"What's with the enthusiasm?" Tamara asked.
Tom took her by the elbow and guided her to a freshly cleared white board. Both he and Eric had come at both murders afresh and he was convinced they were making headway. Tamara cast her eye over what was already there but Tom would be the first to admit there were still plenty of gaps to fill.
"I really think both these murders are linked and up until now we've just not seen the connection," he said, hearing the anticipation in his own voice.
She looked at him, her eyebrows knitting. "And the connection is?"
"Prometheus Energy."
Tamara perched herself on the edge of a desk, slipping off her coat and tossing it across the nearest chair. Returning her gaze to the board, she nodded in Tom's direction. "All right. Go on, I'm listening."
"It's no secret that Mary Beckett was a thorn in the side of the company, after all, she's been very vocal about the company's plans regarding the Norfolk Wash project. Liam Hansell had been out to see Mary at her home trying to convince her about the environmental positives surrounding the project."
"Right," Tamara said, cupping her chin with thumb and forefinger. "But she wasn't opposed to the wind farm itself."
He shook his head. "No, just the proposed site where the connection made landfall."
"Is that a reason to kill? I mean, there are secondary sites as I understand it."
"Yes, yes, of course," Tom said, gesturing for Eric to come in. The detective constable slid his chair closer to them, leaning his elbows on his knees, a notepad clutched in one hand. "Eric."
"From what I've been able to find out, Prometheus Energy is in trouble. They've over-extended themselves with their expansion plans in recent years. They aren't large enough to operate the design and construction projects they do alone, few companies are. Therefore, it's common in the industry to diversify the portfolio and share the load when it comes to costs. What companies like Prometheus tend to do, is obtain the development licences and, once they have the go-ahead, they source other entities to form a JV."
"JV?" Tamara asked.
"Sorry, a joint venture," Eric said. "This results in a massive injection of resources in the form of expertise but more importantly, money."
Tom picked up the narrative. "We spoke to Hansell and he was bullish about the project. He said contracts were prepared and ready to be signed, no doubt once the project was rubber stamped."
"I've done a bit of digging around and as I understand it," Eric continued, "Prometheus has several companies interested in the JV, one based in The Netherlands and also one of the largest players in the sector which is co-owned and financed by the Norwegian state. But all of that is hanging on the ruling of the planning inspectorate due this week."
Tamara frowned. "But surely, even if the switching station is ruled out, they'll simply move on to one of the backup locations. Right?"
Eric smiled. "Yes… but I don't think Prometheus can afford that. Even if the resubmission is fast-tracked, you're still looking at a significant delay. Not to mention the additional lead times if those plans are also opposed. And I dare say they will be. The opposition groups will be buoyed by their success and, if there's any doubt in the revised scheme, they'll go at it."
"Why the hurry?" she asked.
"Because this is the third project in a row beset with problems," Eric said, looking to his notepad and flicking back a couple of pages. "Two years ago they opened a new hydro-power station in Norway. The hydro schemes over there are a massive part of their power generation fleet. It was the largest project Prometheus have been involved in to date, but a tunnel collapse within days of the official opening saw it taken offline for the following year. They couldn't meet their contractual obligations to provide power to the grid. It proved very costly. Besides that, they've been in litigation ever since with the construction firm subcontracted for the build. The latter cited design flaws as the cause of the collapse and denied liability. Until the courts rule, Prometheus has had to source the funds to recommission the station and employ new contractors. It's tens of millions in costs before interest payments are applied on the loans. The company statement accompanying the latest accounts document these loans as temporary. It looks to me as if they sought bridging finance ahead of longer-term loans and these payments are coming due."
"Presuming the Norfolk Wash project is the third project you're talking about, what about the second?" Tamara asked. Tom could see she was intrigued with the direction they were taking. He stepped over and pointed to the top right corner of the board, tapping a picture with his forefinger.
"This wind farm off the north coast of Holland, situated offshore near Haarlem," he said. "A number of companies in the industry are based in the city, and Prometheus Energy has close ties with several. There was a work-related death involving a maintenance contractor two years ago. A number of allegations were made that safety measures were being circumvented in exchange for speeding up the works. They were behind schedule and everyone was pushing hard. A whistle-blower came forward, along with the dead man's next of kin, claiming to have evidence of the breach in health and safety rules. Despite the investigation resulting in a large fine, the corporate liability charges collapsed."
"Why was that?" Tamara asked, resting her hands on the edge of the desk beside her.
"The evidence never materialised," Tom said. "The whistle-blower retracted what they alleged, offering no supporting evidence, and the family of the deceased fell quiet."
"And this helps your theory because?" "Because
