Dewar nodded. ‘Of course.’
‘This lab is Steve Malloy’s life. ‘His research is the only thing he cares about unlike half the wankers in this place who spend most of their time sitting on their arse talking about research rather than doing it. It takes more than knowledge to be a researcher,’ Ferguson continued. ‘You can know every fact in the damned world and still not know what to do next. Steve’s different. He’s a natural. He knows the questions, the experiments to do, the paths to follow. It’s a bloody shame.’
Dewar nodded sympathetically. ‘And you? What’ll you do now?’ he asked.’
Ferguson shrugged. ‘I’ll survive.’
‘You’re married?’
Ferguson nodded. ‘Yes, we’ve got one boy.’
‘Still living at home?’
‘A veil came over Ferguson’s eyes. ‘He’s not right,’ he said. ‘Brain damage when he was a kid.’
‘Bad luck. I’m sorry.’
Ferguson shrugged. ‘That’s the way it goes. Anyway, I think I’ll go find the others, leave you to your business.’
‘I really am sorry,’ said Dewar.
‘Yeah.’
Dewar called Macmillan at Sci-Med from Malloy’s office and told him what had happened.
‘Did this man, Le Grice admit it before he took his life?’ asked Macmillan.
‘He didn’t deny the attempt on Sandra Macandrew’s life and he mentioned extra smallpox fragments but he didn’t actually acknowledge any dealings with the Iraqis.’
‘Damn,’ said Macmillan. ‘But there seems little doubt?’
‘He had extra smallpox fragments and he tried to kill Sandra.’ replied Dewar. ‘It sounded to me like he’d tried to convince Sandra that the extra fragments would have helped with her research but she decided to blow the whistle on him anyway.’
‘That still leaves us with nothing against these damned people. ‘You don’t think he actually managed to supply them with the virus do you?’ asked Macmillan.
‘I don’t think so. I don’t think there was time and the Iraqis haven’t looked like they’re ready to leave according to the secret service.’
‘What are you doing about the lab where Le Grice worked?’
‘I’ve just told the research group leader that everything in his lab will have to be removed. I’d like a team from Porton Down called in to take it away. We can’t afford to take chances. They can analyse anything they think looks promising under conditions of maximum containment and destroy everything when they’re finished.’
‘You’re right, the last thing we need is someone contracting smallpox because it was left lying around and nobody knew about it.’
‘I’m going to lock and seal the lab. Would you arrange for the Porton team to be called in to do their stuff? I’ll tell the head of institute here to expect them.’
‘Are you planning to come back to London?’
‘I’ll hang on for a couple of days if that’s all right. I’ll brief the Porton team when they arrive and I’d also like to see the back of Siddiqui and his pal before I return. Presumably they’ll leave when word about Le Grice gets out.’
‘I’ve done what you requested about arranging to have them stopped and searched on the way out.’
‘Good, the more thorough and unpleasantly the better. Siddiqui can’t play the diplomatic card because he entered the country as an academic not a diplomat. God knows what Abbas’s status is but I’m sure a “misunderstanding” could arise.’
‘I think the immigration people have got the message,’ said Macmillan. ‘They’re still smarting from having let Siddiqui in unnoticed.’
‘Good.’
‘I’ll get on to Porton. I’ll give them your number to contact when they get there.’
‘Any idea how long?’
‘I’m going to make this top priority. They have a rapid response squad. With the help of the military I should think four to five hours.’
‘I’ll be waiting.’
Dewar found that Hutton, the head of institute already knew what was happening by the time he got to his office.
‘Dr Malloy told me,’ said Hutton. ‘He’s devastated. He sees it as the end of his career.’
‘He’s still a brilliant scientist,’ said Dewar. ‘Surely there will be a place for him somewhere.’
‘Unfortunately that’s not the way research works,’ said Hutton. ‘Research groups are a bit like Italian city states in the middle ages. There’s no question of the leader of one being able to join the forces of another. His rivals in the vaccine race will see his misfortune as one less runner in the race to worry about.’
‘Not exactly a Walt Disney world, is it,’ said Dewar.
‘What is these days?’ replied Hutton.
That old excuse, thought Dewar.
‘These people who’re coming,’ said Hutton. ‘What exactly are they going to do?’
‘They will take away absolutely everything from Steven Malloy’s lab in sealed containers and fumigate the lab itself when it’s empty. The contents of the containers will be subject to analysis under secure conditions when they get back to Porton then everything will be destroyed, just in case anything has been missed.’
Hutton nodded. ‘This all seems like a bad dream.’
‘For all of us,’ Dewar assured him.
‘Is there anything you’d like me to do?’
‘Just make sure that the Malloy lab is kept locked.’
‘I’ll put the whole corridor out of bounds until your people arrive. I’ll have one of the porters sit by the door.’
‘That might be best,’ agreed Dewar. He returned to his hotel and asked for beer and sandwiches. He hadn’t eaten since breakfast time and it was now four in the afternoon. He called Grant rather than the hospital to ask about Sandra Macandrew’s condition.
‘They say she’s improving,’ replied Grant. ‘Becoming stable, I think was the expression. Do you still want the guard left on her?’
‘Yes,’ replied Dewar after a moment’s thought. ‘It’s just possible that Le Grice admitted to her what he was doing for the Iraqis. Let’s keep her safe.’
‘You’re the man.’
Dewar wondered what film Grant had picked up that expression from. Next he called Simon Barron on his mobile number. ‘Anything happening?’ he asked.
‘Nothing but I hear you’ve been having a lot of fun and games?’ replied Barron.
Dewar filled him in on the details.
‘So panic over, we can expect our friends to pack their bags shortly?’
‘Let’s hope so.’
‘Can we be sure that this Le Grice character didn’t succeed in reconstructing the virus?’
‘All the signs are that he didn’t. Porton Down are going to investigate the entire contents of the lab he worked in to see if they can get an idea about what stage he was at and if Sandra Macandrew comes round she can probably tell us a good deal.’
‘Let’s hope she does,’ said Barron. ‘In the meantime we go on watching while you have all the fun.’
‘I think I’ve had quite enough “fun” as you put it. I just want to see the back of these two up in Forest Road.
* * * * *
Dewar received a call from the Porton team after they landed at Edinburgh Airport just after eight. He arranged to meet them outside the institute and found them already waiting when he got there. He had not taken into account a police escort which cut down their town travel time considerably. The small convoy comprised two police cars and an unlettered black Transit van. Dewar presumed that this also had been supplied by the local
