Chapter 45
McMurrich walked out the lab, he gaze trailing behind the officers as they walked to the exit. Alice and I looked at each other without speaking. Alice smiled tentatively and shrugged turning the palm of her hands upwards. I smiled back, comforted by her presence. We were still smiling at each other when McMurrich walked back in the room.
“I want you in my office”, she said
“Sure”, said Alice, and I nodded, the smile dying on my face
“Go find Brad”, she added, looking at me
I found Brad at his desk, frowning at what he was reading.
“You should read this paper”, he said
“I would love to, but now McMurrich wants us in her office”
“What happened?”
“The inspection happened and it wasn’t that smooth”
“I saw two guys…so those were the inspectors?”
“Yes. They took the polymer, McMurrich didn’t want them to but they had it their way. They menaced to come back with a warrant unless we gave them what they wanted”
“Oh…”
“Ok, McMurrich is waiting for us, so we better go. She is not in a great mood, as you can guess”
Brad got up, and then said, standing close and whispering, “After all I think your detective sent someone over…”
“I’ll call her later and try to find out”, I whispered back.
Then, raising my voice and pushing him, “Come on, let’s go now”
McMurrich’s door was half-closed.
“So you are happy with your job here?”, I heard McMurrich ask
“Of course”, Alice answered
Brad gave me a questioning gaze. I shrugged and shook my head to mean I had no clue, then gave a gentle knock on the door.
“Come in”, said McMurrich.
She was sitting at the round table right across Alice, who looked up at us uncomfortably.
“Have a seat”, said McMurrich
“I was asking Alice if she is happy here”, she continued and paused.
Brad and I didn’t reply, waiting for her to address us with the same question.
“I know you think I am the worst possible boss, and I understand your reasons”
I didn’t know where this was going, but I was intrigued by the odd turn the meeting was taking.
“You think I am a terrible boss because I am detached and perhaps authoritative”, she continued, and I was amazed at the fact that she could judge herself with honesty. Perhaps she wasn’t as stupid as I deemed, and the thought she could grasp my untold meanings made me panic for a moment.
“The reality is that once upon a time I was a researcher like you are, but now I have a different role. I could play friends with you, but the dry truth is that the greatest favor I can do you is to market the products you come up with so that we all stay in the business. When things go well you get promotions and raises, and I do too as a matter of fact”
Right, I thought, but having a friendly working environment wouldn’t defeat the purpose of doing business together, would it? I was still puzzled as to where this speech was going.
“But although you probably see me as a coldblooded shark, I do have a code of ethics and I follow it quite strictly. If I had real doubts about the safety of a product I would not circulate it”
“When you asked me if we needed to test the safety of the polymer you synthesized I was dismissive because I cannot understand why it wouldn’t be safe”
I wondered if McMurrich had put up all this show because she feared the authorities would point their fingers at her for what had happened. But did she know what had happened? If she did it meant she was involved. The idea gave me the creeps.
“However the last facts induce me to believe that there is something wrong, something I am unaware of…”
She paused, looking unsure about how to continue
“Did you ever notice any atypical behaviour in any of the people working here?”, she asked
I arched my brows.
“What type of behaviour are you referring to?”, asked Alice
“Any type of behaviour you would consider suspicious”, she replied vaguely
“No, not really”, said Brad
“I haven’t either”, confirmed Alice
“Neither have I, but why are you asking?”, I said
“Two nights ago I was here till late and made a round in the labs to see if any of you was still working”
“And we weren’t, so I suppose we don’t deserve a raise”, I snapped before I could stop myself
“I would have been very glad to give you a raise, Iris, if only I had been able to release your polymer as I had planned”, McMurrich replied, and I was surprised she didn’t sound like my sarcasm vexed her
“Sorry”, I said, meaning it
“Who I found in the lab though was Mike. He was slipping a vial in his back-pack. I saw this very well, but I decided to pretend I didn’t before understanding what was happening. I spoke to the security, and convinced them to let me see the videos in the cameras. Mike has an empty vial with him, and he transferred a small amount of what was in a vial stored in the fridge in the one he had brought with him. I checked the fridge, and noticed that you keep the pure polymer in a vial that looks like the one from which he transferred material into the one he hid in his back-pack before leaving”
“Mike?”, I asked incredulous
“Mike”, nodded McMurrich
“Why would Mike take the polymer?”, I insisted
“Maybe because he wanted to sell it to someone before FoodTech did”, McMurrich said, pondering my reaction to her statement
I shook my head, cursing the rotten environment where I was working. How could Mike betray us? I wondered if he had made up the whole story about Sandeep. I would go back that same afternoon and understand what was happening, although I didn’t know how to get away from the labs without having McMurrich notice. And I needed to call Mariam Avery again.
“But where is Mike now?”, asked Alice
“I have no clue”, replied McMurrich
“You mean he disappeared?!”, Brad exclaimed, brows arched
“That’s right”, said McMurrich
I wondered if we should tell McMurrich about Sandeep. Or did she know already? I decided it was better to wait. I felt like I was walking on quick-sands, all my coordinates scrambled and my certainties gone. I turned around to look at Brad and Alice. Please tell me I will always able to trust you, I mentally pleaded. I would have sworn I could, but then I would have said the same about Mike just few minutes earlier. I pondered the chance of a misunderstanding. Maybe Mike did take the polymer, but not for the reasons McMurrich believed. Why hadn’t he told us though? I recalled all of a sudden that he hadn’t picked up the phone the night before when I had tried to call him on my way to the police, although I hadn’t given much attention to the fact.
“I hope you will inform me in case you hear anything from him”, McMurrich said interrupting my thoughts.
She paused and gave each of us a deep stare, studying our faces as we assured her that yes, we certainly would.
“Good”, she concluded, “thanks for your time”
While walking out of her office I wondered if I had misheard her statement, because as far as I could remember she had never thanked anybody for their time before.