Page 222
Chapter 136
‘Veryclever,’ Beck said after Poe had finished.
‘We couldn’t make a major announcement, obviously,’ Poe said. ‘If we went too big you’d have smelled a rat. It had to be something subtle, something only a handful of scientists would understand.’
‘So you invented something about the AS9 protein?’
‘Professor Doyle knew you’d always considered the scientific community wrong in their assumption about disruption in non-inheriting patients.’
‘Did you understand any of what you’ve just said, Sergeant Poe?’
‘I don’t need to. I work with people who do.’
‘It was Professor Doyle who put the article together?’
‘She wrote it in such a way that it supported your hypothesis, but made it look like Chapin-Hag Industries didn’t really understand what they’d stumbled upon.’
‘What about the peer review process?’ Beck asked. ‘Articles like this aren’t published in medical journals without going through a rigorous process.’
‘Yeah, we thought that would convince you,’ Poe said. ‘And that bit was easy. All we did was ask them nicely. Said we were setting a trap.’
Or that’s what we will be saying, Poe thought. Bradshaw had planted the article in a couple of minor medical journals after she had sneaked into their systems. After the editorial process, but before the magazines went to the printers. She had offered to do the same in the major journals, but Doyle had said lower profile magazines were more convincing. They would fit better with what they were trying to achieve – a small lab that had failed to grasp the significance of its discovery.
‘What about this place?’ Beck said. ‘Did you ask them nicely too?’
‘Professor Doyle knows the owner. They used to work together and she asked if we could use their premises out of hours.’
‘And Bill Hershaw?’
‘One of my colleague’s legends,’ Poe said. ‘She keeps a dozen or so running at any one time. They have social media profiles, work and medical histories, addresses and credit cards. Enough for her to build a convincing identity in a day or two. She fixed it so Bill had worked at Chapin-Hag Industries for four years. A day before the articles appeared in the journals, me and my beard and my thick glasses and my silly peaked cap started doing the nightshift here.’
‘I imagine you think you’ve won, Sergeant Poe?’
‘This isn’t a fucking game,’ Poe snapped. ‘People have died.’
‘Bad people.’
‘And good people.’
‘Professor Doyle’s father? A necessary sacrifice, I’m afraid, but the cost of human advancement has always been paid in blood. Did you know that the best anatomical drawings in the world are found in thePernkopf Atlas? It’s still used by surgeons today and it was written by a Nazi doctor. He dissected the corpses of executed prisoners and teams of artists created the images.’
‘I don’t care about any of that,’ Poe said. ‘It’s time to go. You’ll get your day in court soon enough. Although, a word of advice, Freddie; when you do, don’t compare yourself to a Nazi in front of a jury – we still don’t like them in this country.’
‘Are you ready to start negotiating?’
‘I’m not negotiating, Frederick.’
‘Of course you are,’ Beck said. He waggled the repurposed bug fogger to remind Poe what he was holding. ‘I want a vehicle, and until I feel safe you’re staying by my side.’ With his spare hand he reached into his pocket and pulled out a pair of plasticuffs. The loops were already prepared. He threw them on the floor. ‘Please put these on, Sergeant Poe.’
‘I won’t be doing that.’
‘No?’
Beck put his thumb over the nozzle. Looked Poe in the eye and said, ‘How about now?’
‘Feel free,’ Poe said. ‘Excuse me?’
‘You heard me.’
‘Do you know what this is?’
‘Your blueprints were very clear.’
‘So, you know if I press the nozzle the can’s contents will empty in seconds. I won’t be able to stop it. This isn’t a bell that can be un-rung.’
‘Will you quit your yapping then and press the bloody thing,’ Poe said.
Table of Contents
- Page 1
- Page 2
- Page 3
- Page 4
- Page 5
- Page 6
- Page 7
- Page 8
- Page 9
- Page 10
- Page 11
- Page 12
- Page 13
- Page 14
- Page 15
- Page 16
- Page 17
- Page 18
- Page 19
- Page 20
- Page 21
- Page 22
- Page 23
- Page 24
- Page 25
- Page 26
- Page 27
- Page 28
- Page 29
- Page 30
- Page 31
- Page 32
- Page 33
- Page 34
- Page 35
- Page 36
- Page 37
- Page 38
- Page 39
- Page 40
- Page 41
- Page 42
- Page 43
- Page 44
- Page 45
- Page 46
- Page 47
- Page 48
- Page 49
- Page 50
- Page 51
- Page 52
- Page 53
- Page 54
- Page 55
- Page 56
- Page 57
- Page 58
- Page 59
- Page 60
- Page 61
- Page 62
- Page 63
- Page 64
- Page 65
- Page 66
- Page 67
- Page 68
- Page 69
- Page 70
- Page 71
- Page 72
- Page 73
- Page 74
- Page 75
- Page 76
- Page 77
- Page 78
- Page 79
- Page 80
- Page 81
- Page 82
- Page 83
- Page 84
- Page 85
- Page 86
- Page 87
- Page 88
- Page 89
- Page 90
- Page 91
- Page 92
- Page 93
- Page 94
- Page 95
- Page 96
- Page 97
- Page 98
- Page 99
- Page 100
- Page 101
- Page 102
- Page 103
- Page 104
- Page 105
- Page 106
- Page 107
- Page 108
- Page 109
- Page 110
- Page 111
- Page 112
- Page 113
- Page 114
- Page 115
- Page 116
- Page 117
- Page 118
- Page 119
- Page 120
- Page 121
- Page 122
- Page 123
- Page 124
- Page 125
- Page 126
- Page 127
- Page 128
- Page 129
- Page 130
- Page 131
- Page 132
- Page 133
- Page 134
- Page 135
- Page 136
- Page 137
- Page 138
- Page 139
- Page 140
- Page 141
- Page 142
- Page 143
- Page 144
- Page 145
- Page 146
- Page 147
- Page 148
- Page 149
- Page 150
- Page 151
- Page 152
- Page 153
- Page 154
- Page 155
- Page 156
- Page 157
- Page 158
- Page 159
- Page 160
- Page 161
- Page 162
- Page 163
- Page 164
- Page 165
- Page 166
- Page 167
- Page 168
- Page 169
- Page 170
- Page 171
- Page 172
- Page 173
- Page 174
- Page 175
- Page 176
- Page 177
- Page 178
- Page 179
- Page 180
- Page 181
- Page 182
- Page 183
- Page 184
- Page 185
- Page 186
- Page 187
- Page 188
- Page 189
- Page 190
- Page 191
- Page 192
- Page 193
- Page 194
- Page 195
- Page 196
- Page 197
- Page 198
- Page 199
- Page 200
- Page 201
- Page 202
- Page 203
- Page 204
- Page 205
- Page 206
- Page 207
- Page 208
- Page 209
- Page 210
- Page 211
- Page 212
- Page 213
- Page 214
- Page 215
- Page 216
- Page 217
- Page 218
- Page 219
- Page 220
- Page 221
- Page 222 (Reading here)
- Page 223
- Page 224
- Page 225
- Page 226
- Page 227
- Page 228
- Page 229
- Page 230
- Page 231