Michael Ridpath - Final Venture

'Simon, I…' Lisa was clearly taken aback by my anger. I had never been that angry with her before.

'Yes?'

'I'm sorry, Simon.' Lisa's voice was cold now. 'I did what I had to do.'

'No, you didn't. What you should have done is keep quiet and wait for the news to get to Henry direct from BioOne. It's almost as though you place your loyalty to Boston Peptides above your loyalty to me.'

'And why shouldn't I, just for once? This is my career we're talking about. I started on this stuff long before I met you. Simon, I just don't think you understand that my job is as important to me as your job is to you.'

'Lisa-'

'Goodbye, Simon.'

And there was a click as the line went dead.

There was complete silence in the room as I stared at the receiver lifeless in my hand. Daniel and John were looking at me aghast.

'Don't tell me she forgot to fold your socks again,' said Daniel at last.

I smiled, deflated, and tried to go back to work.

That afternoon, Diane dropped by my desk. She was the only partner who managed to make her visits to the associates' office seem like informal chats, rather than missions to dispense orders or demand information. I hadn't spoken to her since her Cincinnati trip.

'How was Tetracom?' I asked.

'Fascinating,' she said. 'The product seems to do all they claimed. And the management team seems first class. I've got a good feeling about this one.'

'Excellent.'

'I'm going out there again next Monday. I'd really like you to come with me. I need some help, and… well, I'd like a second opinion.'

It was always flattering as an associate to be asked for an opinion rather than just spreadsheet time, and it looked as if Tetracom might go all the way to investment. Only a minority of the companies we looked at actually made it that far, and it was obviously smart for an associate to attach himself to a deal that eventually got done.

But, with Lisa in her current frame of mind, was it sensible to go on a trip with Diane?

Diane noticed my hesitation. 'It would be great if you could make it, but I'd understand if you have to be with Lisa.'

Be with Lisa? I didn't really have to be with Lisa. She could look after herself for one night. That bit about me thinking my work was more important than hers rankled. It simply wasn't true. She had betrayed my trust in her for the benefit of her career: I could go on a simple business trip for the benefit of mine.

'No, I'm sure she'll be fine,' I said. 'I'll be glad to come.'

Lisa arrived home at half past nine, by which time my anger at what she had done had subsided a little, and my concern about how she was behaving had grown. She looked terrible, lines of fatigue and misery ravaging her face.

'Lisa, I'd like to talk to you about the take-over.' She dumped her bag on a chair. 'There really isn't any point, Simon.'

'But Lisa…'

'There's no point. Have you had dinner?'

'Not yet.'

Lisa ordered some Chinese to be delivered, and picked up her book. I turned on the TV. When the food came we ate in silence. I made a couple of half-hearted attempts to start a conversation, but with little success. I was still angry, so I soon gave up.

I had developed a headache myself. I rummaged around in the bathroom cabinet for Lisa's Tylenol. I had to remove a paper bag to get at it. Inside were two bottles of pills, unlabelled. I opened them, and poured out a couple of the tablets. They were unmarked. I forgot the Tylenol, and took the bottles into the living room.

'Lisa. What are these?'

She looked up. 'BP 56,' she said. She looked me in the eye, defying me to say anything.

'BP 56! But that hasn't been tested on humans yet.'

'It has now.'

'Lisa! Can't you wait for those volunteers to take it? It might be dangerous.'

'Of course it isn't dangerous, Simon. It's been thoroughly tested on animals. And how could I allow volunteers to take a drug I wasn't prepared to take myself?'

'Oh, Lisa.'

'Simon, if there are any problems with the drug, I need to know now so we can do something about them. We can't afford to wait until we've gone through all the paperwork with the FDA.'

'But is it allowed?'

'Technically, no,' said Lisa. And if you told anyone at work, I could get into big trouble. But this kind of thing has been done plenty of times. Jonas Salk injected his whole family with polio to prove his vaccine worked. I'm not doing anything as dangerous as that.'

'I don't think it's a good idea, Lisa. Why didn't you tell me?'

She sighed. 'Because I knew you wouldn't like it. But I have to do it, Simon.'

I put the pills back in the bathroom. It seemed to me foolhardy for Lisa to take this untried drug, especially in the state she was in, but I knew there was no chance of me persuading her.

The phone rang. I picked it up.

'Hello?'

'Can I speak to Lisa?'

I recognized Eddie's voice. No 'hello', no 'how are you?'

'Hold on.' I looked up. 'It's Eddie.'

'I'll take it in the bedroom,' Lisa said.

She emerged twenty minutes later.

'How is he?' I asked.

'I'd say he's quite upset,' Lisa replied icily.

'Did you discuss any more of his theories?'

'If Eddie wants to talk about Dad, I'll listen to him,' Lisa said, picking up her book again.

It angered me that Eddie and Lisa were talking about me as a murder suspect behind my back. But I bit my tongue. There was one thing I had to tell Lisa, though. I waited for a good moment, but once again there wasn't one. So I told her just as we were getting into bed.

'I'm going to Cincinnati with Diane next Monday. I'll be out one night.'

Lisa looked at me sharply. 'Next Monday?'

'Yes. We've been through this before. I have to go.'

'OK,' she said, climbing into bed.

'Come on, Lisa. I can't refuse to go.'

'You do what you have to do,' she said, rolling over.

'I will,' I muttered.

As Art had promised, BioOne made a public announcement the following morning about its intentions for Boston Peptides. Back at my desk, I called up the news service on my computer and looked at the press release there. The text was pretty bland, apart from one killer sentence.

'Daniel!' I called across to him.

'Yeah?'

'Have you seen the BioOne announcement?'

'Yes.'

'What's this about "substantial cost savings at Boston Peptides"?'

'BioOne thinks it can cut out some duplicated costs. It can move Boston Peptides into its building in Kendall Square. And other things.'

'Like firing people?'

Daniel shrugged. 'That's what happens in take-overs. You heard Enever.'

'But there was no need to announce it to the whole world, was there?'

'Why not?' Daniel smiled. 'Hey! The stock's up four to forty-nine.'

'Well, that's wonderful, then.' I put my head in my hands. Lisa was going to love this.

Sure enough, the announcement had caused uproar at Boston Peptides, with rumours flying. But at least Lisa was willing to talk that evening.

'People are really upset,' she said. 'They're talking about resigning.'

'Is Enever really that bad?' I asked.

'Oh, yes. You know what they call him at BioOne?'

'What?'

'Enema.'

'Sounds attractive.' It was a good name. I remembered his pained, irritated demeanour.

'It turns out he didn't even discover neuroxil-5.'

'He must have the patent, surely?'

'Yes, he does. Or at least BioOne does. Most of the work was done at the institute he worked at in Australia. He was just one of a team. He took the idea with him to America and patented it here.'

'How did he get away with that?'

Apparently, the Australians didn't know, or if they did, they didn't care. One of the other members of the team came to the US and tried to kick up a fuss. I don't think he got anywhere. Once a patent has been granted, it's very hard to prove prior art. Enema employs pretty fearsome patent lawyers. They argued that neuroxil-5 was slightly different from the drug the Australians had developed.'