A Lethal Deception, page 18
‘Here’s the requisition,’ said Stephanie.
‘Thanks.’ Scott took the page from her and compared it against the photos, then sat beside Gavin and handed him the report, a note of relief in his voice. ‘Okay, so it doesn’t look like we screwed up – so that’s good. What isn’t good is what your lab is saying they’re seeing under test conditions. This is what we ordered.’
Gavin took the requisition from him and skim-read the contents. ‘Could they have made a mistake reading this?’
Scott shook his head. ‘It’s why they’re given the original. It’s law – because ketamine hydrochloride and the other substances listed on our order here are classified as controlled drugs, the supplier has to be given the wet signature copy. Only myself or Adam can sign it. Adam put through the order that morning – we had about a week’s worth of supplies left at that point, which is okay, but he was due to do a couple of complicated surgeries last week and we thought we’d better err on the safe side. We only keep three weeks’ worth of stock in at any time.’
‘Have you still got the delivery docket for this batch?’
‘Steph?’ Scott turned to the receptionist.
‘Hang on – yes, here you go.’ She walked around the desk and held out a thin blue page. ‘That’s Adam’s signature at the bottom to confirm safe receipt.’
‘As soon as the drugs arrive we log them in the register and place everything in the secure cabinet. They don’t come out again unless myself and Adam – or Claire in his absence – sign for them.’ Scott tapped the reference number in a column on the page. ‘This matches the code on the requisition, and on the label on the box in those photos, see?’
Gavin thumbed his phone screen to enlarge the image. ‘Okay, I see it. What’s this other number on the label here?’
‘Let’s have a look.’ Scott took the phone from him. ‘I don’t know – it could be an internal processing reference the drugs manufacturer uses. It’s not something we use to check off the deliveries.’
‘I don’t suppose you still have one of the older boxes from the previous delivery, do you?’ said Gavin.
‘We might do. All of our emergency appointments and the procedures Adam was meant to do last week were farmed out to other practices after his attack so we didn’t use up as much as we thought we would.’ Scott walked over to the consulting room door, then paused. ‘I’ll fetch one of the new boxes we had delivered last Thursday to replace the ones that were stolen, too.’
‘Thanks.’ Gavin turned to Stephanie as the vet disappeared through the door. ‘When you arranged for the other vet practices to take your patients last week, didn’t you provide them with the ketamine hydrochloride in case they needed to use it?’
‘God, no – it’s illegal. We’re not allowed to share drugs between vet practices unless there’s a real emergency, and even then it’d need everyone involved to make sure all the paperwork and the controlled drugs registers were clear on why that decision was made. Adam and Scott could lose their licences over something like that.’
‘And end up in court if we were really unlucky,’ Scott added as he reappeared. ‘Okay, I found one of the old empty boxes in the bin – we used the last of it yesterday. And this is one of the new ones.’
‘Neither of which has this odd reference number printed on the label,’ Gavin mused. He picked up the laboratory report again and frowned. ‘So obviously, you didn’t make a mistake because you ordered the strength you’d normally use, and according to the labelling, that’s what turned up.’
He peered at the image on his phone once more. ‘So why is it different on this one?’
‘Search me,’ Scott said, looking from the purchase requisition to the delivery docket and back. ‘Maybe someone was having a really bad day at the laboratory. There’s no excuse for this sort of mistake, though. We’re lucky we had some old stock to use up first, otherwise this could’ve killed a patient. I’ll be speaking to the drugs company first thing tomorrow, mark my words.’
‘Don’t worry,’ said Gavin. ‘So will I.’
Forty-Nine
Adam was waiting at the front door when Kay pulled into their driveway, worry lines criss-crossing his brow.
‘Scott just phoned me,’ he said as she closed the door and slipped off her shoes. ‘What’s going on?’
‘Pour me a glass of wine, and I’ll tell you what I can.’ She padded through to the kitchen behind him, and made a fuss of Oscar while Adam fetched a glass and retrieved a half-full bottle of Chenin Blanc from the refrigerator.
‘I’m looking forward to having a beer this weekend,’ he said, popping open a can of soft drink and taking a sip.
‘How many more days have you got on the tablets the hospital gave you?’
‘Only until tomorrow. The nausea’s gone now but they wanted me to stay on antibiotics for the graze to my head for a bit longer. Anyway, cheers – and tell me what’s going on.’
Kay took a sip of the wine, then placed the glass on the worktop and threaded her fingers around the stem. ‘Gavin spoke to Scott a little while ago, because we got the results through from the lab. We’d asked them to test what we found at Xander’s place against the two post mortem results so we could try to link everything together. We linked it all right, but it transpired that what got delivered to your surgery last Monday was five times stronger than the stuff you usually order.’
Adam paled at her words and sank onto one of the bar stools. ‘Did I fuck up?’
‘No.’ Kay reached out for his hand. ‘You didn’t, Scott didn’t, and nor did Stephanie.’
‘Thank Christ for that.’
‘We’ll be formally speaking with the drugs company sometime tomorrow, just as soon as we’ve spoken to our laboratory again to clarify some of the finer details.’
‘Did he tell you we triple check everything before we use that stuff? Even if we have to euthanise an animal, we have to be careful. The stuff’s lethal at its normal strength, but this…’ Adam ran a hand over his jaw. ‘Did you get it all? From that bloke’s flat? I mean, there isn’t a chance any more of that stuff is out there, is there?’
‘That’s what the team are working on at the moment,’ said Kay. ‘They’re phoning around all the vet practices in the area to find out who else might have placed an order, and whether there’s an identification number similar to the packaging that turned up at yours, or whether it was a one-off.’
‘We’d have heard about it if there was an overdose accidentally administered,’ said Adam, turning the soft drink can around in circles within a growing pool of condensation. ‘Things like that don’t stay quiet for long.’
‘Scott didn’t mention anything to Gavin like that.’
‘There you go, then. Hopefully our practice was the only one affected, and you’ve found all of the stolen stock so there’s no more.’ He sighed and pushed the can away, then ran a hand through his hair. ‘When this gets out, it could finish off the business though. I mean, what if we had used that stock? What if…’
‘Adam, stop.’ Kay moved around to the other side of the worktop and draped her arms around his shoulders. ‘Stop. It didn’t happen. The practice is busy – Gavin said when he got there, he had to wait because there were so many patients. You’ve got an amazing reputation locally, and professionally. Just look at the number of journal articles you’ve been asked to contribute this past year. It wasn’t your fault.’
‘I know, I just…’ He shuffled around to face her, his eyes troubled. ‘I got a letter from the insurance company today. They’re questioning our storage practices, even though that secure cabinet is a multi-lock and Scott and I carry our keys with us. They’re trying to say that if the keys had been kept in a combination safe instead of on my keyring, this wouldn’t have happened.’
‘Jesus,’ Kay sighed. ‘That’s not fair. How many vets use a combination safe?’
‘Only one that I know of, and that’s only because there’s four of them who need to use the keys – it’s a much larger practice than mine and operates 24/7. Besides, my keys were taken when I was knocked unconscious – in the bloody practice, where I need them.’ Adam reached out for a folded letter on top of a free local newspaper and handed it to her.
She ran her eyes over the text, and then snorted. ‘Well, whoever wrote this hasn’t got a clue about veterinary surgeries anyway. Look, he’s suggested they recommend using a keypad-operated cabinet instead.’
‘I know. Thereby breaking every rule set out in the guidelines.’ Adam took back the letter. ‘I’ll write back to them tomorrow, but it’s just one more thing on top of everything else.’
Kay hugged him. ‘Hang in there. We’re getting close. I can feel it. We just need a few more answers.’
‘I know. It’s just with that and a phone call from the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons this afternoon about a compliance audit they want to do because of the theft, it’s not been a good day.’
She frowned as she looked at the insurance letter on the worktop, then straightened. ‘Out of interest, how long have you been buying the drugs through that supplier? Have you ever had problems with them before?’
He drained his soft drink and walked over to the window, dropping the can into the recycling bin under the sink. ‘We’ve not had any issues before, but we’ve only been using them for the past four months. There were too many problems and delays getting the drugs we needed from our usual supplier because of all the importation laws to buy it in from European manufacturers.’
‘Thanks, I’ll let Gavin know before we speak to them tomorrow,’ said Kay.
Suddenly, Adam turned from the sink and crossed to the back door.
A cold breeze swept into the kitchen as he wrenched it open, and Kay shivered.
‘What on earth are you doing?’
In response, he pointed at Oscar, who looked mildly amused.
‘Pre-emptive strike.’
Fifty
The next morning, Kay shielded her eyes against the sunshine reflecting off the windows of the pharmaceutical building and stared up at the top floor.
‘What was Marion Blanchett like when you spoke to her last week?’ she said to Gavin as he joined her before pressing the button on the security panel next to the front door.
‘Chatty enough, guv. Concerned that one of her customers had been attacked, and happy to help with the vehicle footage.’
‘All right. Let’s hope she’s still happy once we ask her about the lab results.’
Gavin peered up at a security camera above the door. ‘That’s new.’
Kay turned as the speaker in the panel spat to life.
‘Come in, Detective Piper.’
The door buzzed open, and Kay nodded her thanks to Gavin as he held it open for her and then followed her along a tiled floor.
She ran her gaze over the framed awards and media articles that peppered the walls, and then found herself in a bright reception area.
‘If you would like to sign in.’
Her attention turned to a man standing beside a reception desk, his gaze stony while she approached.
‘Back so soon, Detective Piper?’
‘I’m sorry, I didn’t catch your name,’ said Kay. ‘Mr…?’
‘Peter Moore.’ He looked down his nose at her. ‘I’m Ms Blanchett’s assistant. A phone call would have been appreciated. We don’t like people turning up unannounced. It makes our security team nervous.’
‘I’ll bear that in mind.’
She turned at footsteps from the mezzanine level above to see Marion Blanchett waiting at the top of the winding staircase.
‘I thought you might have called ahead, Detective Piper. We’re extremely busy at the moment. We always spend Fridays updating our board of directors.’
‘A matter of some urgency has come to light,’ said Gavin. ‘My inspector – Kay Hunter.’
‘Marion Blanchett.’ She reached the bottom of the stairs and shook Kay’s hand, her grip firm. ‘Always a pleasure to meet another woman rising to the top of her profession.’
‘Likewise.’ Kay looked around the vast space, taking in the various closed doors leading off from the reception area, some with biohazard signs and various other health and safety warnings displayed. ‘Is there somewhere we can talk?’
‘The board room is taken at present – a video conference with a laboratory team in the United States we’re hoping to work with – so we’ll use my office. Come this way.’
Kay turned her back on Peter, ignoring the glare he aimed at her, and followed Gavin and the CEO up the wide spiral staircase and along an open walkway overlooking the expanse below.
The powder-coated aluminium handrail curved around to the left, and Marion opened a thick oak door at the end, beckoning to them.
‘Take a seat.’
Kay waited while the other woman fussed about her desk, clearing away a large A4-sized leather-bound diary and various trade magazines before easing into a tan-coloured armchair that hugged her slim frame.
‘I’ve got about fifteen minutes before I have to join that video conference, detectives, so what is it you need to know?’
Kay had already agreed with Gavin that he would lead the interview, given that he was the SIO on the case and she had no wish to undermine his confidence – or the rapport he’d previously established with Marion Blanchett – so she gestured to him to start the interview and watched the woman closely as the questions commenced.
Her colleague opened a briefcase he’d found discarded in Sharp’s old office and extracted a see-through evidence bag containing some of the empty boxes found in Xander Beech’s flat. The leftover vials of ketamine hydrochloride had been removed when the samples were sent for testing, and remained locked in a secure box in the evidence locker.
‘Ms Blanchett, do you recognise these?’ he said, placing the evidence bag on the desk.
‘It appears to be the packaging for the drugs we produce for veterinary practices.’ Marion leaned forward and angled the bag to better see past the labels stuck to its surface by the CSIs. ‘Are these the ones stolen from the surgery in Maidstone?’
‘They are,’ said Gavin. ‘They were found in a flat on the fringes of the town centre on Wednesday evening, after the tenant was attacked.’
The CEO’s face turned from one of interest to confusion. ‘I don’t understand. How did he get them? Is he the thief?’
‘That forms part of our ongoing investigation,’ Gavin said, ‘but what we’d like to understand today is why these drugs are five times stronger than is normally provided to veterinary surgeries for anaesthetic procedures.’
Marion paled. ‘You’ve tested these? You’re sure?’
‘Our laboratory sent through their findings yesterday, Ms Blanchett, and yes – we’re sure.’ Gavin rose and turned the evidence bag over so that the labels on the packets were visible. ‘This reference number here doesn’t appear on older supplies of ketamine hydrochloride from your laboratory that were supplied to the same surgery, nor the replacement stock delivered last Thursday following the robbery. What does it mean?’
‘I-I’m not sure. I’d have to ask our operations manager – but he’s in that meeting right now, and can’t be interrupted.’
‘Where is the labelling done?’ said Kay. ‘On the premises?’
‘Yes, everything is done here. As I said to Detective Piper last week, we even run our own delivery fleet because of security concerns.’
‘Have there been security issues in the past?’ said Kay.
‘No, but because a couple of our suppliers use animal-based proteins, we’re sometimes targeted by animal rights activists. Things through the post, the occasional threatening phone call. It’s why this building doesn’t bear any logos and you can’t find it on any public satellite imagery. We applied to have it removed for privacy purposes, much like a military installation would.’
‘What about your staff?’ said Gavin. ‘Do you run thorough background checks on them?’
‘Yes, absolutely, along with regular random drug testing.’ Marion watched as Gavin tucked the evidence bag back into the briefcase and closed the lid. ‘Are you suggesting this was an inside job? That someone deliberately sabotaged those vials?’
‘It has to be considered,’ said Kay. ‘Especially in light of the fact that since the theft, three people have died from overdoses linked to this batch, including a sixteen-year-old girl.’
‘Oh my God.’ Marion brought a shaking hand to her lips. ‘What do you want to do?’
‘I think we’ll need to start by arranging for a team of officers to come here as soon as possible and interview each member of staff,’ said Kay. ‘Do you have your own processes and procedures in place to check what’s been going on in your laboratories downstairs?’
‘We do, yes.’
Kay stood and moved to the door. ‘Then I suggest you implement them. Immediately.’
She followed Gavin back to the staircase, already going through the next steps she and Gavin would have to take – starting with re-interviewing Xander Beech while they still knew where to find him.
‘Detective Hunter?’
Kay turned, her hand on the bannister. ‘Yes?’
‘Please, do you think we could keep this to ourselves for the moment?’ Marion moved closer, her eyes beseeching. ‘At least until my team have had a chance to conduct an internal audit and provided you with a copy of our findings?’
‘How long will that take?’
‘No more than a week.’
Kay pursed her lips.
‘You’ve got three hours.’
Fifty-One
When Kay and Barnes reached Maidstone Hospital later that morning, a fine drizzle had replaced the morning sunlight, and she sheltered under an umbrella her colleague held while they hurried towards the entrance.
‘Dave Morrison confirmed that he’s got four officers over at the laboratory making a start with the staff interviews. They’ll get through as many as they can today,’ he said, shaking the worst of the water from the umbrella before they found a lift heading for the next floor. He waited while a porter wheeled out a man in a wheelchair and then pressed the button to close the doors. ‘Marion herself was holed up in the conference room when he got there––’
