Page 135

‘Worse, sir. The instructions say, if the vote doesn’t run its course, the Botanist will kill ten innocent people. He will then let it be known that the Metropolitan Police “chose the life of one rich asshole over the lives of ten members of the public.” His words, not mine.’

‘Is there anything we can do?’

‘Other than arrest him before the seven days are up, no, sir, we don’t think we can. For obvious reasons, I don’t feel this is a decision I can make on my own.’

‘Do you need a comfort break?’

‘I’m OK, sir.’

‘Have a comfort break so we can talk about you behind your back, please, Chief Superintendent Mathers.’

‘Yes, sir.’

‘What do you have on Chrissie Stringer and Douglas Salt, Tilly?’ Mathers asked.

Bradshaw had asked for ten minutes to draw up basic information packs on the two people selected for the death vote. She was ready in eight.

‘Chrissie Stringer is the fashion designer who campaigned against modern slavery,’ she said.

‘She’sthatChrissie? The one from theGuardianexposé?’ Flynn said.

‘Yes, DI Flynn. TheGuardian’s investigative journalist found that while she was campaigning against slavery, her firm had been using indentured labour. She denied any knowledge of it, of course, even sacked her entire overseas executive team, but theGuardianhad held back an audio tape where she not only approved the practice, but also suggested ways dissenters in the workforce could be made examples of.’

‘Indentured labour?’ Poe said. ‘Isn’t that just another way of saying slavery?’

‘Except it’s not illegal, Poe. Her firm encouraged Bangladeshi and Nepalese migrants to move to Qatar, promising them six hundred dollars a month. They were told there would be an administration fee of three hundred dollars, but after that had been paid back they would be sending home more money than they’d ever seen. Unfortunately, the administration fee was threethousanddollars, not three hundred, and they also had to pay back the cost of the flight. It took the average worker well over two years to pay back what they owed, and even then, at Chrissie Stringer’s instruction, they would be fined for some arbitrary misdemeanour and the process would start again. TheGuardianfound some workers had been there five years, toiling for over a hundred hours a week under the most appalling conditions, without being paid a penny.’

‘I’m voting for her,’ Poe said.

‘I assume they couldn’t leave?’ Flynn said. ‘They had no money for flights, no passport and, under Qatar law, it’s illegal to be in the country without a work sponsor,’ Bradshaw explained. ‘They had two options: work in the factory for free or go to jail. As Poe has just pointed out, they were effectively slaves.’

‘OK,’ Mathers said. ‘She’s a monster. Who’s Douglas Salt? Is he better or worse?’

‘He’s the CEO of Salt Pharmaceuticals, Detective Chief Superintendent Mathers,’ Bradshaw said. ‘He’s not well known in the United Kingdom, but he has a high profile in the United States of America.’

‘He’s a Yank?’ Poe said.

‘British with dual citizenship, Poe. He splits his time between London and New York.’

‘And what’s he done to piss off the Botanist?’

‘His company makes a great deal of money acquiring the rights to old, neglected drugs and turning them into high-priced speciality drugs.’

‘What the hell does that mean?’

‘Well, just recently, his company bought Adetensine, an old drug used to treat multi-drug-resistant tuberculosis. It had previously been available for three hundred dollars for twenty-one pills. Theday they acquired it, Salt Pharmaceuticals raised the price to nine thousand dollars. They said it was due to the investment needed to make the supply of the drug reliable.’

‘Which was bullshit?’

‘Yes, Poe, it was bull … poo. They lobby hard to stop cheaper, generic versions being imported from Canada, and Adetensine’s distribution is tightly controlled, which makes it all but impossible for American-based companies to access the samples they need for testing.’

‘That’s decentralised procurement and private healthcare for you,’ Flynn said. ‘How much does the NHS pay for the drug, Tilly?’

‘Nine pounds exactly, DI Flynn.’

‘See?’

‘OK,’ Poe said. ‘So he’s an arsehole as well. The question is, who will the public vote for?’