‘How’d you get all this stuff?’
‘I could tell you, but then I’d have to kill you.’
‘Long as I eat first,’ Lock said, settling down to speed-read through the mass of information.
Don must have been right about the influence of Cody’s mom on his beliefs because his criminal record started early. Fourteen in fact. But almost every offence was against property. He was prime suspect in the exhumation and dumping of Eleanor Van Straten, but even that, it could be argued, involved an inanimate object. The only thing that came even close was a bomb threat against a construction company building a new animal testing and research facility down by the former Brooklyn Naval Yard. The client was Meditech.
‘Who’d you get to do this piece of research?’ Lock slid the piece of paper across the marble towards Carrie.
‘That would have been me.’
‘Well, don’t go clearing any space for that Pulitzer on your shelves just yet.’
‘Oh, and why’s that?’
‘Because I know all of Meditech’s facilities. And I’ve never heard of one down at the naval yard.’
Carrie nibbled on a piece of radicchio. ‘I’ll double-check for you, if y’like.’
‘Probably someone else’s typo. Lot of these companies have similar names.’
‘So what do you say to Cody Parker taking Josh Hulme?’
Lock picked up the file. ‘Don’t see it from any of this. Y’know, he was dropping some hints that all roads lead back to Meditech.’
‘Of course they do. And 9/11 was organized by the CIA. And the Jewish-controlled media are in on the whole thing.’
‘He did say one thing that made me think though.’
Carrie crossed to the sink and began to rinse the rest of the radicchio under the cold tap. ‘And what was that?’
‘Did you hear about this contract that Meditech is going after with the Pentagon?’
Carrie shrugged, shaking the excess water off the lettuce and placing it in a bowl on the counter. ‘So what? The government’s been pumping billions into biotech companies ever since it realized the Department of Defense couldn’t keep up. You should know that. There’s been forty-four billion dollars handed out since 2001. Every pharma and biotech company’s fighting each other to get on the federal teat.’
‘Bio-terror is bullshit. Terrorists that are any good go low tech. Fertilizer. Boxcutters. Stuff that’s easy to acquire,’ Lock said, passing Carrie a glass of red.
‘What about someone slipping something into the water?’
‘It’s possible, I guess.’
He took a sip of wine.
‘Would you do some digging for me?’
‘Into this contract?’
‘And Richard Hulme. I still never got out of him why he resigned.’
Carrie grimaced. ‘Me either.’
Lock knew this was a rare admission. It wasn’t something that happened to her very often.
‘Can I give you some advice, Ryan?’
‘Sure.’
‘When I’m trying to break a story I always try to keep it simple. It’s easy to see things that aren’t there. Make connections that don’t exist.’
‘Like this contract with the Pentagon?’
‘Precisely. Think about it for a second. If anything, wouldn’t a contract like that make it less likely for Meditech to give up on animal testing, not more?’
‘That’s what Cody Parker said. But Meditech have given up testing.’
‘No, they said they had. Those are two different things.’
Thirty-three
The Kensington Nanny and Au Pair occupied a small corner of the top floor of a five-storey walk-up within spitting distance of Alphabet City. Ty had tracked it down as the company Meditech had used to source childcare for its senior employees. ‘Had’ being the operative word. Several complaints that the people referred were wholly unsuitable to care for goldfish, never mind children, had led to it being dropped as an outside contractor.
On the fourth floor, Lock and Ty both had to stop to catch their breath.
‘Man, we are some unfit motherfuckers,’ Ty observed, gulping for air.
‘Hey, I just got out of hospital, what’s your excuse?’
‘Too much good living.’
They continued on to the top floor. The door leading into the office was ajar and they could hear a woman inside fielding calls. Lock pushed it open with the toe of his boot and they walked in.
The woman appeared to be in her late forties. Holding the phone in one hand, she rifled through a stack of papers on the desk in front of her. A cup of coffee sat full and untouched next to the papers, the milk congealing in a white paste on the top. The rest of the office was a mess, papers scattered randomly over every conceivable surface. ‘Yes, and I’m very sorry that things haven’t worked out, but I simply don’t have anyone else available at the moment,’ she was saying into the phone. She acknowledged Lock and Ty’s presence by holding up her hand and waving them in, directing them to two seats on the opposite side of her desk with another sweeping gesture.
Lock picked up the stack of files that were resting on top of his chair and laid them down on top of a filing cabinet.
‘Listen, I have someone in the office right now,’ the woman continued. ‘If anyone becomes available you’re top of my list.’
Lock could still hear the person on the other end of the line as she put the phone down on them.
When she spoke, the English accent seemed to drop away, revealing something more akin to Brooklyn. ‘Just so you both know, I’ve got a three-month wait list before I can find someone to mind your little bundle of joy.’
‘Er, we’re not together,’ Lock objected.
‘Yeah,’ she said, checking out Ty from head to toe before diverting her gaze back to Lock, ‘he is a little out of your league, sweetie.’
Ty snickered as Lock tried to decide whether or not to be offended.
‘Hey, you guys aren’t nannies by any chance, are you?’ she asked with a beleaguered smile.
‘Only for grown-ups,’ Ty smiled. ‘And I’m most definitely, one hundred per cent, straight.’
Only Ty could turn this into a hook-up opportunity, thought Lock.
‘This how you find your staff? Anyone who manages to hit the door?’ Lock asked.
‘You with the FBI? Because I’ve already told one of your guys everything I know. Shit, you’re not a reporter, are you? Because if you are I’m making no comment.’
‘We’re here in a private capacity, Ms. .’
‘Lauren Palowsky.’
‘Ms Palowksy. Josh Hulme’s father asked us to help find him.’ Lock deliberately kept Meditech’s name out of it.
‘The FBI said I shouldn’t discuss any of this.’
‘The FBI are fully aware of our involvement,’ Lock assured her.
‘Then speak to them.’
Lock’s face set, any trace of amiability falling away. ‘I’m speaking to you. And if you don’t mind me saying, you seem remarkably composed for someone who’s had an employee brutally murdered and the child who they were looking after kidnapped, and possibly murdered too.’
Lauren studied the film of milk floating on top of her morning coffee. ‘I’m trying not to think about it. But let’s be clear about one thing: I didn’t employ Natalya. I’m a broker, that’s all.’
The phone rang again, but Lauren let it go to voicemail.
‘Your lawyer tell you to say that?’
‘No. And anyway, don’t you think I’ve been worried sick about that child since I heard?’
‘I’ve no idea. You tell me.’
She looked down at her desk, grabbed a random handful of papers, held them up at him. ‘All these people are looking for someone to parent their children because they don’t have the time. They all want Mary Poppins, but they’re only prepared to pay minimum wage. Then when something goes wrong, suddenly it’s my fault.’