The Daily Dormouse. (aka Bike, est. 2007) Part 2522 by Angharad Copyright© 2014 Angharad

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The police came to find us and I was taken to an empty office where the DCI had set up a temporary office. “Professor Watts, isn’t it?”

“Yes.”

“Tell me what happened.”

“Not a lot to tell, I took my two girls to their school football matches and we came on here afterwards to check the dormice.”

“I thought they hibernated this time of year.”

“They do, but just in case one is awake someone calls by every day and if necessary puts out some food.”

“I see, how did you discover the body?”

“The smell as we came through the outside door. Even my little girl noticed it. I made them wait while I went to investigate. I saw the body and the smell made it obvious he was dead. I threw up in the sink and them came out to call for help, I mean I dialled triple nine, then went outside as my head was reeling from the smell. I warned the security man we had a suspicious death and I’d called the police.”

“So how come your husband and father were here.”

“I called them, Simon to collect the girls and Daddy because he’s Dean of the Faculty of Science and would need to be involved at some point.”

“Okay, off the top of your head did you notice anything out of place or unusual?”

“Only a lab technician with his brains all over the laboratory floor.”

“No open windows or unlocked cupboards?”

“I didn’t see any, but that doesn’t mean there weren’t any.”

“There weren’t.”

“Judging by the rate of putrefaction, he must have been there from sometime yesterday afternoon.”

“Wouldn’t he have been found?”

“Not if he was the only one on the rota for dormice or setting up stuff for after Christmas or checking it was there—it’s embarrassing if you plan to do an experiment and half the stuff is missing.”

“Quite.”

“He could also have been doing a stock take or any number of things. He was on duty until yesterday teatime. The security should have noticed he hadn’t checked out.”

“How do they do that?”

“We swipe a card to get in and out.”

“So they know who’s in the building?”

“Yes.”

He called one of his underlings and sent them to get the log of entrances and exits. It will show I left at three pm.

“How did he get on with people?”

I shrugged, “I only ever spoke to him about three times. In my previous post I was responsible for the technicians, now I have very little contact because apart from one or two courses I do a session on, I deal more with postgrad students.”

“So you didn’t hire this guy?”

“No, that would have been Dr Hamer.”

“Where do I find him?”

“Her—I can look up her address if you want.”

“Yes please. That’s it for now. I’ll need any staff records you have of the deceased.”

“Don’t you need a warrant for those?”

“It’s on its way. You have a certain reputation for doing things yourself, I hope we don’t have any loose cannons, because I’ll arrest you—no messing.”

“I try to cooperate with the police whenever I can.”

“That isn’t what your reputation suggests, Lady Cameron.”

“It’s all a great exaggeration, I’m sure.”

“We’ll see, but it appears since you’ve been here in Portsmouth the amount of violent crime has increased and you have more murders at this university than Inspector Morse at Oxford.”

“Yeah, but he solves them in under two hours.”

“He’s read the script.”

“Fine, can I go now?”

“Yes, but don’t leave town without letting me know.”

“I’ve no plans to do that before Christmas.”

“Please send in your father.”

I did as he asked and also went to the personnel files in Delia’s office. I went through them four times, we didn’t have one for Bernard Black. Tom came back and I called the young female detective who was helping her boss and showed her the filing drawer.

“It’s not here?” she asked.

“That, certainly; but it could also be that there never was one.”

“Why d’you say that?”

“All the others have a space allocated, his doesn’t.”

“Weren’t you his boss?”

“Not directly, I’m in charge of the biological sciences department, but there are a few line managers in between me and a lab technician. I’d barely met the man and I certainly didn’t appoint him.”

“Did you like him, Professor?”

“I hadn’t met him enough to form an opinion.”

“But who d’you think killed him?”

“Person or persons unknown. If I hear anything more concrete than that, I’ll let you know.”

“Make sure you do, Professor, sometimes a case can turn on a tiny fragment which is half remembered. So anything might help.”

“I’ve got a feeling he did chemistry not biology.”

“So why did you employ him?”

“I don’t know, but he might have been the best of a bad bunch.”

“Why did you mention it?”

“Because it’s unusual.”

“Okay, it’s unusual, so what?”

“What if he was going to be processing something he shouldn’t have been.”

“Like drugs, you mean?”

“Yes.”

“Could he do that here, make crystal meth?”

“If he had all the ingredients—possibly.”

“And a drug dealer bashed his head in?”

“I don’t know, but you said to report any suggestions or suspicions we had.”

“I did, didn’t I? We’ll check for the missing file with HR, and also for illegal drugs in any of the laboratories.”

“Feel free.”

“Oh we will, Professor. We’ll also require you to come in tomorrow and see if anything is missing or out of place.”

“What time?”

“Morning preferred.”

“I’m going home now to see my children, if you don’t mind.” I locked Delia and my offices, without asking the police, if they wanted them open, they could call for the caretaker, he has keys to everything.