reckons that she latched herself onto him because he was a friend of mine. He said he realised that after they had started going out and that’s why he eventually dumped her.
“He said he was getting fed up with his course anyway and didn’t like the idea that he was being used for something which didn’t interest him in the least. So he just upped and left.”
I glanced across at Pierre who was explaining to Mike about how you can find things out about companies quite easily if you know where to look. He was not going to like it one bit if I even hinted at my suspicions. As far as I could see the only person who knew that Liam was working for Bioscope was Antoine – and he was a shareholder in LyonPharma.
Shit, I thought to myself, this could become a bit messy.
I rejoined the discussion.
“Here’s what we’ll do, guys. In a few minutes I’ll phone Sergeant MacLean and explain what we’ve been told and see if there is any way we can talk to Irina again. Pierre, can you go back to France and start digging? None of the rest of us can do that because of the language problem.”
Then I had another thought.
“Liam, can you pop through to the computer and google LyonPharma to see if they’ve got a subsidiary in the UK and if so, where?”
“Sure.” He disappeared. He was back in a few minutes.
“They do. Their UK operations are run from their only subsidiary over here which is in Edinburgh,” he reported triumphantly.
“Is it now? Right, let’s get Steven onto it.”
During the AIM business I had enlisted the help of a young financial journalist who was the son of an old friend of ours when Liz had been alive. He had proved very confidential and useful and had had a neat scoop out of the affair. I wondered if he might be able to help by doing some digging around the LyonPharma’s Edinburgh operation. It was worth a try.
I got him first time and we had a catch up on his news. I learned that he and his girl friend were expecting a baby. I duly congratulated him. It was none of my business and I’m still a bit old-fashioned about these things but I did wonder why they hadn’t got married first. A trial period of living together I could understand but a trail period of parenting struck me as going a bit far – but then maybe I’m just a bit old- fashioned.
“Steven, any chance you could do a bit of scouting for me?” I asked him.
“Is there a story at the end of this one as well?”
“Frankly I’ve no idea but if there is you’ll get it,” I promised him.
“Fine. Who are you interested in?”
“Have you ever heard of a company called LyonPharma? They’re the UK subsidiary of a big French pharmaceutical outfit.”
“Are these not the guys who recently announced a big breakthrough in Alzheimer’s treatment?”
“That’s them.”
“What do you want to know?”
“Just a profile – size, how many employees, the names of the directors etc. You know the kind of thing.”
“How soon?”
“As soon as you can. If you can give me a quick rundown and then I’ll let you know if I need more.”
“I’ll get back to you as soon as I can.”
I didn’t think it would tell me much but you never know.
I wrapped things up.
“Liam, you come with me into Stirling tomorrow if it’s OK with MacLean. If not, you can go off for a couple of days’ golf or hiking with your godfather. There’s nothing he can do at the moment.”
All nodded their agreement. So we had a plan - but plans can get blown apart.
My phone went. I looked at the number. It was the Stirling Police again. What could they want?
I answered. “Bob Bruce, hello.”
“Mr. Bruce, this is Sergeant MacLean from the police in Stirling.”
“Good afternoon, sergeant, how are you?”
“Fine thank you, sir. Am I disturbing you?”
“No. Go ahead.”
I had hit the loudspeaker button as soon as I knew who it was so that the others could hear.
“First of all, did you find your man in Edinburgh?”
“Yes,
“He said he was getting fed up with his course anyway and didn’t like the idea that he was being used for something which didn’t interest him in the least. So he just upped and left.”
I glanced across at Pierre who was explaining to Mike about how you can find things out about companies quite easily if you know where to look. He was not going to like it one bit if I even hinted at my suspicions. As far as I could see the only person who knew that Liam was working for Bioscope was Antoine – and he was a shareholder in LyonPharma.
Shit, I thought to myself, this could become a bit messy.
I rejoined the discussion.
“Here’s what we’ll do, guys. In a few minutes I’ll phone Sergeant MacLean and explain what we’ve been told and see if there is any way we can talk to Irina again. Pierre, can you go back to France and start digging? None of the rest of us can do that because of the language problem.”
Then I had another thought.
“Liam, can you pop through to the computer and google LyonPharma to see if they’ve got a subsidiary in the UK and if so, where?”
“Sure.” He disappeared. He was back in a few minutes.
“They do. Their UK operations are run from their only subsidiary over here which is in Edinburgh,” he reported triumphantly.
“Is it now? Right, let’s get Steven onto it.”
During the AIM business I had enlisted the help of a young financial journalist who was the son of an old friend of ours when Liz had been alive. He had proved very confidential and useful and had had a neat scoop out of the affair. I wondered if he might be able to help by doing some digging around the LyonPharma’s Edinburgh operation. It was worth a try.
I got him first time and we had a catch up on his news. I learned that he and his girl friend were expecting a baby. I duly congratulated him. It was none of my business and I’m still a bit old-fashioned about these things but I did wonder why they hadn’t got married first. A trial period of living together I could understand but a trail period of parenting struck me as going a bit far – but then maybe I’m just a bit old- fashioned.
“Steven, any chance you could do a bit of scouting for me?” I asked him.
“Is there a story at the end of this one as well?”
“Frankly I’ve no idea but if there is you’ll get it,” I promised him.
“Fine. Who are you interested in?”
“Have you ever heard of a company called LyonPharma? They’re the UK subsidiary of a big French pharmaceutical outfit.”
“Are these not the guys who recently announced a big breakthrough in Alzheimer’s treatment?”
“That’s them.”
“What do you want to know?”
“Just a profile – size, how many employees, the names of the directors etc. You know the kind of thing.”
“How soon?”
“As soon as you can. If you can give me a quick rundown and then I’ll let you know if I need more.”
“I’ll get back to you as soon as I can.”
I didn’t think it would tell me much but you never know.
I wrapped things up.
“Liam, you come with me into Stirling tomorrow if it’s OK with MacLean. If not, you can go off for a couple of days’ golf or hiking with your godfather. There’s nothing he can do at the moment.”
All nodded their agreement. So we had a plan - but plans can get blown apart.
My phone went. I looked at the number. It was the Stirling Police again. What could they want?
I answered. “Bob Bruce, hello.”
“Mr. Bruce, this is Sergeant MacLean from the police in Stirling.”
“Good afternoon, sergeant, how are you?”
“Fine thank you, sir. Am I disturbing you?”
“No. Go ahead.”
I had hit the loudspeaker button as soon as I knew who it was so that the others could hear.
“First of all, did you find your man in Edinburgh?”
“Yes,
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