Layers of Deceit, page 14
‘DS Forbes?’ said Helen Whittard as she opened the door.
Katy showed her identity badge and stepped into the elegant hallway with a parquet floor. She followed the psychologist into a room at the rear which looked out over a tidy garden.
Helen Whittard appeared to be in her late fifties to early sixties, with short-cut naturally greying hair. She wore beige trousers, a matching round-necked jumper, and thick-soled black loafers. Katy wondered if she was seeing herself twenty years in the future, as Dr Whittard’s height and build mirrored that of her own.
She indicated one easy chair for Katy and took the one opposite. It was a less formal arrangement than sitting either side of a desk. ‘I was very sorry to hear about Joshua,’ said Dr Whittard. ‘I had tried to contact him to change his next appointment, and then I saw the article online about QexChem.’
‘How long had Joshua been a client of yours?’ asked Katy.
‘I saw him six times about six months ago. Then we had a break, and I started seeing him again a month or so ago.’
‘Can you give me an idea of what you were treating him for?’
‘Before we go any further, DS Forbes, I want to explain that I need to make some notes of our conversation today. Is that OK with you?’
‘Of course.’
‘You see, patient confidentiality is ensured even after the death of a patient, but you did explain that you now think there may be some suspicious circumstances to his death?’
‘There are a few anomalies which I’m afraid I can’t elaborate upon,’ said Katy. ‘From my discussions at QexChem, it appears there might have been some personality clashes which may have had a bearing on what happened. If I can understand what might have been troubling Joshua, it might help to put a few things into context.’
‘You think he was murdered?’
‘I didn’t say that,’ said Katy.
‘But you implied it?’
‘I didn’t imply it,’ Katy paused. ‘Someone might have had an accident because they were provoked, pushed, that sort of thing. If that is the case, we need to be sure that the person involved isn’t a danger to the public.’
‘So you are saying Joshua’s death might have been manslaughter?’
‘It’s too early to say, but as I said, there are a few things which concern me, and I’d like to understand more about Joshua’s mental health as it might have a bearing on someone’s motive and so on,’ said Katy.
Dr Whittard looked past Katy at the window, thought for a few moments, then opened a folder. She scribbled a few notes before looking up. ‘Are you aware of Joshua’s medical history and his childhood accident? And his more recent operation to remove a blood clot which was causing some mood swings?’
‘Yes, I’ve read all about that,’ replied Katy.
‘OK. Well, when I spoke to Joshua six months ago, he had become rather depressed. He showed all the classic symptoms of poor sleep, lack of energy, and so on. He then started to dwell on his head injury and started to worry about whether it would get worse, and he would have repeated episodes of more bleeding and whether it would affect his ability to do his job.’
‘So, he was anxious and depressed?’ asked Katy.
‘Yes, the two conditions often occur together.’
‘Did he take medication for depression?’
‘He didn’t want to. I was trying to help him without the aid of chemical intervention.’
Katy indicated that she should continue.
‘I chatted to Joshua about his career, and from what I could tell he was doing really well at QexChem. He told me he got good ratings in his assessments, he’d been promoted recently and so on.’
‘Yes, his supervisor told the same thing,’ added Katy.
‘The more we discussed how he was feeling, the more he started to worry that he wouldn’t get any further in the company. He didn’t want to stand still and think that he might have reached his limit of promotion by the age of forty. Progression through the company was very important to him.’
‘Did he say whether he might look for a job elsewhere to improve his prospects?’
‘Not explicitly, although Joshua did hint that he might look elsewhere if he felt his talents weren’t valued as much as he thought they should be. Because of his extremely intense work ethic, we started to discuss Joshua’s work-life balance as I was worried he was becoming too focused on work at the exclusion of everything else. As I suspected, he said it was beginning to affect his relationship with his partner. She complained Joshua was spending too much time at work, he talked about it all the time and couldn’t relax.’
‘Would you say that was fair criticism?’
‘Well, he was very driven, very committed to his job. It’s hard to know how much his relationship was suffering as I didn’t speak to his partner, of course.’
‘Did you feel you were making progress and helping Joshua?’
‘I tried to teach him some coping strategies for when he became depressed and to think about things in different ways. I told him he needed to look after himself and be careful he didn’t burn out.’
‘Was he receptive to your advice?’
‘Yes. I saw a change in Joshua after our six sessions, and he decided to have a break and contact me again if he needed me.’
‘Do you think he was genuinely better or he was pretending to be less depressed?’
Dr Whittard sighed. ‘I’m as sure as I can be, but I can’t swear to it.’
‘So, Joshua came to you a month ago because he was depressed again?’ said Katy feeling chastised slightly after her last remark.
‘He didn’t say he was depressed, but he did mention some mood swings, which he said was making it difficult to control his temper, mainly with his partner.’
‘Did he say anything about work?’
‘Well, Joshua said he felt he was doing really well, but he believed his colleagues were rather inferior to him. According to him, they weren’t as clever, and he had to help them out a lot. He wasn’t very complimentary about them. He said that he was carrying the project and they weren’t working enough hours.’
Katy felt surprised to hear all this. As she chipped away at Joshua, it revealed much more about his personality than had been apparent a few days ago. ‘Did he mention any particular colleagues whom he regarded as inferior?’
‘Erm, yes, someone he supervised. We had a lot of discussion about this person,’ Dr Whittard looked at her notes. ‘Yes, a woman called Abigail. Joshua said he had to help her a lot, and he wondered how she had got the job.’
‘Abigail is Joshua’s supervisor. She’s a team leader,’ replied Katy.
‘Really? That’s not the impression I got, quite the opposite,’ Dr Whittard sighed. ‘DS Forbes, I don’t want to go into all the details, but I felt that Joshua’s personality had really changed since I’d seen him the first time. It concerned me. At times he became very arrogant. He seemed to have a few delusions about just how good he was.’
‘Delusions of grandeur?’
‘If you like, yes.’
‘Did you feel you could treat him?’
‘I thought I could, but I was also concerned it might be due to some physical cause. I wondered if he was suffering from another bleed on his brain.’
‘The post-mortem didn’t show anything like that. Not new instances, anyway. Sorry, I’m not explaining this very well. Joshua died from bleeding in his brain when he hit his head. What I mean is that there weren’t old bleeds visible,’ said Katy.
‘OK. Well, that’s good, I suppose. Not that it matters now,’ Dr Whittard added rather despondently, jotting something down in her folder. ‘I was going to suggest Joshua saw a neuropsychologist. Someone who specialises in treating people with psychological problems after a brain injury.’
Katy thought for a few moments. ‘So, if Joshua was behaving arrogantly, he could have annoyed someone enough to provoke an argument, and that might have caused someone to push him. Is that possible, do you think?’
Dr Whittard shrugged. ‘I’ve no idea what happened at QexChem. That’s for you to decide, not me. I’ve told you all I can from my discussions. I hope it helps you to complete your investigations.’
The psychologist made some more notes, as did Katy and checked whether she had any further questions. She was gradually managing to reveal Joshua Hanson’s personality, layer by layer. It had been a useful discussion, but she wasn’t sure exactly where it led.
Chapter 35
‘Just drop me in the lay-by over there,’ I said to Craig.
I was ready for my next shift at QexChem. Katy had left shortly after 11 a.m., which had given me a couple of hours to relax and mull over the points we had discussed.
‘Now, if there is a problem with Katy giving you a lift back, or you change your mind and don’t want to stay as long as her, just give me a call and I’ll come and get you, OK?’
‘I will, thanks.’
‘OK. Well, I’ll sort out dinner. How does pizza and salad sound, as it’s a quick meal?’
‘Great. I’m happy with anything.’
‘I’ll stop off at Waitrose and pick up some food on the way back. Ask Katy if she wants to join us, I don’t mind.’ said Craig. ‘Oh, someone is waiting to pull in behind me.’
‘Right. I’ll get out. Thanks,’ I said, giving Craig a peck on his cheek. ‘Into the breach once more!’
‘I can’t wait to hear about your day!’ shouted Craig before pulling out of the lay-by.
The young woman in the visitor reception recognised me, and we exchanged a few comments as she organised my temporary pass, and Harry came to collect me ten minutes later.
Harry was cheerful as usual, and we chatted about his meeting the previous day, which had dragged on for three hours, followed by some urgent phone calls to contractors. Harry hadn’t left the site until after seven in the evening. Despite his stressful day, he seemed upbeat and relaxed. ‘So, what are your plans this afternoon?’ he asked as we approached my desk.
I told Harry about Katy’s request for us to speak to Martin Latham and Hugo Smythe and Harry said he would let them know and book a meeting room for us. Discretion prevented him from asking any further questions.
‘What about lab work? Do you need anything from me?’ he asked.
I replied with a brief outline of the data I wanted to obtain along with some analysis of the latest reactions which were still sitting in Joshua’s fume hood. ‘I’d like to have a look through the sample vials and flasks in the lab as well. Will that be OK?’
‘Yes, no problem. I’ll let you sort yourself out and see you in the lab in fifteen minutes or so.’
After stowing my things in my locker and switching on Joshua’s laptop, I spent a few minutes looking through the remaining hard-copy data in the drawer. Thankfully, all of it was in chronological order, and I quickly found the relevant sheets. I looked at the traces and wondered whether Joshua would have been better to destroy these printouts, but perhaps he didn’t expect anyone to be analysing his activities in such detail.
Harry returned. ‘Martin will see you at three and I suggested an hour later for Hugo. Hope that’s OK?’
‘Perfect. Katy should be here by then. I’ll send her a quick text.’
‘I’ve booked the small meeting room opposite Abigail’s office. OK, let’s go into the lab.’
I told Harry what data I wanted on the reactions, and he set about making up the samples for analysis, whilst I looked through the collection of vials and flasks on Joshua’s bench. As Joshua had doubtless covered his tracks, I knew that it might be difficult to identify the correct samples to prove my theory, but I hoped that at least one of them might give it credence. Fortunately, Joshua had performed some of them on a larger scale, and I felt these might hold the secret.
‘So, these are the ones you’ve selected?’ said Harry.
‘Is that OK? Not too many?’
‘No, that’s fine. Whatever you need.’
‘And these two here, can we get some high-resolution spectra on these two?’
‘Er, yes, but I’ll have to ask one of our specialists to do that. The samples will run overnight as that’s the best use of machine time.’
So, with my requests in hand, I returned to my desk to await Katy’s arrival.
**
‘Afternoon,’ Martin Latham said, opening the door and pulling out a seat at the table.
‘Martin, hi. DS Forbes, we spoke recently,’ she said, shaking his hand. ‘Thanks for sparing me some time today.’
‘I’ve not got long as I need to leave at 4 p.m. and I’ve got some reactions to sort out before then.’
‘We won’t keep you long. Are you happy for Sarah to sit in on this chat?’
‘It’s fine by me,’ he replied with a slight shrug.
‘I want to stress that this isn’t a formal interview, and you spoke to us when I first visited the site. We don’t want to go through that again. This chat is more to understand what Joshua was like and so on.’
‘Wonder-boy, you mean?’ Martin shrugged. ‘Hasn’t Abigail told you about how good he was?’
‘We have spoken to Abigail, but she didn’t work closely with him on a day to day basis in the lab, did she? So, we’d like to hear what you thought about him,’ said Katy.
‘Abigail didn’t work with Joshua in the lab much, that’s right,’ said Martin.
Martin seemed to have an axe to grind and didn’t appear very reticent, so Katy and I remained silent.
‘But, they looked like they worked closely from what I could see,’ said Martin. ‘They had lots of meetings together.’
‘Isn’t it normal to have meetings with your direct report?’ said Katy.
Martin raised his eyebrows. ‘If you say so.’
‘What do you say?’ pressed Katy.
Martin raised his hands as if to say, “Hey, I’m not getting involved.” Then, he added, ‘I just think they got on like a house on fire, as the saying goes. Abigail is a nice woman, but when she started, it was obvious she was struggling a bit.’ Martin shrugged. ‘It’s understandable, I mean, when people come in at that level they are thrown in at the deep end. The senior team expects a lot of them.’
‘And you think she wasn’t up to it?’ said Katy.
‘I wouldn’t put it so strongly, but she had a team to supervise, she had to come up with plans and ideas, as well as understanding all the project biology and things. So, it’s not surprising that she leant on Josh. He had been here longer than her, so he knew the ropes, and he was good at suggesting compounds to make and so on. I think a lot of her ideas early on were Josh’s ideas.’
Before our meeting, Katy had suggested that I shared the questioning. She felt that it might help ease any tension. I wasn’t convinced but assured her I would try to contribute. Katy paused to make a few notes, so I picked up the thread. ‘Do you think Josh minded Abigail using his ideas?’
Martin shook his head. ‘No idea, but perhaps it was all part of the plan?’
‘What do you mean by a plan?’ I replied.
‘Quid pro quo. You scratch my back, and I’ll scratch yours. A symbiotic relationship, if you like, as we are talking science,’ Martin laughed.
‘So, Joshua supplied Abigail with ideas and supported her when she started, and in turn, Joshua received his promotion ahead of the usual timescale? Is that what you mean?’ I summarised.
‘It’s possible, isn’t it?’ Martin paused. ‘Look. It’s in the past. Josh has gone now, and, sadly, he died young. I don’t mean to seem harsh, but perhaps the rest of us will get a look in now.’
‘A look in?’ I repeated. Although it was clear what Martin meant, I wanted him to expand on his comment. Our chat was turning out to be very informative.
‘I just mean, that without Joshua being the leading light here, perhaps us mere mortals will get a better press, that’s all.’
‘Do you think there was a bit of favouritism going on?’ I pressed him.
‘I didn’t say that,’ Martin replied, a hint of aggression creeping into his voice. Was he regretting being too outspoken? He had certainly implied that the company had treated Hanson favourably and that his relationship with his direct supervisor might have been over-familiar.
‘We aren’t putting words in your mouth, but I’m interested in what you are saying,’ said Katy.
Martin sighed. ‘Perhaps I can explain? When they allocate projects, none of us can choose what we get. It’s just the luck of the draw. Well, you know that, don’t you? You used to work here,’ he said directly to me.
I nodded, knowing exactly where Martin was heading with his explanation. It was a subject that I’d often debated with my colleagues. No system was completely fair, but comparing people on different projects with different challenges and degrees of difficulty often resulted in resentment and accusations of favouritism.
‘So, when you get a hopeless project where the science is difficult, it’s hard to shine and look good. In fact, you look pretty poor if your productivity is low and lots of things don’t work out well,’ said Martin.
‘Is that what’s happened to you?’ said Katy.
‘Sometimes. I’ve been here quite a long time, and I get a lot of tricky stuff to do. My supervisor always tells me it’s a great opportunity. It’s a sign they value my experience, blah blah. Last year, I didn’t have much to show for what I’d done. I spent ages trying to get stuff to work, and it wasn’t recognised. Josh got a lucky break with his work, and they thought he was wonderful. He got promoted, and I didn’t.’
A familiar story, I thought to myself. There were always disputes about what was important in judging people, and sometimes the management tended to focus on the wrong things.
