Moving slowly backwards and out of range, he quickly glanced both ways in the street before jumping over the fence and walking briskly back to his car. The night air and the icy cold did nothing to help his state of mind. He was filled with apprehension. He had become involved in something that was much bigger than he could ever have imagined at the outset. Sheila Barnes and her husband getting cancer had been no accident.
Thinking about Sheila made him wonder about Lisa. If they — whoever they were — had set out to murder Sheila Barnes, might they not try to do the same to Lisa? Dunbar’s foot flew to the brake pedal and the tyres squealed in protest. He executed a three-point turn with more noise than elegance and started racing through the streets to her flat.
‘Who is it?’ asked a sleepy-voiced Lisa.
‘Steven Dunbar. I have to talk to you!’ said Dunbar into the entryphone.
‘Do you know what time it is?’ she protested.
‘I have to see you. It’s important.’
‘It had better be,’ said Lisa, releasing the lock.
Dunbar sprinted up the stairs, carrying his briefcase under his right arm. Lisa was waiting for him at her front door, wearing dressing gown and slippers. Her arms were crossed over her body in deference to the cold. She quickly ushered him inside.
‘This had better be good.’
‘I think you’re in danger.’
‘What? What are you talking about?’
The sleep had gone from Lisa. She was now wide awake and alert. She watched as Dunbar, ignoring her, brought out the radiation monitor from his briefcase and unclipped the probe. He went directly to the telephone and started tracing the cable back along the wall. There was no sign of any new junction box.
‘Have you had any visits from a telephone engineer in the past few weeks?’ he asked, starting to move the probe to other areas of the room.
‘Telephone engineer? Will you please tell me what’s going on?’
‘Have you?’
‘No.’
‘Are you sure?’
‘Of course I’m sure.’
‘Any other workmen calling unexpectedly?’
‘No, no one.’
Dunbar began to relax.
‘Will you please tell me what all this is about?’ said Lisa.
‘I’d better just check your bedroom.’
Lisa said, ‘Dunbar, I’ve heard some crummy lines in my time, but this takes the prize.’
Dunbar didn’t smile. He said, ‘It looks as if Sheila Barnes and her husband didn’t get cancer through some quirk of fate. I think someone may have planted a radiation source in their house.’
Lisa’s eyes went as round as saucers. ‘A radiation source? You mean it could be murder?’
Dunbar nodded. ‘Could be.’
‘But why? I mean who?’
‘Only one name comes to mind,’ said Dunbar.
‘You mean Medic Ecosse?’ exclaimed Lisa.
Dunbar shrugged. ‘You can’t buy radioactive isotopes at the corner shop. Who else would have access?’
Lisa sank into a chair and held her hands to her face.
Dunbar said, ‘I had the awful thought they might be doing the same to you.’
Lisa shook her head slowly. The confidence had gone from her eyes. She looked like a little girl who had suddenly become very afraid.
He put down the probe and wrapped his arms round her for a few moments. ‘There doesn’t seem to be anything here,’ he assured her. ‘But I’d better check the other rooms.’
She nodded and led the way. The flat was clean.
‘Are you all right?’ Dunbar inquired gently when they returned to the living room.
Lisa looked up and shrugged. ‘I don’t know. Where do we go from here?’ she asked.
‘Until I know for sure, I have to assume that they did this to Sheila to shut her up about the child who died, although the method is positively bizarre. We could call in the police right now but that might stop us finding out what’s behind it all.’
‘Then you do believe there’s something in what Sheila Barnes and I have been staying?’ asked Lisa.
‘I think I did even before this.’
‘Supposing you don’t call the police. What’s the alternative?’
‘Sci-Med can continue the investigation in secret.’
‘I want to know why Amy died,’ said Lisa. ‘I want someone to pay for it.’
Dunbar nodded.
‘On the other hand, I’m scared,’ she confessed.
Dunbar did not offer false reassurance.
‘What about the radiation source you mentioned? What’s going to happen to it?’
‘It had already been removed but I found traces of it. They’d concealed it in a telephone junction box on the wall — that’s why I was checking your phone line. I collected some debris from the box. I’m going to ask the Sci- Med people if they can identify the isotope and find out where it came from. There aren’t many establishments that supply radioactive materials in the UK, and they’re all obliged to keep strict records.’
‘So they’ll be able to tell if it was ordered through Medic Ecosse?’
‘That’s my hope,’ said Dunbar. ‘If we can show that Sheila was murdered, and link her death to Medic Ecosse, all the stops will be pulled out in a search for the motive. If we call in the police right now and then find that we can’t link the two, the whole thing will be blown.’
‘Who else would want to kill Sheila Barnes?’
‘Agreed,’ said Dunbar, but there was hesitation in his voice.
‘Something’s troubling you?’
‘I can’t help thinking it was a very odd way to shut someone up. You’d think they’d want to do it as quickly as possible, not let nature take its course.’
‘Thanks,’ said Lisa flatly. ‘Very reassuring.’
‘Sorry, I didn’t mean to alarm you. I was just thinking out loud. Obviously they must think time’s on their side. What do you think?’
‘Let’s see what your people come up with before we call in the police,’ said Lisa.
‘If you’re sure?’ said Dunbar.
She nodded uncertainly, as if she was using up every ounce of bravery she could muster in the gesture.
‘Good girl. In the meantime don’t open the door to any tradesmen unless they’ve got proper identification and credentials. Even at that, I’m going to arrange for surveillance outside.’
Lisa nodded again.
As soon as he got back to the hotel, Dunbar established a modem link with the Sci-Med office in London, using his notebook computer, and sent a two-word message, GLASGOW RED. Sci-Med would now know they had a criminal case on their hands, and any request made by Dunbar would be given priority. At some point in the next few days he would have to justify his action. If at all possible he would have to do it in person in London but, as he was the man on the ground right now, the decision was his.
After a few moments his computer bleeped, and Sci-Med’s reply came up on the screen: GLASGOW GREEN. His message had been received. There followed an instruction to adopt one of three encrypting procedures available on Sci-Med computers. From now on, to ensure complete security, all his messages would be encoded automatically before travelling down the phone lines, as would the return messages from Sci-Med. Dunbar did as instructed and was asked if he had any immediate requests. He asked for discreet, low-level surveillance at Lisa’s address. He didn’t believe she was in any immediate danger, but it was as well to think ahead. He was assured that this would be done. Asked if there was anything else, he replied that there was nothing that couldn’t wait until daybreak. He needed some sleep; it was two thirty in the morning.
