‘I’m afraid not.’
‘But you must surely have wondered about this. What possibilities did you come up with?’
Haygill hunched forward slightly, frowning through his glasses at Brock. ‘I don’t think I quite understand. Are you asking me to speculate?’ He turned to the solicitor at his side, who gave a small shake of his head.
‘I don’t think that’s appropriate,’ the solicitor advised.
‘I think it’s inevitable,’ Brock retorted, ‘if not with me then with a wider public. People will speculate, Professor, and I’m asking for your informed help.’
Still Haygill didn’t offer anything, and Brock went on.
‘Well, let me put this to you, just as an example. Max Springer was an extremely hostile critic of you and your work. On one occasion I believe he compared you to the Nazi Dr Mengele, am I right?’
Haygill took a deep breath and made a weary gesture with his hand. ‘Yes.’
‘That’s a pretty drastic kind of criticism, isn’t it? Especially coming from a man who lost his parents in the concentration camps.’
‘It was a preposterous, outrageous remark for which he was censured by the Chair of the University Senate.’
‘But you didn’t pursue it, Professor? You didn’t consider suing him?’
‘I did consider it, but on reflection I felt that would only give his absurd opinions the public exposure he craved. He wanted me to sue him. He wanted a forum and publicity to present his idiotic ideas. He didn’t care that he would have lost. So I declined to give him that opportunity.’
‘But it must have been extremely frustrating and upsetting to you and the members of your team at the Centre of Advanced Biotechnology?’
Haygill regarded Brock impassively, then wiped a hand quickly over his sandy hair and replied, ‘I think we regarded it with the contempt it deserved.’
‘You regarded him with contempt?’
But Haygill wasn’t going to be caught like that. ‘I regarded his statement with contempt. I had no particular personal feelings for Max Springer, except to wish that he would calm down and have a bit of commonsense.’
‘But your staff are younger people, less mature than you, less able to take a detached, scientific view of Springer’s remarks, perhaps. They must have been outraged, surely?’
‘Well, you can ask them. But my impression was that they took little notice.’
‘Come on, Professor! I’m told they practically caused an international incident over some Christmas e-mail! If they took offence at something like that, they’d hardly accept Springer’s taunts calmly.’
‘That was completely different. They saw that as an attack on their religious convictions.’
‘Hm.’ Brock consulted his notes. ‘On another occasion I believe Springer described your role in CAB-Tech as “Svengali-like”.’
‘Really?’ Haygill looked mildly surprised. ‘I haven’t heard that one. But no abusive remark attributed to Max would especially astonish me.’
‘That particular remark has a specific meaning, though, doesn’t it? It suggests that you hold a dominating influence over the people under you at CAB-Tech. Isn’t that right?’
‘Nonsense. We operate on teamwork and cooperation between team members, just as in a hundred other scientific establishments around the world.’
‘But your team is unusual, isn’t it, in the way you’ve recruited a group of Middle Eastern staff with a common religious outlook and strong personal loyalty to you.’
‘You find it questionable that our staff should include some Islamic scientists?’ Haygill said coldly, straightening in his seat. ‘Maybe you should examine your own attitudes, Chief Inspector. Maybe there’s some prejudice lurking in there that we should know about.’
The solicitor leaned over to make a comment, but Haygill shook his head impatiently. ‘I’d like to hear where they’re going with this.’ He glared at Brock. ‘You’re implying that Abu was so upset by Springer’s insults, and so loyal to me, that he went off and shot the man dead? Is that it?’
‘Is that possible?’ Brock asked mildly.
‘It’s laughable.’
‘I understand Abu felt that he owed you a great deal for advancing his career, and looked up to you almost as a father.’
Haygill looked doubtful. ‘I think that’s putting it far too strongly.’
‘So you don’t see much merit in the idea that he did it for you?’
‘As a theory, I think it’s feeble.’
‘Well… would it be stronger, as a theory, if you’d encouraged him to do it?’
Haygill swivelled away in his seat and laughed, shaking his head.
‘Perhaps half-joking, a few hints that things would be a lot easier if someone could make Springer shut his mouth. That kind of thing?’
‘No.’ Haygill swung back and leaned forward across the table at Brock to make the point. ‘Not half-jokingly or in any other way. I did not encourage him or anyone else to do anything to Max Springer.’
‘Very well.’ Brock scanned his papers as if running out of questions.
‘Is that all?’
‘Er, not quite. Does CAB-Tech do business with the Bank of Credit and Commerce Dubai?’
Haygill looked stunned. ‘Yes.’
‘How many accounts are there?’
‘Why on earth are you asking?’
‘How many?’
‘There are several individual research project accounts, a reserve deposit account, a general working account… Probably eight or nine in all.’
‘What about you personally?’
‘Me?’
‘Yes, do you have a personal account with the bank?’
‘Yes, but what has this got to do-’
‘We would like your authorisation to examine all of the accounts for the period of, say, the last twelve months.’
Haygill said, ‘Absolutely not! They are commercially sensitive.. .’ His face had gone pink, eyes blinking rapidly. ‘This is absolutely outrageous!’ He turned to his lawyer who took up the objections.
‘There is no question of my client agreeing to such an examination, Chief Inspector. We would maintain most vigorously that his business and personal financial records are excluded material under the terms of the 1984 Act.’
Brock shrugged and went on. ‘Do you or does anyone else associated with CAB-Tech, either here or overseas, to your knowledge own a hand-gun of any kind?’
‘No! Certainly not!’
‘What is the BRCA4 Protocol, Professor Haygill?’
Once again the scientist looked stunned, as if physically struck by some blow from a totally unexpected quarter. He shook his head, ‘I
… I don’t understand what all this…’
‘What is the BRCA4 Protocol, Professor Haygill?’
Haygill pulled himself together, spread his fingers wide on the table and stared at them as if counting to check they were all there.
‘Chief Inspector Brock,’ his solicitor said, ‘I would like to speak in private with…’
‘No, it’s all right,’ Haygill said. ‘The BRCA4 Protocol is a proposal for a research project originating from our laboratories. One of dozens.’
‘Could you describe it to me?’
‘No, no, I couldn’t.’
‘You have some kind of proposal document, describing it?’
Haygill frowned. ‘Yes.’
‘I would like to have it examined by our staff.’
‘No. It is commercially sensitive.’
‘Secret?’
‘If you like.’
‘Then how did Max Springer know about it?’
‘Springer?’ Haygill looked horrified. ‘Are you sure?’
‘There was evidence in his room at the university that he had information on it.’
‘I’m astonished… How could he?’
Into Brock’s mind came an image of Springer’s room when they had first opened its door, and the impression of it having been ransacked, countered by the security guard’s assurance that it always looked like that.
‘If he had, it would have been very sensitive, would it? Commercially?’
‘Well…it’s only a proposal for a feasibility study at this stage