of two of her post docs.
‘Will do.’
‘I don’t suppose John’s still here?’
‘You’ve just missed him. He’s had a hugely frustrating day trying to get information out of the intelligence services about why they blocked funding for Professor Lindstrom.’
Steven nodded. It was no surprise. Sci-Med and MI5 had an uneasy relationship. Five thought Sci-Med lacked discipline, Sci-Med thought Five lacked imagination, but when push came to shove they tended to cover each other’s backs.
‘Any word from the police about Barrowman?’
‘Not a peep.’
‘Really?’ said Steven. ‘That part of London must have more cameras than a Paparazzi party.’
‘They picked up the private ambulance used in the kidnapping on CCTV, but it disappeared from view and was later found abandoned down a lane. They reckon a switch to another vehicle was made within a few minutes of the snatch and in a place where the kidnappers knew they’d be out of sight of cameras.’
‘So, the bottom line is the police have no idea where he is?’
‘Correct.’
Steven mulled over what he’d learned from the day as he walked home. Lukas had agreed to take a look at what was on Barrowman’s computer, but the reservations he’d expressed about epigenetics had been a revelation. He’d asked him what he’d meant by there being too many secrets to cope with, but to no avail. Did he really think there were some things better not to know? Steven shook his head, subconsciously dismissing the notion. He’d always seen Lukas as the perfect model of a scientist, intelligent, endlessly curious and totally without bias. Facts were facts and were there to be discovered, but if someone like him thought that there might be a downside to discovery... maybe he should bear that in mind?
Steven turned his attention to John’s problem with MI5. Five not answering questions was par for the course — secrets were their business and it was a way of life — but when the man asking the questions was Sir John Macmillan, a man with the highest security clearance and the ear of the Home Secretary, what did they think they were playing at? Surely, they must know that the next step would be John asking the Home Secretary personally. He felt sure that was exactly what would happen in the morning. In the meantime, he he invoked the maxim about clouds having silver linings and decided that Five’s continued awkwardness surrounding Dorothy Lindstrom’s research made it easier for him to target them as prime suspect for having snatched Barrowman and not those who were funding the research. It would also explain the insider knowledge and expertise shown in the operation. All he had to do now was figure out what Five were up to.