Ken McClure - The Lazarus Strain

Giles was woken at 3 a.m. by the phone ringing. He found the receiver at the third fumbled attempt.

‘There’s been a murder, sir. The body of a man has been found in a lay-by near Melton Constable. It was discovered by a young couple who’d gone there to…’

‘Play chess,’ interrupted Giles. ‘Has Dr Ryman been told?’

‘On her way, sir.’

‘Anything else I should know?’

‘Yes, sir. The dead man is Robert Lyndon, known to his pals as, Stig. He was a known hunt saboteur, arrested three times over the past two years for breach of the peace.’

‘Was he now?’ murmured Giles, getting out of bed and cradling the phone between neck and shoulder. ‘Was he one of the ones brought in for interview yesterday?’

‘No, but he was on the list. He wasn’t at home when we called first time around.’

‘Tell Sergeant Morley I’ll meet him there.’

Giles pulled up his collar as he stepped out the car and walked over to the taped off area of lay-by. Marjorie Ryman, in white coveralls was already there, kneeling by the body: the scene was lit by portable lighting being run off a noisy generator. ‘We can’t go on meeting like this,’ he said as he squatted down beside the Pathologist.

‘What?’

‘Nothing, what have you got?’

‘Male, early twenties, stab wounds, been dead three to four hours but…’

‘Don’t quote you. Murder weapon?’

‘I’d say something small, clasp knife possibly, that sort of size.’

‘Carried out here?’

‘No, definitely somewhere else and then the body was dumped here. There’s very little blood on the ground so that means there’s plenty of blood around somewhere else. The abrasions to the left side of his face and the tears to his clothing suggest he was dragged along the ground — possibly after being pulled out of a car.’

‘Thanks Madge. As always, you’re a star.’

‘Go get ’em, Batman.’

Sergeant Morley joined them.

‘Better late than never, Sergeant,’ said Giles.

‘Sorry sir. I was at a friend’s house… up in Cromer… I got here as quickly as I could.’

Giles made a play of looking at his watch and Marjorie Ryman hid a smile at the younger man’s embarrassment.

‘Could this be the weak link you were looking for, sir?’ asked Morley.

‘That’s my fear,’ said Giles. ‘Someone thought he couldn’t be trusted to keep his mouth shut… so they shut it for him.’

‘Poor bastard.’

‘Dr Dunbar is here to see you, sir,’ announced Sergeant Morley, holding back the door to allow Steven to step inside.

Giles got up from behind his desk and shook hands.

‘You had a rough night, I hear,’ said Steven.

‘Another murder,’ said Giles. ‘And not unconnected with the first by the look of things.’

‘How so?’

Giles explained his thinking. ‘Needless to say, we’re trying to establish who Lyndon was with last night.’

‘I hope you get the break,’ said Steven.

‘I’m not quite clear about Sci-Med’s interest in all this,’ said Giles. ‘Apart from the fact of course, that a well-known academic was the victim.’

‘It’s not so much that,’ smiled Steven. ‘We’re more concerned with the escaped animals and what they might have been used for.’

‘Ah,’ said Giles. ‘Now I understand. I was told it was an influenza experiment. Have you any reason to believe differently?’

‘Flu?’ exclaimed Steven.

‘That’s what the man said.’

‘What man?’

‘A suit from the Department of Health named Nigel Lees. He turned up at the institute while we were all there. I was a bit concerned myself about what the animals might be carrying but he reassured me there was no risk to the public.’

‘So who called in the army?’

Giles smiled as if anticipating the question. ‘Funny you should ask that,’ he smiled. ‘Not me. I thought broadcast warnings to the public and the involvement of the RSPCA and PDSA would cover the situation but apparently someone thought different.’

‘But you don’t know who?’

Giles shook his head. ‘You could ask Mr Lees.’

‘I think I just might,’ said Steven. ‘As I understand it, five of the animals were shot but one hasn’t been recovered?’

‘That’s my understanding too,’ agreed Giles.

‘Do you know what happened to the dead animals?’

‘They were taken back to the institute for incineration.’

Giles looked at Steven and then asked hesitantly, ‘The fact that you’re here… and the fact that the army was called in… I mean, you don’t suspect the flu story was some kind of a cover-up, do you?’

‘I don’t think anything at the moment,’ said Steven. ‘I’m trying to keep an open mind but I’ll keep you informed if I find out anything.’

‘Same here,’ said Giles. ‘I take it you’re going over to the institute?’

‘On my way there now,’ said Steven.

‘They’ll still be cleaning up. They made a right mess of the place.’

Steven drove over to the Crick Institute, thinking about what he’d learned. Not a lot. He hadn’t really thought the police would know who had called the army in and Giles was probably right about it having had something to do with the man from the Dept of Health — Lees, the same man who had told Giles that the animals had been part of an experiment involving influenza. Shooting them seemed a bit extreme… but in these litigious times, playing safe was probably the right option. On the other hand, why get the army to do it? Surely police marksmen would have been first choice in any civilian situation? British governments were always reluctant to involve military personnel… unless it was deemed absolutely necessary.

Several workmen were occupied in attempting to remove the spray paint daubing from the wall of the institute with high pressure detergent guns as Steven walked up to the entrance. Tradesmen were also much in evidence inside the building: two joiners were repairing the Reception area and an electrician was engaged in replacing smashed light fittings. Steven tiptoed through the mess on the floor to where he could see a young woman sitting at a computer console in a small office. He tapped his knuckles lightly on the door. ‘Steven Dunbar. I think Dr Cleary is expecting me.’

‘You know, it’s like working in the middle of a building site,’ smiled the woman as she picked up a green phone and dialled a three digit number before saying, ‘Dr Dunbar is here.’

The woman came to the door of the office and pointed along the corridor to the left. ‘Go right along to the end and turn right. Nick’s office is the second on your left.’

Steven passed a number of glaziers replacing corridor windows: he could smell the putty. He found Cleary’s office without trouble.

‘How can I help?’ asked Cleary after initial introductions were over.

‘It’s my understanding that you work on vaccines here,’ said Steven.

‘That’s right, we try to anticipate what might happen in the foreseeable future with regard to bacterial and viral outbreaks and try to make sure that the public can be protected should the need arise.’

‘So what sort of things do you work with?’

‘I hate to be a pain… but could I see your warrant card?’

Steven smiled and took out his Home Office ID and security clearance.

‘Thanks. I personally work on anti-bacterial vaccines rather than ant-viral ones, in particular, tuberculosis. TB has been making a bit of a comeback of late and the government’s been considering prophylactic measures. The BCG vaccine has been around for a long time and we’ve been looking at possible alternatives so that’s my main interest although I’m also involved with meningitis vaccines too.’