The Secret (Dr Steven Dunbar 10) by McClure Ken

Author:McClure, Ken [McClure, Ken]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Saltoun
Published: 2013-09-30T00:00:00+00:00

SEVENTEEN

After an hour, Steven’s initial feeling that he was looking at trivial crimes which had nothing to do with Sci-Med started to falter as he picked up on a puzzling feature about the whole ME affair. He paused to make more coffee and was cursing the fact that his Gaggia espresso maker was leaking all over the place when the phone rang. He thought it might be Philippe Le Grice, but it was Tally.

‘Good news, I’ve got an evening off. Can you come up?’

Another guilt attack. ‘Tally, I can’t. I’ve got to get a report ready by tomorrow morning.’

‘What a pity.’

‘I’m already way behind.’

‘Ah me, then my disappointment will probably lead to the appearance of the wicked witch of the west on the wards tomorrow. Think of the children, Steven, think of the poor children . . .’

Steven couldn’t help smiling as he started to waver.

‘You could always work on your report . . . afterwards?’

‘I’m on my way. Book us in for dinner somewhere nice.’

Steven found himself sitting at Tally’s kitchen table at two in the morning, wearing T-shirt and boxer shorts, working on his report for Macmillan. The one saving grace was that he did feel perfectly relaxed. Tally was sleeping soundly.

The same feeling of puzzlement he’d felt earlier reappeared as he moved through the file making occasional notes about time and place. Ostensibly, the ME protesters, whoever they were, were objecting to government money's being put into psychiatric evaluation instead of what they regarded as proper research – a hunt for the virus causing the condition . . . so why on earth were they targeting the very people who were carrying out the sort of research they wanted? Why weren’t they attacking the psychiatrists and psychologists who were getting the grant money? Why weren’t they labelling their efforts as pointless and a waste of time? And who were the people carrying out the attacks? They didn’t seem to have any official voice. Anyone from the ME groups willing to be interviewed seemed to deplore what they saw as crude publicity stunts. The perpetrators always seemed to be people unknown to the official bodies.

The explanation given by them for attacking microbiologists – almost exclusively appearing in the form of graffiti because no one was ever willing to justify their actions in person – was that the scientists weren’t doing their job properly: they couldn’t be if they hadn’t found the virus; they must be deliberately delaying to keep themselves in a job. There seemed to be no appreciation of the fact that if the protesters kept harassing and attacking these people, perhaps forcing them to change fields, there would be no one left looking for a biological cause at all.

Steven shook his head in bemusement. ‘Why, why, why?’ he murmured.

‘Delilah,’ whispered a sleepy voice behind him. Tally put her arms round him. ‘God, I feel so guilty. You’re working through the night and all because of my need for your gorgeous body . . .’

‘Understandable,’ murmured Steven.

‘Bastard.’

‘Ah, the fickleness of women .

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