The Weekly Dormouse. (aka Bike, est. 2007) Part 3343 by Angharad Copyright© 2022 Angharad

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This is a work of fiction any mention of real people, places or institutions is purely coincidental and does not imply that they are as suggested in the story.

I spent some of my evening, apart from getting fat after David's wonderful cooking, reading up on freshwater habitats, it was quite interesting and I learned about several different types and variation on the same types, although I suppose if they were a variation, they wouldn't be the same. I also learned several new words about different elements of aquatic life, like cannibalism as a means of avoiding competition when the going gets tough as in overcrowding, or things develop quicker and eat the slower ones, if humans did it, it would sort out food shortages and overpopulation in one fell swoop, not that I am advocating it as an answer as we'd probably have an increase in variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (vCJD). A horrible disease found amongst cannibal societies which is caused by a prion and ends up with the victim having large holes in their brains which ultimately kills them. Mad cow disease, which poisoned the name of English beef for a while, does the same to cows. It was caused by humans trying to save money or make profits by feeding ground-up sheep bones to cattle as a food additive, some of the sheep were carrying scrapie, a disease specific to sheep which crossed the species barrier and the prion attacked the neural system of the cows. It's what happens when we mess with natural systems without understanding the consequences, cane toads come to mind as a vivid illustration.
Gosh, how the human mind jumps from one subject to another, or mine does, there I was reading about different types of substrate and flow rates, with light and temperature and suddenly I'm thinking of cannibalism and a new variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease.

I went back to my books and concentrated on the topics for tomorrow, I had done quite well and would link the subject to terrestrial habitats, about which I am more familiar, but I enjoyed my foray into things aquatic and decided I would continue my reading when time permitted. I was also rereading some of Elly Griffiths' stories, I like a bone specialist who knows less anatomy than I do as a heroine, it gives her a flawed element which appeals even though it isn't supposed to have happened and is an author mistake which I expect has been corrected in later versions, my own copy came from a charity shop and was probably a first edition of the paperback. Still I've made plenty of similar mistakes but no one pays for my stuff except students and these days I check my stuff for such mistakes.

Oh well bedtime for the offspring who aren't, if you see my point, but they are my children in everything except actual bloodline, which is a pity but we live with it and part of me is proud of what we have done, they needed a home and I had one with space to take them and perhaps as much need to foster them as they did to be fostered a sort of mutualism in a biological sense, one I understand and so does Tom, who also benefits from it as a granddad he wouldn't otherwise be.

The next day I did the lecture on terrestrial habitats and added some bit about freshwater ones that I learned since I spoke with them before and everyone seemed happy, one of the students who'd spoken me the day before gave me broad smile and thumbs-up afterwards so she seemed to get something out of it and so did I knowing that at least one of them did.

It was when I got back to the office that my sense of fulfilment was shaken. "We have a situation," was Diane's way of telling me.

"What sort of situation?" I replied awaiting the facts.

"We think there has been a break-in in lab 2, you know the one with all the info for our ministry stuff."

"Who discovered it and when?"

"Brian Smith, about half an hour ago."

"Why so late?"

"He was working till late last night, you said if he did he could take some time back."

"Have the police been called?"

"They got here a few minutes ago. I sent them over to the lab."

"Looks like I'd better go and see things for myself, who is in charge?"

"Inspector Old, he said he knew you."

"He does." I left my office thinking how I had last met Toby Old, I'd saved his life and only just escaped a manslaughter charge if no murder, because someone died, the fact that they had come to kill Toby and possibly us as well, that is, Simon and me, is probably what saved me because I certainly had acted to neutralise a threat, as I saw it, and that meant hurting or killing the murderous pair who'd come to visit with malice aforethought in their hearts.

Mine of course is filled with love and pureness of spirit unless someone causes it to be otherwise and a couple of malcontents caused it to react spontaneously. I mentioned about a short course I did in Bristol many years ago about total fighting, where everything becomes a weapon, well it was one of those occasions and to me the end justified the means, kill or be killed and not waiting to chat about it first like civilised folk. I acted without thinking except to stop the threat, and people who come armed with a sawn-off shotgun are not coming for afternoon tea and to discuss the ladies fashions at Ascot.

I found Toby waiting for SOCO, that is, Scene Of Crime Officer, who look for evidence of the crime and collect things like fingerprints if the perps were stupid enough to leave any. "Hello, nice to see you again," I offered to our favourite policeman.

"Cathy, I wondered when you'd show up, your secretary said you were actually working today."

"My ex-secretary, you mean?"

He laughed, "You're worse than the bad guys," he suggested.

"Only when provoked, remember you'd be the wearer of shroud now if I hadn't."

"I remember all right, now what's this about top-secret stuff having been half-inched?"

"As I've only just learned of it I don't exactly know what is missing, but I understand it was a contract we have with the ministry."

"Which one?"

"Defence," I admitted.

"Oh, depending on what it was about could mean we have to send for MI5 or Special Branch."

"I'm sure Hampshire Constabulary's finest will be enough to catch the villains, assuming there was more than one."

"Is there somewhere we can talk?" he responded.

"My office and the coffee is reasonable."

"Sold," he said and after leaving instructions For SOCO, we departed the scene which certainly looked as if it had been broken into. The university security would be getting a rocket from me later.

Over coffee, I was able to tell him about the contract with the MOD and what we were doing. He made notes and rang his superiors to ask for advice, I hadn't had a chance to do that although I knew that Diane would have informed Daddy, who would have then contacted someone in the ministry.

The men in suits arrived as Toby was on the phone. "We'll need an office,love and loads of coffee, this'll do," he said looking around.

"This my office," I said possessively.

"Who are you then?"

"Professor Cathy Watts."

"Yeah, professor of what?"

"Look you moron, this is all my department, I am effectively the dean of the faculty of science."

"I hear you've got some aristo here, they warned me she can be trouble, where is she at the moment?"

Diane having heard enough of our conversation to act addressed me, "Would you like me to arrange an office for this man, your ladyship?" He looked at her and blushed, knowing that I needn't answer it now."

"If you could, Diane, I'm sure we have some animal cages we can loan them if necessary." Toby came back as we were completing the introductions.

He took the MI5 officer to the lab and came back to me, "How about I buy you lunch?"

"It'll have to be in the refectory then, I want to keep an eye on James Bond."

He laughed, " Wrong MI department, he's MI6, which is external stuff, this is MI5 or internal stuff."

"Of course, but if it's internal I want my doctor involved."

"Very funny, you knew what I meant," he said to me.

"Why can't you deal with it? You probably have more brain cells than Mr Bean, and we can always call for Sherlock Watts."

"We could indeed, let's go and eat."