The position of the bodies, or what was left of them after the fire, suggested that they had been overcome by smoke and fumes at the bench where they were working. The question nagging away at him was simple. Had they been conscious when the fire broke out? If they hadn’t...
Steven baulked at the thought of another layer of complexity appearing. He thought about John Macmillan’s assertion that he was running in mud and acknowledged that he was just about to add another half-ton to the mix, but, having thought of it, he’d have to give the possibility due consideration.
It was obvious from the fire department’s photos that the state of the bodies precluded any possibility of forensic examination. Proving that the pair had been drugged was a world away from thinking it. Apart from that, the remains would have been disposed of a long time ago after release to the families by the police.
It would be a long shot, but the only way he could see of making progress would lie in establishing the movements of the pair before they went back to the lab on that fateful night. That is when they must have been given some sedative compound — maybe a one to two-hour window? Where were they? Who were they with? So much time had passed that it seemed unlikely anyone connected to the Lindstrom group would remember where or when they had last seen the pair. On the other hand, people often did remember where they had been around the time of something awful happening. It would be worth talking to Jane Lincoln again.
Steven checked the door locks and turned the lights off before looking out of the window and spotting an unmarked vehicle down in the street which he decided was police protection. ‘Stay awake, gentlemen,’ he murmured. ‘Stay awake.’
Tally left for work with a discreet police presence in attendance while Steven left some time later with his 9mm Glock for company. He thought he’d take the opportunity to go see Jane Lincoln while John was having words with the Home Secretary. Protocol demanded that he approach Dorothy Lindstrom first so he did. They exchanged pleasantries and puzzlement over the continued failure of the authorities to find Barrowman.
‘I’ve been preparing his results for publication,’ said Dorothy, ‘but it’s giving me a bit of a problem...’
‘In what way?’
‘In normal circumstances, Owen’s name should go on the paper as first author, but the circumstances are far from normal and I’m not sure what I should do about that.’
Academics are truly wonderful, thought Steven, she wants to leave him off.
‘I’m not sure I can help you there, Professor.’
Dorothy gave a half smile and asked, ‘Is this a formal visit or did you just pop in to say hello?’
‘Actually, I was hoping to have a word with Jane Lincoln if that’s all right and she’s around?’
‘I’m beginning to wonder what you two are cooking up,’ said Dorothy getting up from her chair.
‘No need,’ Steven assured her, ‘just a couple of details I forgot to ask her about last time.’
‘Hello again,’ said Jane, ‘Any news of Owen?’
Steven said not.
‘I still can’t believe what happened to him and thinking about it is making me worry about the rest of us.’
‘Really?’ Steven exclaimed. ‘None of you has had any sustained contact with the sort of people Owen worked with, have you?’
‘No, it wasn’t so much that I was thinking about... we have a young group member who has been working with suicidal people and I’ve noticed her become more and more withdrawn. She says she’s fine, but I’m not so sure.’
‘Have you spoken to Dorothy?’
Jane nodded. ‘She’s keeping an eye on her.’
The look that passed between them suggested that might not be enough.
‘It’s difficult,’ said Jane. ‘Everyone has their career to think of so she won’t want to admit to having problems which might be construed as mental frailty. That sticks, no matter what people might pretend otherwise, it sticks. The situation has made me think about the whole concept of normality. If you are surrounded by ten people who see things differently from you, like it or not, you are the abnormal one. It’s all very well thinking that there are thousands of people out there who think exactly like you, it’s the people around you who will eventually get you to establish a new norm.’
Steven nodded, impressed by Jane’s analysis.
‘Anyway, I’ll keep trying to get her to open up on a personal basis,’ said Jane. ‘As they say, it’s good to talk.’
‘You’re a good woman, Charlie Brown,’ said Steven. ‘We need more of you.’
‘And what can this good woman do for you, Dr Dunbar?’
Steven took a deep breath as if concealing embarrassment to come. ‘This may sound like a crazy question, but have you any idea what Paul Leighton and Carrie Simpson might have been doing in the hours leading up to the fire?’
‘Doing in the lab?’
‘Before they went back to the lab that night’
Jane’s eyes roamed round the room as if searching for inspiration and failing. ‘I really don’t know,’ she said. ‘Is this important?’
‘Very.’
Jane took that on board and said after a moment’s thought, ‘Let me see, I was quite late in leaving myself that night so most people including Paul and Carrie had already left before I did. If they were planning to come back later — as they were — they would probably have gone to grab a bite to eat, but that’s about as far as I can take it.’
‘Any idea where?’
‘Probably Romero’s, but that’s a guess.’
‘Romero’s?’
‘Most of us used McDonalds or Wendy’s if we were planning to work late, but Carrie was a vegetarian; she preferred Romero’s because they made proper veggie dishes rather than put out tubs of salad.’
‘A small place?’
‘Yes.’
‘And they would go directly back to the lab from there?’
‘I think so. They were intent on getting through the repeat experiments as quickly as possible. I can’t see them being distracted by anything else.’
‘Would they be known to the staff in Romero’s?’
‘I guess there’s a good chance,’ said Jane, ‘they were working late a lot so they might even have been seen as regulars, but, in any case, I’m pretty sure the restaurant would have thought about them when they heard about two people dying in a fire that night,’ she added, seeing where Steven was going with his questions. ‘And now, are you going to tell me what you really want to know?’
Steven smiled. ‘I really want to know if they were alone and, if not, who was with them.’
‘Are you going to tell me why?’
‘You were honest when I came to see you last time when you could have blanked me so I’ll be straight with you. I think there’s a possibility that Paul and Carrie’s deaths were not the result of a tragic accident. I think they were drugged or sedated in some way so they were unconscious when the fire started.’
Jane looked as if this was a bit too much to take in. ‘Oh my God,’ she managed before shaking her head slowly. ‘How awful.’
Steven waited for more to come. He thought the flood gates might open when Jane started wondering why anyone would want to murder her colleagues and she started answering her own question. Eventually she said quietly and in trepidation, ‘Surely you don’t think Dorothy was involved, do you?’
‘Do you?’
‘No, no, no,’ said Jane in a hushed voice, ‘She’s a top scientist, a committed Christian, she may have been shaken to the core to see the results Paul and Carrie came up with and not have wanted to believe it without seeing absolute proof — maybe even to the point of delaying seeing it — but we all know that murdering the messenger never changed anything. The message stays the same.’