Layers of Deceit, page 12
I thought back to my time as a chemist and how I’d looked up past reactions, only to find no experimental details, just a list of reagents and sparse data for a final product. Those instances weren’t that common, but all the same, Hanson’s record-keeping would mean that should anything advance to publication or a patent, documenting it would be an easy job.
Similarly, when he had recorded the results, he had been rigorous. Each time he had purified something, that batch was labelled up differently and data obtained for that stage of the purification. Hanson had logged everything with attention to detail. Although I had been thorough, I hadn’t been as diligent as Hanson, and I began to feel a bit inferior, not that I’d ever received any criticism to that effect.
I glanced at the time as Harry returned, surprised to see that nearly an hour had passed. I must have been engrossed in my search for it to fly by so fast.
‘How are you getting on?’ said Harry. ‘I’m not keeping tabs on you, just checking you are OK.’
‘Fine, thanks. I’m just working my way through. I must say he was very productive judging by the work he got through in a week.’
Harry nodded. ‘That’s how I remember him, and he certainly put in the hours too.’
‘Not like me, then!’ I joked.
‘I’m not going to comment!’ joked Harry. ‘However, I wondered whether you would like a break and grab a coffee?’
‘That sounds like a great idea,’ I replied. ‘Caffeine is most certainly needed.’
I grabbed my bag and we wandered down to the coffee bar.
‘Would you mind if a few of my colleagues come along to lunch with us?’ said Harry.
‘No, that’s fine. No problem,’ I replied, pleased that he had saved me the trouble of asking whether I could meet some more people. Perhaps in the less formal environment of the restaurant, they would be willing to chat about their absent colleague. I certainly hoped so.
**
Before I returned to the tedious task of trawling through Joshua’s experiments I turned my attention to the contents of Joshua’s desk. Katy had asked me to look through it to see whether I spotted anything in his personal items which might have relevance now that she had identified some anomalies on the evening of his death.
I opened the drawers and began to look through the various folders. As Harry had indicated, one contained lots of data printouts, and another folder was marked, Publication. There was also a list of plans to test out his work in order to publish a more detailed discussion of his findings.
The top drawer contained the usual assortment of stationery items; an abundance of pens, pencils, rubbers, paper clips, post-it notes, highlighter pens, and other accumulated oddments. There was also a small photograph of a young woman smiling broadly at the camera. I turned it over and saw an inscription, “Love you always, Mia.” Katy had told us about Hanson’s girlfriend, but seeing her photo brought it home to me that she was now on her own. I felt so sad. I’d lost David when I was in my mid-fifties, Mia was much younger and probably assumed she and Joshua would have many years together. I looked through a few other scraps of paper which were of little interest, bearing mundane jottings of phone numbers of businesses, appointments, even a shopping list. I tried to pull the drawer open to its fullest extent, however, something was stopping it. Flattening my hand, I reached in, and my fingers touched a piece of card which I managed to retrieve.
The offending item was a business card. I tapped it on the desk while I thought for a few moments, then I took out my phone and snapped the front and back of it, and quickly emailed the images to Katy. Was it a significant discovery? I wasn’t sure and would leave that decision to Katy, but even if my lab work didn’t go as planned, at least I’d made this small contribution. Part of my role over the next few days was to build up a complete picture of the late Joshua Hanson.
I replaced the card in the top drawer under some pens and brought my mind back into focus on science. For the next hour, I continued my search through Joshua’s record of work.
Chapter 29
I’d spent about an hour at lunch with Harry, Jenna, Paul and Amy, who all worked together in Harry’s laboratory. As the most junior member, Jenna hadn’t said very much, and Paul had asked me a lot about my career as a science journalist.
Of the group, Amy had been the most enlightening person. I wasn’t sure whether she was in a particularly bad mood that day, but she didn’t appear to be a very contented employee. I could see Harry wincing slightly as she made a few derogatory comments about the company. Everyone had good and bad days, but usually, with someone from outside the company, they would temper their opinions. Amy looked to be in her mid-thirties and was definitely a glass-half-empty person. However, she had hinted that Hanson was planning to move to another company, a suggestion quickly batted away by Harry.
Amy immediately countered with, ‘I know what I heard. Anyway, what does it matter?’ before going back to the servery and collecting a large piece of cheesecake.
Her departure left a slightly awkward silence in its wake, and I filed her comment away in my memory until I could speak to Katy. I wasn’t sure whether it had any bearing on events, but it could be another piece in the jigsaw.
Over lunch, Katy had texted to say she would be arriving on-site just before 2 p.m. as Abigail Jarvis had asked to speak to her again and so Katy wanted me to sit in on the interview. Although, today was going well, I was beginning to feel drained. For me, speaking to people I didn't know that well, wasn't something I found particularly easy.
‘I’m just going down to collect DS Forbes,’ said Harry stopping by my desk. ‘By the way, what time are you planning to leave today?’
I shrugged. ‘Oh, I’m not sure. Five ish?’ As I said the words, my energy levels dipped once more as I realised I had over three hours to endure.
‘Yes, it’s fine,’ Harry replied. ‘In fact, it’s perfect as my manager has just called an urgent team meeting and I can’t get out of it.’
‘Nothing serious, I hope?’
‘God knows. I just hope it’s not our key compound which has hit a problem. I might have to ask Jenna to look after you for the rest of the afternoon.’
‘No problem, I’m seeing her at three to run through her careers talk.’
‘Oh, yes. Well, if I don’t see you again, Jenna will see you off-site, and I’ll see you in the morning. About 9 a.m. again?’
‘That’s good for me,’ I replied, and Harry disappeared through the office area. Perhaps I should have suggested leaving much earlier, as I could have put my head down on the desk and nodded off there and then. I had always found the post-lunch dip a struggle. I hoped that I would be able to stave off the temptation to yawn when we spoke to Abigail.
I was pleased Katy was coming to join me, as I was beginning to feel the strain of the role I had accepted, and it was only the first day. Even though I didn’t spend every waking hour with Craig, I was missing him. His cheery demeanour always boosted my mood, and now was just such a time when I could have done with one of his quips and a hug. Taking out my phone, I typed a quick text to say I was missing him and hoped he was having a good day.
Suddenly, the fire alarms sounded. “Remain at your workstations but prepare to evacuate,” came the message over the tannoy.
‘I shouldn’t say this, but if we get the continuous siren and have to evacuate, take your bag and coat with you,’ said Barry, who had a desk near mine. ‘We could be out there for ages. It’s impossible to know how long.’
‘Thanks!’ I replied. ‘There will probably be a heavy shower, as well. The weather’s not great today.’
Collecting my things, I returned to my desk to await further instructions. After two minutes, we heard the evacuate instruction, and I quickly followed the others and left the building. Today was turning out to be one of those days beset by problems. Another interruption was thwarting my progress, but at least with every passing minute, my departure time was getting closer.
Chapter 30
We were only outside for about ten minutes, but the fresh air and a bracing westerly wind revived me and dispelled my soporific state, rendering me in a better frame of mind for Abigail Jarvis. As I didn’t know many people in the department, I had felt rather awkward standing around waiting for the all-clear announcement, so I had called Craig, then stretched my legs by taking a stroll around the muster point.
At five minutes to two, Harry brought Katy to my desk, then hurried off to get ready for his meeting.
‘Hi, Sarah, you look at home at your workstation,’ said Katy. ‘I bet it’s just like old times?’
‘A bit too much like old times,’ I whispered. ‘I’ve been staring at that screen all morning, and my eyes are all bleary.’
‘Well, at least you will get a break from that whilst we speak to Abigail. Thanks for the photos you sent through. I’ve arranged a meeting to follow it up.’
We wandered along to Abigail’s office, where the door was open. On seeing us, she immediately stood and invited us inside, offering us tea or coffee, which we both declined. I wanted to pace my caffeine intake and planned to have another coffee when I returned to trawling through Joshua’s write-ups.
‘So, Sarah, how are you getting on today?’ said Abigail smiling warmly.
I replied with a brief resumé of my day, and she nodded with encouragement.
‘You wanted to follow up on our chat last week,’ said Katy. ‘Thanks for getting in touch.’
‘Well, I felt I wasn’t as helpful as I could have been, but I was still in shock. Also, I’ve only been with QexChem for three years, so I could only tell you about his most recent time here. However, I’ve been looking at Joshua’s record with the company. I’ve printed off some documents for you, but I thought it would be better to talk it through in person.’
Katy allowed her to speak without interruption as she seemed keen to get things off her chest, and her manner was certainly more helpful and open than it had been when we had spoken to her last week. I remained silent, willing Abigail to get started as I was eager to hear what she was about to reveal.
‘I want to stress that in my three years working with Joshua I never had any reason to doubt his commitment to the company, nor did I see any behaviour which was anything other than exemplary.’ Abigail opened the folder in front of her and scanned a couple of documents.
‘When Joshua was fifteen, he had a serious cycling accident. He was knocked off his bike, hit his head and fractured his skull. He wasn’t wearing a helmet. Apparently, he was lucky to survive. For a time after his accident, he had some memory problems, but he passed his exams with good grades and went on to study A levels. Then, he took his degree and PhD and shone through both courses.’
Abigail was expanding on the information Katy had told us when she called around the other evening, and Katy occasionally made a few notes. I felt like a bit of a spare part, but perhaps I would spot something relevant.
‘Joshua began his career here in 2011 and was promoted after one year. That was one year ahead of the usual time-scale. He showed a great deal of promise. However, a few months after this period, he began to struggle, and he suffered from some mood swings. His manager at the time spoke to him and encouraged him to get some medical advice. A CT scan showed a small amount of bleeding on his brain. He had an operation and returned to work a month later.’
Katy made some notes, then looked up and nodded at Abigail to continue.
‘Joshua began reporting to me when I started, and he performed really well. He made my job very easy, which was good as I was finding my feet, and I would have struggled if he had needed a lot of supervision. As far as our interaction was concerned, I couldn’t fault him. However, another chemist came to me to say that Joshua was a bit aggressive with people. He seemed to have lost his sense of humour, and at times, he seemed like a different person.’
‘Who was it, and did you speak to Joshua about it?’ asked Katy.
‘It was Stuart Prentis. I did ask Joshua if anything was troubling him, but he assured me everything was OK. Stuart left shortly afterwards to go to another pharmaceutical company.’ Abigail flicked through a few more documents. ‘Anyway, Joshua continued to perform well, and he was promoted again about three months before he died.’
I wasn’t sure where this was leading, as so far, there didn’t seem to be a great deal of substance in what Abigail was telling us. Nor did I feel there was anything which might have a bearing on his death.
Abigail continued. ‘About three months ago, which as I said, was when Joshua was promoted, Martin Latham went to HR to complain that he felt Joshua was belittling him all the time. According to Martin, Joshua kept saying he wasn’t putting in enough hours. I should add that Martin works the required number of hours but not as long as Joshua. Martin has a young family, so he has other responsibilities.’
I thought back to my chat with Katy. Martin Latham had seemed unimpressed with Joshua but hadn’t been on-site at the time of the accident.
‘Were you aware of these tensions?’ said Katy.
‘Martin Latham isn’t in my team, so, no, I wasn’t aware of them.’
‘But Joshua was, so why didn’t HR let you know about it at the time?’ said Katy.
‘Yes, they should have done. I’m afraid it just slipped through the net as it coincided with some staff changes and a reorganisation. I’ve made my feelings clear to HR that they were rather remiss in their communications.’ Abigail sighed. ‘Anyway, back to the current matter. Martin Latham was involved in an incident a while ago, which led HR to believe that he was making it up about Joshua.’
‘An incident?’ Katy asked.
‘He punched someone at a Christmas dinner.’
‘But what has that got to do with his complaint about Joshua?’ said Katy.
‘Well, I suppose it doesn’t, but you see, Martin has a bit of a temper and shall we say, a bit of a chip on his shoulder about a few things. He sometimes mistakes confidence for boasting. He also doesn’t like our promotion or rewards system. So, I guess it made HR think that he perhaps exaggerated Joshua’s comments.’
‘In what way doesn’t he like the rewards system?’ asked Katy.
‘Well, he thinks that people should all get paid the same. He thinks that rewarding success is counterproductive.’
So, according to Abigail, two people had complained to HR about Hanson, so did this mean that the model employee wasn’t such a paragon of virtue? Were we finally managing to peel away some of the layers of veneer on Hanson, perhaps, but interesting though it was, I didn’t know whether it was relevant to his accident.
‘So, HR ignored his concerns?’ said Katy.
‘Well, I wouldn’t say they ignored it, on balance they felt there wasn’t anything to follow up. Joshua was a high flier; Martin is a solid worker but a bit of a plodder. There weren’t any witnesses to any disputes. If Joshua did wind Martin up, it never took place when anyone else was present. It seems that HR did speak to some other colleagues, and they had no complaints or issues to report about Joshua.’ Abigail seemed to come to a halt.
I felt sure she had more to impart, which she did, after thinking carefully about her words, tapping her pen on the folder as she considered what to say. ‘I think this recent breakthrough for the project and Joshua’s publication might have played a part in some tensions. I mean, it rather set him apart from the others.’
Suddenly the conversation had become more interesting. Harry had also spoken of Joshua’s ambition.
‘You sound a bit concerned about it?’ Katy prompted.
‘Not concerned, no, of course not. We want people who can discover things, and it’s brilliant for the company.’
‘But not good if it causes people to boast too much.’
‘I didn’t say Joshua boasted,’ Abigail replied quickly.
‘But he might have done? You’ve just told us that two people complained to HR about him.’
Abigail shrugged. ‘I can’t say what happens every minute of every day. People spend a lot of time working in close contact with each other.’
‘Has anyone else voiced any concerns to you about Joshua’s personality?’
‘Not to my knowledge,’ replied Abigail shaking her head.
‘But it’s possible he rubbed others up the wrong way?’
‘Of course, it’s possible. Anything is possible,’ said Abigail rather curtly.
‘Do you know if Joshua had been suffering from mood swings more recently?’
‘No idea. I hadn’t noticed that, and there’s nothing in his records. Why do you ask?’
‘Well, these problems often recur. So, he wasn’t sent for any counselling by the company?’ said Katy.
‘There’s nothing in his file, and he didn’t mention it to me,’ said Abigail.
‘OK. Well, thank you for sharing this with us,’ said Katy ‘If you think of anything else, then don’t hesitate to contact me.’
‘I will.’ Abigail turned to me, ‘And don’t forget, Sarah, my door is always open.’
‘Thank you. Just one question, who has taken over Joshua’s work?’ I said, realising I’d forgotten to ask Harry about it.
‘Oh, it’s Hugo Smythe.’
I didn’t recognise the name. ‘Was he already part of your team?’
‘No, but with the loss of Joshua, we have had to move people around. Hugo expressed an interest in moving on to my project, so after some consideration by the senior team, we decided he was a good choice. Joshua will be a hard act to follow.’
Katy stood to leave, and we said our goodbyes, then wandered back to my desk, deep in thought.
‘I’ll have to speak to you later,’ said Katy. ‘I’ve got a CID meeting back at the station. Harry’s in a meeting so do you think it’s OK if I go back to visitor reception myself?’
‘Er, I don’t know. Perhaps I should ask Jenna,’ I replied.
‘I’ll accompany you,’ said Barry. ‘If that’s OK. I don’t mind.’
Katy thanked him, and I sat down at my desk. Now, I did need a coffee. I glanced at my watch. Jenna would be coming to see me soon. Today was turning out to be one of the toughest I’d had in a long time, and I still had a couple of hours to go. Although I liked to solve mysteries, just at that moment, I could have climbed into bed and fallen asleep immediately.
Similarly, when he had recorded the results, he had been rigorous. Each time he had purified something, that batch was labelled up differently and data obtained for that stage of the purification. Hanson had logged everything with attention to detail. Although I had been thorough, I hadn’t been as diligent as Hanson, and I began to feel a bit inferior, not that I’d ever received any criticism to that effect.
I glanced at the time as Harry returned, surprised to see that nearly an hour had passed. I must have been engrossed in my search for it to fly by so fast.
‘How are you getting on?’ said Harry. ‘I’m not keeping tabs on you, just checking you are OK.’
‘Fine, thanks. I’m just working my way through. I must say he was very productive judging by the work he got through in a week.’
Harry nodded. ‘That’s how I remember him, and he certainly put in the hours too.’
‘Not like me, then!’ I joked.
‘I’m not going to comment!’ joked Harry. ‘However, I wondered whether you would like a break and grab a coffee?’
‘That sounds like a great idea,’ I replied. ‘Caffeine is most certainly needed.’
I grabbed my bag and we wandered down to the coffee bar.
‘Would you mind if a few of my colleagues come along to lunch with us?’ said Harry.
‘No, that’s fine. No problem,’ I replied, pleased that he had saved me the trouble of asking whether I could meet some more people. Perhaps in the less formal environment of the restaurant, they would be willing to chat about their absent colleague. I certainly hoped so.
**
Before I returned to the tedious task of trawling through Joshua’s experiments I turned my attention to the contents of Joshua’s desk. Katy had asked me to look through it to see whether I spotted anything in his personal items which might have relevance now that she had identified some anomalies on the evening of his death.
I opened the drawers and began to look through the various folders. As Harry had indicated, one contained lots of data printouts, and another folder was marked, Publication. There was also a list of plans to test out his work in order to publish a more detailed discussion of his findings.
The top drawer contained the usual assortment of stationery items; an abundance of pens, pencils, rubbers, paper clips, post-it notes, highlighter pens, and other accumulated oddments. There was also a small photograph of a young woman smiling broadly at the camera. I turned it over and saw an inscription, “Love you always, Mia.” Katy had told us about Hanson’s girlfriend, but seeing her photo brought it home to me that she was now on her own. I felt so sad. I’d lost David when I was in my mid-fifties, Mia was much younger and probably assumed she and Joshua would have many years together. I looked through a few other scraps of paper which were of little interest, bearing mundane jottings of phone numbers of businesses, appointments, even a shopping list. I tried to pull the drawer open to its fullest extent, however, something was stopping it. Flattening my hand, I reached in, and my fingers touched a piece of card which I managed to retrieve.
The offending item was a business card. I tapped it on the desk while I thought for a few moments, then I took out my phone and snapped the front and back of it, and quickly emailed the images to Katy. Was it a significant discovery? I wasn’t sure and would leave that decision to Katy, but even if my lab work didn’t go as planned, at least I’d made this small contribution. Part of my role over the next few days was to build up a complete picture of the late Joshua Hanson.
I replaced the card in the top drawer under some pens and brought my mind back into focus on science. For the next hour, I continued my search through Joshua’s record of work.
Chapter 29
I’d spent about an hour at lunch with Harry, Jenna, Paul and Amy, who all worked together in Harry’s laboratory. As the most junior member, Jenna hadn’t said very much, and Paul had asked me a lot about my career as a science journalist.
Of the group, Amy had been the most enlightening person. I wasn’t sure whether she was in a particularly bad mood that day, but she didn’t appear to be a very contented employee. I could see Harry wincing slightly as she made a few derogatory comments about the company. Everyone had good and bad days, but usually, with someone from outside the company, they would temper their opinions. Amy looked to be in her mid-thirties and was definitely a glass-half-empty person. However, she had hinted that Hanson was planning to move to another company, a suggestion quickly batted away by Harry.
Amy immediately countered with, ‘I know what I heard. Anyway, what does it matter?’ before going back to the servery and collecting a large piece of cheesecake.
Her departure left a slightly awkward silence in its wake, and I filed her comment away in my memory until I could speak to Katy. I wasn’t sure whether it had any bearing on events, but it could be another piece in the jigsaw.
Over lunch, Katy had texted to say she would be arriving on-site just before 2 p.m. as Abigail Jarvis had asked to speak to her again and so Katy wanted me to sit in on the interview. Although, today was going well, I was beginning to feel drained. For me, speaking to people I didn't know that well, wasn't something I found particularly easy.
‘I’m just going down to collect DS Forbes,’ said Harry stopping by my desk. ‘By the way, what time are you planning to leave today?’
I shrugged. ‘Oh, I’m not sure. Five ish?’ As I said the words, my energy levels dipped once more as I realised I had over three hours to endure.
‘Yes, it’s fine,’ Harry replied. ‘In fact, it’s perfect as my manager has just called an urgent team meeting and I can’t get out of it.’
‘Nothing serious, I hope?’
‘God knows. I just hope it’s not our key compound which has hit a problem. I might have to ask Jenna to look after you for the rest of the afternoon.’
‘No problem, I’m seeing her at three to run through her careers talk.’
‘Oh, yes. Well, if I don’t see you again, Jenna will see you off-site, and I’ll see you in the morning. About 9 a.m. again?’
‘That’s good for me,’ I replied, and Harry disappeared through the office area. Perhaps I should have suggested leaving much earlier, as I could have put my head down on the desk and nodded off there and then. I had always found the post-lunch dip a struggle. I hoped that I would be able to stave off the temptation to yawn when we spoke to Abigail.
I was pleased Katy was coming to join me, as I was beginning to feel the strain of the role I had accepted, and it was only the first day. Even though I didn’t spend every waking hour with Craig, I was missing him. His cheery demeanour always boosted my mood, and now was just such a time when I could have done with one of his quips and a hug. Taking out my phone, I typed a quick text to say I was missing him and hoped he was having a good day.
Suddenly, the fire alarms sounded. “Remain at your workstations but prepare to evacuate,” came the message over the tannoy.
‘I shouldn’t say this, but if we get the continuous siren and have to evacuate, take your bag and coat with you,’ said Barry, who had a desk near mine. ‘We could be out there for ages. It’s impossible to know how long.’
‘Thanks!’ I replied. ‘There will probably be a heavy shower, as well. The weather’s not great today.’
Collecting my things, I returned to my desk to await further instructions. After two minutes, we heard the evacuate instruction, and I quickly followed the others and left the building. Today was turning out to be one of those days beset by problems. Another interruption was thwarting my progress, but at least with every passing minute, my departure time was getting closer.
Chapter 30
We were only outside for about ten minutes, but the fresh air and a bracing westerly wind revived me and dispelled my soporific state, rendering me in a better frame of mind for Abigail Jarvis. As I didn’t know many people in the department, I had felt rather awkward standing around waiting for the all-clear announcement, so I had called Craig, then stretched my legs by taking a stroll around the muster point.
At five minutes to two, Harry brought Katy to my desk, then hurried off to get ready for his meeting.
‘Hi, Sarah, you look at home at your workstation,’ said Katy. ‘I bet it’s just like old times?’
‘A bit too much like old times,’ I whispered. ‘I’ve been staring at that screen all morning, and my eyes are all bleary.’
‘Well, at least you will get a break from that whilst we speak to Abigail. Thanks for the photos you sent through. I’ve arranged a meeting to follow it up.’
We wandered along to Abigail’s office, where the door was open. On seeing us, she immediately stood and invited us inside, offering us tea or coffee, which we both declined. I wanted to pace my caffeine intake and planned to have another coffee when I returned to trawling through Joshua’s write-ups.
‘So, Sarah, how are you getting on today?’ said Abigail smiling warmly.
I replied with a brief resumé of my day, and she nodded with encouragement.
‘You wanted to follow up on our chat last week,’ said Katy. ‘Thanks for getting in touch.’
‘Well, I felt I wasn’t as helpful as I could have been, but I was still in shock. Also, I’ve only been with QexChem for three years, so I could only tell you about his most recent time here. However, I’ve been looking at Joshua’s record with the company. I’ve printed off some documents for you, but I thought it would be better to talk it through in person.’
Katy allowed her to speak without interruption as she seemed keen to get things off her chest, and her manner was certainly more helpful and open than it had been when we had spoken to her last week. I remained silent, willing Abigail to get started as I was eager to hear what she was about to reveal.
‘I want to stress that in my three years working with Joshua I never had any reason to doubt his commitment to the company, nor did I see any behaviour which was anything other than exemplary.’ Abigail opened the folder in front of her and scanned a couple of documents.
‘When Joshua was fifteen, he had a serious cycling accident. He was knocked off his bike, hit his head and fractured his skull. He wasn’t wearing a helmet. Apparently, he was lucky to survive. For a time after his accident, he had some memory problems, but he passed his exams with good grades and went on to study A levels. Then, he took his degree and PhD and shone through both courses.’
Abigail was expanding on the information Katy had told us when she called around the other evening, and Katy occasionally made a few notes. I felt like a bit of a spare part, but perhaps I would spot something relevant.
‘Joshua began his career here in 2011 and was promoted after one year. That was one year ahead of the usual time-scale. He showed a great deal of promise. However, a few months after this period, he began to struggle, and he suffered from some mood swings. His manager at the time spoke to him and encouraged him to get some medical advice. A CT scan showed a small amount of bleeding on his brain. He had an operation and returned to work a month later.’
Katy made some notes, then looked up and nodded at Abigail to continue.
‘Joshua began reporting to me when I started, and he performed really well. He made my job very easy, which was good as I was finding my feet, and I would have struggled if he had needed a lot of supervision. As far as our interaction was concerned, I couldn’t fault him. However, another chemist came to me to say that Joshua was a bit aggressive with people. He seemed to have lost his sense of humour, and at times, he seemed like a different person.’
‘Who was it, and did you speak to Joshua about it?’ asked Katy.
‘It was Stuart Prentis. I did ask Joshua if anything was troubling him, but he assured me everything was OK. Stuart left shortly afterwards to go to another pharmaceutical company.’ Abigail flicked through a few more documents. ‘Anyway, Joshua continued to perform well, and he was promoted again about three months before he died.’
I wasn’t sure where this was leading, as so far, there didn’t seem to be a great deal of substance in what Abigail was telling us. Nor did I feel there was anything which might have a bearing on his death.
Abigail continued. ‘About three months ago, which as I said, was when Joshua was promoted, Martin Latham went to HR to complain that he felt Joshua was belittling him all the time. According to Martin, Joshua kept saying he wasn’t putting in enough hours. I should add that Martin works the required number of hours but not as long as Joshua. Martin has a young family, so he has other responsibilities.’
I thought back to my chat with Katy. Martin Latham had seemed unimpressed with Joshua but hadn’t been on-site at the time of the accident.
‘Were you aware of these tensions?’ said Katy.
‘Martin Latham isn’t in my team, so, no, I wasn’t aware of them.’
‘But Joshua was, so why didn’t HR let you know about it at the time?’ said Katy.
‘Yes, they should have done. I’m afraid it just slipped through the net as it coincided with some staff changes and a reorganisation. I’ve made my feelings clear to HR that they were rather remiss in their communications.’ Abigail sighed. ‘Anyway, back to the current matter. Martin Latham was involved in an incident a while ago, which led HR to believe that he was making it up about Joshua.’
‘An incident?’ Katy asked.
‘He punched someone at a Christmas dinner.’
‘But what has that got to do with his complaint about Joshua?’ said Katy.
‘Well, I suppose it doesn’t, but you see, Martin has a bit of a temper and shall we say, a bit of a chip on his shoulder about a few things. He sometimes mistakes confidence for boasting. He also doesn’t like our promotion or rewards system. So, I guess it made HR think that he perhaps exaggerated Joshua’s comments.’
‘In what way doesn’t he like the rewards system?’ asked Katy.
‘Well, he thinks that people should all get paid the same. He thinks that rewarding success is counterproductive.’
So, according to Abigail, two people had complained to HR about Hanson, so did this mean that the model employee wasn’t such a paragon of virtue? Were we finally managing to peel away some of the layers of veneer on Hanson, perhaps, but interesting though it was, I didn’t know whether it was relevant to his accident.
‘So, HR ignored his concerns?’ said Katy.
‘Well, I wouldn’t say they ignored it, on balance they felt there wasn’t anything to follow up. Joshua was a high flier; Martin is a solid worker but a bit of a plodder. There weren’t any witnesses to any disputes. If Joshua did wind Martin up, it never took place when anyone else was present. It seems that HR did speak to some other colleagues, and they had no complaints or issues to report about Joshua.’ Abigail seemed to come to a halt.
I felt sure she had more to impart, which she did, after thinking carefully about her words, tapping her pen on the folder as she considered what to say. ‘I think this recent breakthrough for the project and Joshua’s publication might have played a part in some tensions. I mean, it rather set him apart from the others.’
Suddenly the conversation had become more interesting. Harry had also spoken of Joshua’s ambition.
‘You sound a bit concerned about it?’ Katy prompted.
‘Not concerned, no, of course not. We want people who can discover things, and it’s brilliant for the company.’
‘But not good if it causes people to boast too much.’
‘I didn’t say Joshua boasted,’ Abigail replied quickly.
‘But he might have done? You’ve just told us that two people complained to HR about him.’
Abigail shrugged. ‘I can’t say what happens every minute of every day. People spend a lot of time working in close contact with each other.’
‘Has anyone else voiced any concerns to you about Joshua’s personality?’
‘Not to my knowledge,’ replied Abigail shaking her head.
‘But it’s possible he rubbed others up the wrong way?’
‘Of course, it’s possible. Anything is possible,’ said Abigail rather curtly.
‘Do you know if Joshua had been suffering from mood swings more recently?’
‘No idea. I hadn’t noticed that, and there’s nothing in his records. Why do you ask?’
‘Well, these problems often recur. So, he wasn’t sent for any counselling by the company?’ said Katy.
‘There’s nothing in his file, and he didn’t mention it to me,’ said Abigail.
‘OK. Well, thank you for sharing this with us,’ said Katy ‘If you think of anything else, then don’t hesitate to contact me.’
‘I will.’ Abigail turned to me, ‘And don’t forget, Sarah, my door is always open.’
‘Thank you. Just one question, who has taken over Joshua’s work?’ I said, realising I’d forgotten to ask Harry about it.
‘Oh, it’s Hugo Smythe.’
I didn’t recognise the name. ‘Was he already part of your team?’
‘No, but with the loss of Joshua, we have had to move people around. Hugo expressed an interest in moving on to my project, so after some consideration by the senior team, we decided he was a good choice. Joshua will be a hard act to follow.’
Katy stood to leave, and we said our goodbyes, then wandered back to my desk, deep in thought.
‘I’ll have to speak to you later,’ said Katy. ‘I’ve got a CID meeting back at the station. Harry’s in a meeting so do you think it’s OK if I go back to visitor reception myself?’
‘Er, I don’t know. Perhaps I should ask Jenna,’ I replied.
‘I’ll accompany you,’ said Barry. ‘If that’s OK. I don’t mind.’
Katy thanked him, and I sat down at my desk. Now, I did need a coffee. I glanced at my watch. Jenna would be coming to see me soon. Today was turning out to be one of the toughest I’d had in a long time, and I still had a couple of hours to go. Although I liked to solve mysteries, just at that moment, I could have climbed into bed and fallen asleep immediately.
