Lethal Reaction: The Persford Series, #2

By Dawn Marsanne

The sequel to Adverse Reaction. Follow the unfolding story at BioQex. A rogue chemist and a colleague on a quest to unearth the truth. Are the risks too great for both men? A suspenseful and dramatic sequence of events with tragic consequences.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Dawn Marsanne
• Release date: Mar 9, 2018
• ISBN: 9781386125488

Dawn Marsanne

Having worked in the pharmaceutical industry for almost twenty-five years I wanted to write a novel which explored some of the serious issues in the field. The reproducibility of scientific data is a common problem which has recently been highlighted in the news and this forms the basis of my first book Adverse Reaction. I particularly enjoy reading thrillers and suspense novels and I have tried to create a fast paced story which holds the reader's attention. Many of the themes of the book occur in everyday life and I have used the backdrop of research to illustrate them. There are relatively few novels which are set in the laboratory environment so I saw this as an undeveloped area but at the same time scientific details are kept to a minimum to allow the work to be accessible to readers of a non-technical background. As I finished the novel I became sufficiently interested in the characters I had created to develop them further and the six book Persford Reaction Series was born. Since then I have written to standalone novels, A Form of Justice and Relative Error. Waves of Guilt is the first in a new series and is now joined by a sequel, Layers of Deceit.  Follow me on twitter @dawn_marsanne

Book preview

Prologue

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‘It’s me,’ said the caller.

‘I knew you’d call, good to hear from you again.’

‘I’ve decided to take up your offer and do a bit of business again. If you still need me.’

‘Of course, it’s always good doing business with you my boy.’

‘I’ll need to know what’s required.’

‘It’s what you were going to do for me before you decided to have a change of scenery.’

‘Oh, I see, well I’ve not any actual experience in that particular line so I’ll need a bit of time to get organised.’

‘How long do you need?’

‘Not sure, but at least a month, maybe longer, I need to tread carefully, new environment and all that, you know how it is.’

‘I most certainly do know how it is. Let’s hope you can manage to deliver a reasonable amount, business is doing well at the moment.’

‘OK, well I’ll try but nothing’s guaranteed.’

‘Just think of the money my boy, I’m sure that will provide you with the necessary incentive.’

‘The money’s the only reason I’m calling you, I don’t need a hobby.’

‘Well it’s been nice speaking to you again, I trust you will be in touch soon.’

‘Certainly will, bye,’ and the call was ended. He closed his eyes, taking some deep breaths to try to steady his racing heartbeat. He’d hoped that he wouldn’t have to make a call like that again but money was becoming tight. He’d accomplished his task before, he just needed to be careful. This would be the last time though.

Chapter 1

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Nick Thomas was running late for the important meeting. His appointment at the building society had taken longer than he expected and he didn’t want to miss finding out who their new boss was going to be. All the staff had been told to assemble at one end of the open plan office area as their Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Piers Frobisher, was going to introduce their new Chief Scientific Officer (CSO) prior to making an announcement to the media tomorrow.

He hoped that their new CSO would be as nice a guy as his predecessor and it would be good to feel that there was someone with a real desire to direct the science. Although Piers was from a scientific background he wasn’t really interested in the day to day supervision of the science although he’d had to assume that role these last few months.

As Nick rushed in through the front of the building he saw Piers with a visitor heading off towards his office, for a few moments Nick did a double take, he recognised the guy. Surely it wasn’t him, surely not, but he’d only seen his back view and he was in a rush, thinking about all the different mortgage options the chap at the building society had been telling him about. Should they go for a fixed rate, how long for, or just standard tracker mortgage, it was all too confusing. He would need to sit down with his girlfriend Polly to talk it through tonight.

It was 1.30 p.m. now, so he just had time to grab himself a quick coffee and eat his sandwich before attending this meeting. He would have to work later tonight to catch up with his work after his long lunch break. He always felt guilty about taking a long lunch even though he worked much longer hours than he really needed to. It was probably because he now had a supervisory position, Kirsty now reported to him and he’d been delighted when he’d been told that he would likely get another person working for him, someone straight from university.  Doubtless, it would take a lot of his time as they would need a lot of training up and learning how things were done at BioQex. If that did happen he hoped that Caroline, one of his colleagues would be able to share some of the hands-on work in the lab, showing the new starter the ropes and the procedures to follow.  He also hoped that the Kirsty would be diligent in following the safety rules and set a good example. In the past, they’d had one or two near misses as they were often termed, as people were lax about carrying out all the necessary risk assessments. As a supervisor, he would be partly responsible if there were any lapses in safety.

It had been an exciting time recently as the company had done well and on the back of a promising prototype compound BQ-561, they had secured some extra funding. The money from this had been used to expand the workforce. Nick now had a new supervisor who was in charge of several projects, a really nice woman and excellent chemist called Billie, not surprisingly she didn’t use her full name, Wilhelmina. Poor woman, he was glad he was plain old Nick.

Nick also worked alongside another new guy, Zac Milburn who had a similar level of experience to Nick and had moved from another smallish company. However, Zac had been rather reticent to talk about his previous employer or why he had moved to BioQex, he never seemed to want to talk about it at all.  He was a nice enough guy, always working late, often the last to leave. Nick hoped he was following all the rules about working alone in the evenings. They had to make sure they wore a lone worker alarm in case they fell ill as it would immediately alert a security company. It seemed as if Zac had something to prove always working late. The strange thing was he didn’t really seem to be any more productive than Nick considering all the extra hours he put in and that was something which was bugging him. Perhaps he didn’t like where he was living and preferred being at work. 

Anyway, today was going to be very interesting, he couldn’t wait to find out who their new CSO was going to be. Not long now, ten minutes to finish his sandwich and coffee, check that his reactions were ticking over and go and wait at the end of the office area for Piers to make the introduction.

**

Piers ushered Brett Chandler into his office. 

‘Once again Brett, just wanted to say how great is it to have you on board with us at BioQex.’

‘Well, thank you, Piers, for offering me the position, I’m looking forward to it enormously, can’t wait to get started next week,’ enthused Brett. ‘I hope to build on Matt’s legacy and take the company forward and bring even more success.’

‘Well, that’s good to hear of course. We’ve had some very promising new scientists start recently and I hope you can meet them later. I’ve asked Amanda to set up some meetings with you and make sure they are free. You met the senior team when we interviewed you, did you meet Bob when you came over?’

‘Oh, yes, Bob, Head of Biology. Bob, er, Mac oh let me think, McKewan, yes we did meet. Seems like a very sharp guy.’ Brett was trying to sound enthusiastic about Bob, secretly he thought Bob was a curmudgeonly old git who should be looking at retirement. If Brett got his way he would make sure Bob was pushed in that direction sooner rather than later.

Brett was quite looking forward to this new job although he knew it would be tough.  However, he was pleased he’d applied for it before his previous company StourMed started to lay people off and there was a mad scramble for jobs. Some of his peers were having real problems now finding a new position. This new post was going to take all his time and energy, but if he did well he would be rewarded with generous share options and bonuses so hopefully, it would be worthwhile. Being virtually in charge of a whole company, albeit small was very prestigious and no longer would he feel inferior when his friends with jobs in the city tried to laud it over him. He might start going to university reunions again, those cocky bastards who were financial traders would have to listen up when he said he was CSO of BioQex as it had received coverage in the news a lot recently.

He’d been so busy recently with finishing up things at his old company that he’d not had time to regret hanging up his gambling shoes so to speak. That part of his life was in the past now. He’d been just a few steps away from getting into a terrible mess with gambling debts. Whenever he found himself tempted by those online betting sites he would think back to how much he had almost lost. Also, if he did run up any debts in the future there wouldn’t be anyone to bail him out, that was a chapter of his life closed. It was time to focus on what he was good at, the science, and make a serious career out of it. He didn’t know how long he intended to stay at this company, perhaps it could be a springboard to even bigger and better things. There certainly weren’t the perks here that he was used to, he would miss the company gym, he might join one in town in the near future, he would just see how much spare time he had. The next couple of months would be extremely busy, he would be working very long hours.

‘Well,’ said Piers, ‘it’s just coming up to 2 p.m., I’ll just give Amanda a call and make sure that all the staff have assembled awaiting our arrival. I don’t want to have made a start and stragglers start to arrive. I want to introduce you with a fanfare, this is the start of a new era for BioQex.’

Brett smiled to himself. Well, they certainly seemed pleased to have him in the company. Piers’ gushing eulogy was getting embarrassing, he would have a lot to live up to. He just hoped it wasn’t too cringing when he was presented to the workforce. Scientists could be a cynical lot, they didn’t go in for lots of flowery language, they were plain speaking, matter of fact people, although miserable Bob was a step too far.

Brett checked his phone whilst Piers was checking with Amanda. His palms felt a bit sweaty so he wiped them down his trouser leg. His left leg was starting to jiggle up and down a bit, a sure sign of stress, he’d been a bit better at controlling that recently but sometimes it crept up again on him when he was unaware. Piers seemed to be having a bit of trouble with Amanda, he mouthed, ‘Sorry,’ over to Brett, so he stood up and wandered over to the window. In the distance, he could see the top of StourMed, even his old office if he strained his vision. That was another advantage of taking this job, he’d not had to move as BioQex was located on a science park in Persford, a short drive from his old company. He wondered what his friend, or was it adversary, Matt, was up to these days, certainly not science. He wished him well, despite their parting being less than amicable, closing what had been an eventful chapter in their lives. Time for a new chapter to open he thought, as he heard Piers, say, ‘OK Brett, everyone is ready for you now, let’s go down.’

Chapter 2

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Zac Milburn was feeling exhausted. Working late for several nights on the run was taking its toll. He had no choice though, he was working to a deadline, if he didn’t get a move on he would be seriously feeling the pressure. He needed to keep all his wits about him as well, that was what was becoming rather tiring. He got on well with most of the guys in his lab. Billie was quite a nice person if a bit aloof and she wasn’t in the lab much as she had more of a senior role and had to draw up plans for Nick and his supervisee Kirsty and also another team of two people. She was quite new to the company so like him there was quite a lot for her to familiarise herself with. She was an attractive looking woman, that was not in doubt, if they hadn’t been working in the same lab or on the same project he might have fancied his chances and asked her out for a drink. She seemed a bit cold and humourless, but he would have liked the challenge of the pursuit.

Kirsty and Caroline were nice girls but had steady boyfriends so he knew he didn’t stand a chance there. Kirsty seemed a bit careless though, she had given them a scare a few weeks ago when a reaction suddenly increased in temperature and all the solvent shot out of the top of the flask.  Perhaps Nick should be supervising her more closely. Fortunately, no fire ensued but chatting to Nick he found out that a year ago someone in the company had experienced a near miss which resulted a fire which was extinguished quickly. However, as a formality, the fire brigade had to attend which gave the company a bit of bad publicity as it appeared on the local news website. The press always like a bit of sensation, trying to make out that the company was taking risks and not following the correct safety procedures. He as well as Nick would keep an eye out on what she was doing, he didn’t want to end up injured.

This worry was all secondary to his main concern in the shape of Nick Thomas his colleague whom he’d named ‘nosy Nick’ to himself.  Not only was he an incorrigible gossip but he seemed to always have his beady eye on Zac’s work. He was always asking him how his work was going, which was fine, you had to expect that people would chat about the science, but it went further than that. Sometimes he felt like he was undergoing some inquisition from Nick. He had to be careful, that guy could become a real problem, and that would not be good news, nor would it be good news for Nick. He didn’t know it yet but Zac was not someone to be annoyed.

**

There was a general buzz of conversation in the office area where the assembled staff were all eagerly awaiting Piers and their new CSO. Nick was one of the last to join his colleagues as he was in a bit of a rush after his extended lunch, he was also suffering from a bit of heartburn after wolfing down his sandwich and coffee, having to check all was OK with his reactions and then having to pay a quick visit to the toilet. So he was just sprinting down to the assembled group when Piers and Brett walked into the office area.

Nick suddenly forgot about his heartburn as he was suddenly feeling a bit light headed and he leaned back against one of the partitions trying to take deep breaths. He had been correct when he had entered the building after lunch, he had recognised the guy with Piers, he could not believe his eyes.  Piers started to speak, ‘Well thank you, everyone, for breaking into your day to come and meet your new Chief Scientific Officer. I don’t want to say much as I know you are all busy people but let me introduce Dr Brett Chandler.’

Brett nodded at the group, casting his eyes round each person, and smiling broadly.

‘Brett joins us from StourMed down the road and we are delighted that he has decided to take the leap from big pharma to join our start-up company. I am extremely confident that Brett will be able to continue Matt’s legacy and take us on to further successes.’

Nick was hardly listening to Piers, the words circulating around his head vaguely like he was in some sort of tunnel and the words were all distorted. His mind had drifted back to the night when he and Brett had crossed paths. Although on that fateful night he didn’t know his name merely that he was meeting a colleague of Nick’s in a wine bar for what seemed like a date. A date which had ended somewhat tragically with his friend Sarah being involved in a road traffic accident. That night he had felt there was definitely something dodgy about this guy and had said so to the police. Nothing had come of it though obviously. When Sarah recovered he’d tried to pump her for information of that evening but she just clammed up and he had to give up his fact-finding mission. So he never had found out exactly what the relationship between Sarah and her date was, now several months on he had a name, Brett Chandler, and he was now his ultimate boss. 

Nick continued to stare at Brett and as he scanned the room Nick felt Brett’s eye’s lock with his own. Brett looked away quickly continuing to smile but there had definitely been a moment of recognition in his eyes, it was only fleeting but Brett had remembered Nick from that night in Bells Wine Bar.

Brett was now thanking Piers and starting to say a few words, the usual spiel about what a great company and opportunities and so on, but Nick wasn’t really listening, he just wanted to go back to his desk and take a few minutes to think about things quietly.

Chapter 3

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It was only a short presentation, so after about fifteen minutes, the staff were all back at their desks or in the laboratory. Billie was pleased it hadn’t been a long meeting as she had so much to do. Piers would be wanting some firm plans from her by the end of the week. She’d only been with BioQex for about two weeks and she was finding it all quite tough. With having to move into the area as well she had so much to do outside of work as well. She was renting a flat in Persford which was quite expensive but she didn’t want a long drive to work. She had done that before and was fed up with getting stuck in traffic, feeling the working day was being made unnecessarily long. So the high price of renting was offset by the fact that she could usually be at her desk within fifteen minutes from leaving home, providing she didn’t get caught up in the school run. She was lonely in her flat, her partner Sam hadn’t been able to find a job in the area so for the time being they were just seeing each other at weekends. Well, at least it meant she could concentrate on her job during the week.

Once Brett started fully at BioQex she would report directly to him rather than Piers and she was due to have a short one to one meeting with Brett later this afternoon. He was certainly a very attractive man, smartly dressed, slim, average height and neatly gelled back hair. She was sure he would get a lot of attention from the female contingent here at BioQex.

She looked over towards the laboratory and could see Nick Thomas at the centre of a huddle relaying some story to his colleagues. Nick was a very good scientist but she had noticed that he liked to chat rather too much for her liking. She was new to the company so didn’t want to get off on the wrong foot but she would be keeping an eye on how much time he spent gassing. He obviously put in the hours but it was no good if he distracted other members of staff, Kirsty in particular needed to dedicate all her concentration in the direction of her reactions. She was a pleasant and keen worker but she had a lot to learn and could ill afford any accidents. It was all too easy to be labelled as slipshod and careless and that type of reputation could be hard to shed even when one’s behaviour improved.

She looked up again, ‘for goodness sake,’ she muttered, she almost felt like going to knock on the glass window of the lab to get Nick to knuckle down. He looked over at that point so she held his gaze and it must have signalled to him that she wasn’t too pleased, so he stopped talking and the group broke up and set about their reactions. She had about an hour before her meeting with Brett, she would have a cup of tea, she didn’t want her breath to be reeking of coffee, not that she would be getting that close to Brett, definitely not.

**

Brett was about halfway through his one-to-one meetings with staff and things seemed to be going quite well. It was rather tiring though, having to remember everyone’s name and who they supervised etc. He’d been given a chart of the current staffing so that helped. It would take a few weeks to get to know everyone and build relationships. 

Amanda had scheduled a comfort break in the middle of his meetings and had brought him a cup of sludge-like coffee, presumably from a vending machine. He didn’t even know if the company actually had a vending machine, perhaps it was made in a makeshift kitchen. There was no fancy coffee bar here unlike at his previous company, that wasn’t good news. Perhaps he could get one of those pod machines on expenses and have it in his office, he was not prepared to drink rubbish like this. Nor was he going to make his own drinks in a communal kitchen which was probably messy and horrible. He wasn’t sure how he was going to cope at lunchtimes either, he usually got a meal or a sandwich in the restaurant but he assumed here that people brought in some home-made sandwiches. Well, he couldn’t see himself embracing domesticity like that, perhaps he would have to buy a couple of packets of sandwiches on the way home several times a week or something, then bring them in the next day. He laughed to himself, he was getting rather obsessed with his meal arrangements.

The biggest surprise of the day was when he scanned the assembled staff at the welcome meeting and spotted a guy at the back who looked remarkably like the busybody who was in the wine bar that unfortunate Monday evening some weeks ago. The evening when the woman he was meeting on what was actually a spot of business, not a date, had subsequently been involved in an accident. That night the chap had been wearing glasses and a baseball hat but he was sure it was him. Today he’d caught his gaze and he was sure there was a flicker of recognition. It could well have been he who was responsible for the police asking him some awkward questions. Well, he thought, if it was indeed you I will be keeping my eye on you and I will make it quite clear exactly who is in charge here, you had better watch out.

He looked at his watch and realised his next appointment would be here soon. Wilhelmina Matheson, what a name, it said Billie in brackets. He could see from the reporting line that she was going to be one of his direct reports. Let’s hope you are an attractive lady he thought, that will help brighten my weekly meetings with you.

Chapter 4

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Nick was so relieved he didn’t have to have a one-to-one meeting with the new CSO that same day. Brett was only seeing the more senior people today, the ones who reported directly to him. That was doubtless where Billie had rushed off to a few minutes ago. Nick spotted Billie looking at herself using the selfie feature on her phone to check her appearance. When Brett Chandler started his job properly next week he would be sure to want to greet everyone individually and Nick was not looking forward to that at all.  He was anxious to leave work and tell Polly all his news, he didn’t know where to start. The information from the building society might have to take a back seat behind this piece of news. He began to think back to recent events before Matt had left the company, it had certainly been a very eventful period.

Before he left work he was going to google Brett Chandler to see what he could find out and also have a look at some scientific searches to see what papers he had published. A while ago Nick had spotted the man he now knew to be Brett visiting BioQex under the guise of being a journalist. Yet a colleague in a contract company on the science park had told him that the person Nick had seen in the wine bar worked and masquerading as a journalist actually worked at StourMed, a fact confirmed this afternoon. Nick couldn’t understand this, it was such a strange thing to do, why on earth would someone pretend to be a journalist when he worked down the road at another pharmaceutical company.

The last few months had provided a lot of intrigue for Nick, so much so that his girlfriend had thought he was fantasising, and it had put a real strain on their relationship. Nick didn’t want to actually say, ‘I told you so,’ to Polly but he did feel somewhat vindicated that there was more to this Brett