Chapter 7 – After 11pm

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Jenks (to himself): So that’s how Kate got the morphine! But what exactly does this testing involve? Could this have been what killed Kate? 11 o’clock: just an hour left to solve this thing.

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IN THE WOODS

Kyle: Just keep pushing… Keep pushing! Keep pushing! You can push it all the way in, Tom, if you want to! Excellent, Tom!
Jenks: Excuse me! Would someone care to tell me exactly what’s going on here?
Kyle: Don’t come any closer!
Jenks: That man needs a doctor.
Kyle: No, he doesn’t!
Tom: I don’t need a doctor, I’m fine! Go away!
Jenks: What is this?
Kyle: A test!
Jenks: Of what?
Kyle: What does it look like? It’s a threshold test! A pain threshold test. I thought you were supposed to be good at working things out, Inspector Jenks…
Jenks: And so this would be for Atlas, would it, Kyle?
Tom: You. Disappear. Now.
Jenks: It’s not a good idea to talk to a police Inspector like that.
Tom: Do you want me to make you?
Kyle: It’s OK, Tom, Mr Jenks won’t be bothering us anymore.
Jenks: Don’t make any rash commitments.
Jenks: Well, well, you really should take more care of your things, Ryan. These are your keys, Kyle?
Kyle: No!
Jenks (to himself): So that’s threshold testing, is it? Sticking a skewer through your hand? I could just ask Ryan or Paul directly about this, but I think I’ll bide my time to see what I can do with this key fob first.

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OPENING RYAN’S CAR

Jenks (to himself): Bingo! Well, Ryan, what have you been up to? Be very interesting to see how he explains this one!

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MONEY, MONEY, MONEY, PAUL!

Jenks: Now why do you think Ryan might want to give Kate a cheque for £500?
Paul: I’ve really no idea. Where did you find it?
Jenks: Just outside.
Paul: You’d better ask him.
Jenks: Do you think Ryan was interested romantically in Kate?
Paul: I know he has a weakness for blondes, but I didn’t think it’d gone so far as his offering them cash.

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AT THE FARM

Jenks (to himself): So James is interested in poppy pods, is he? I think he’s got some explaining to do.

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DON’T DO DRUGS, JAMES!

Jenks: Recognise this at all?
James: Yeah, he fixed my laptop.
Jenks: Does he live locally?
James: Don’t think so.

Jenks: Seen this before?
James: Don’t think so.

Jenks: What can you tell me about several boxes of dried poppy pods in the greenhouse back there?
James: Feel free to take some if you want.
Jenks: What are they FOR, James?
James: Decoration. Why?
Jenks: Decoration!
James: There’s a big market for them among the over 70s.
Jenks: So what are YOU doing with them?
James: Selling them. To grannies.
Jenks: OK, James, let’s cut to the chase. Are you extracting opium from them?
James: Me? I can honestly say I’ve never done anything like that, Inspector.
Jenks: Sure about that?
James: Scouts’ honour.
Jenks: And who was the guy delivering them?
James: A friend. Someone gave them to him, he asked me if I wanted them. I said I’d have a look, see if I liked them.
Jenks: You just thought you’d ‘have a look?’ No particular reason?
James: I’m a plant scientist, that’s what I do.
Jenks: Have you ever sold them to anyone else?
James: I only got them a few minutes ago!
Jenks: In the past! You know Kate’s body had opium in the body when it was found?
James: No, I… No, I didn’t. Hey, that’s nothing to do with me.
Jenks: Let’s hope not.

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ASKING PAUL…

Jenks: What do you know about poppy pods?
Paul: Poppy pods?
Jenks: Ever come across anyone selling them? Using them?
Paul: No.

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… AND REBECCA…

Jenks: What do you know about poppy pods?
Rebecca: Go on…?
Jenks: Ever come across anyone trying to sell them, or anything like that? Maybe even in here?
Rebecca: Not that I remember.

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… AND EMMA…

Jenks: Strange question. Have you ever known of anyone selling dried poppy pods?
Emma: Poppy pods? Don’t think so… Isn’t that opium?
Jenks: Kind of. It’s OK.

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… AND SIMON!!

Jenks: Odd question, but have you ever seen anyone handling dried poppy pods?
Simon: Poppy pods, as in for opium? No… Though James did have opium tea once.
Jenks: Where did he get it from?
Simon: Don’t know, I didn’t ask. James does his own thing.
Jenks: What does opium tea taste like?
Simon: I don’t know, I didn’t try it.
Jenks: Really?
Simon: I didn’t want to risk it, did I? I went into hospital once, I had Codeine and I went into anaphylactic shock. The doctor said it was apparently an opium derivative, so…

Jenks: You and Kate took morphine in the mirror room, that’s what you said, isn’t it?
Simon: Yeah.
Jenks: But you’re allergic to opiates, Simon, opium. You didn’t take the morphine at all, did you?
Simon: No, I didn’t. Kate did though.
Jenks: I thought you were trying to out-do each other, that was the point, wasn’t it?
Simon: We weren’t trying to out-do each other… as such.
Jenks: Go on…
Simon: Ryan wanted me to test Kate, to see how far she would go to be Prime Candidate.
Jenks: What candidate?
Simon: Prime Candidate. It means the best person in the group, basically.
Jenks: What do you mean, test her?
Simon: You do it in pairs, one person’s the tester, it’s me, the other person’s the…
Jenks: Victim?
Simon: It’s not like that! It’s completely consensual, it’s just… boundary testing. Ryan wanted me to test Kate.
Jenks: Because they thought she was the best student?
Simon: Well, maybe, I don’t know… I just did what I was told, OK?
Jenks: Except you decided to give her morphine, to break the law.
Simon: Well, I can’t change that now, can I! She didn’t die of a morphine overdose, did she!
Jenks: She died because she drowned, but she drowned for reasons that aren’t clear…
Jenks (to himself): Atlas seems to have this all neatly worked out. If Simon’s telling the truth, Atlas are lighting the fuse and then retiring to a safe distance, letting students test themselves and push themselves to their limits while avoiding all comebacks. Is this what happened to Kate?

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INTERVIEWING EMMA

Jenks: Do you know what a Prime Candidate is at Atlas?
Emma: Yes, it’s what every student wants to be. It’s the best student. Apparently you get a great high-paid job afterwards. I don’t think that really happens though.
Jenks: Did you know anyone in the running to be Prime Candidate?
Emma: What, like Simon? I don’t think they’d pick Simon to be honest! Well, he’s got too many morals and you can’t have both at Atlas.

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ASKING PAUL

Jenks: What are Prime Candidates?
Paul: The best of the bunch. The peaches.
Jenks: So what does it mean to be a Prime Candidate?
Paul: Success. We have a special relationship with many major international companies… We provide them with our best students and they get an instant job.
Jenks: And what do YOU get out of it?
Paul: Well, just a little kick-back… Just business, Inspector.

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MAYBE REBECCA?

Jenks: Do you know what a Prime Candidate is?
Rebecca: At Atlas? It’s the best student.
Jenks: And what does that mean?
Rebecca: It means they get a very good job with a good salary. Well, that’s the idea anyway.
Jenks: But…?
Rebecca: Mostly they aren’t up to it.
Jenks: What happens then?
Rebecca: They get sacked.

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THE TRUTH, RYAN!

Jenks: Would you like to explain what this is, Ryan? £500 intended for Kate. It fell out of your car, at least I assume that’s your car on the driveway at Brandon House?
Ryan: I suppose so…
Jenks: So why were you going to give Kate £500, Ryan?
Ryan: It was just a little incentive, that’s all. Just a little incentive.
Jenks: Not VERY little, Ryan, £500?
Ryan: She was a very good student, we’d heard she was leaving. We wanted to give her something.
Jenks: But you didn’t.
Ryan: Well, obviously not.
Jenks: Are you sure there wasn’t any other reason you might want to give her this? Personal reason?
Ryan: NO!
Jenks: Well, I’d like to keep hold of this for a little while, if you don’t mind.
Ryan: Well, don’t consider it a bribe, will you, Inspector.

Jenks: Know anything about poppy pods? Come across anyone selling them or anything?
Ryan: Poppy pods! Well, don’t tell anyone, Inspector, but I hear that you can make opium out of those. Why do you ask?
Jenks: Doesn’t matter.

Jenks: Now. Tell me what a Prime Candidate is.
Ryan: You’re learning a lot, aren’t you, Inspector! Prime Candidates are simply the best students, the ones with the most potential.
Jenks: And what benefits do they get from that?
Ryan: Well, they get the top job.
Jenks: Which is?
Ryan: Well, we have a deal with various multi-nationals… We train students to be exceptional. TRULY exceptional… And they get a wonderful top job. It’s a very simple deal.
Jenks: And how do you decide who the Prime Candidate is? Do you test students?
Ryan: No.
Jenks: Did you ever, say, ask Simon to test Kate, for instance?
Ryan: Oh, you’ve actually been speaking to Simon, haven’t you… I really wouldn’t trust anything that Simon Thompson says. You know he spent the best part of two months trying to undermine Kate? No, no, no, no, it really isn’t my place to speculate, but if you’re looking for motives, Inspector… He certainly had a few motives. More than I.
Jenks: A motive to kill her, do you mean?
Ryan: Now that’s very interesting, Inspector. Well, that’s up to you to decide.

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NEED HELP, CHIEF!

Chief: Got something interesting, Jenks?
Jenks: Very much so, sir. An interesting discovery in Ryan’s car. A cheque for £500, from Ryan, made out to Kate.
Chief: Blimey! How does he explain that?
Jenks: He said it was an incentive. Apparently he’d heard she was thinking of leaving the course.
Chief: And what made her so special that they were willing to pay her to stay?
Jenks: Just a good student, I suppose.
Chief: Nah, doesn’t add up. £500 is a lot more than an incentive, Jenks. You can buy questions in parliament for that kind of money. Sounds pretty desperate. Keep on at Ryan about it. And get yourself another drink.
Jenks: Another drink, thanks, Chief.

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I SAID: THE TRUTH, RYAN!

Jenks: So… Students aren’t coerced or bribed in any way… except Kate.
Ryan: I’m not sure what you mean.
Jenks: You said you were going to give Kate the £500 as an incentive. That’s coercion, isn’t it?
Ryan: I really don’t think you could call it coercion, Inspector. It was an incentive, that’s all, a little encouragement.
Jenks: So how often DO you use incentives?
Ryan: OK, incentive is probably the wrong word, the money was just to see how Kate would respond, it was part of her assessment.
Jenks: Assessment?
Ryan: We have to assess students as they progress, we don’t use conventional methods like sitting an exam or anything like that… People pay for this course per session, we have to know if they’re committed or not.
Jenks: So you’re assessing their progress AND testing their commitment?
Ryan: Yes, we are. We HAVE to. This is a business, not a charity.
Jenks (to himself): So Ryan’s claiming the money was part of Kate’s assessment. And did this assessment also involve threshold testing, I wonder? Or was the money for something else?

Jenks: Well, which one is it, Ryan? Do you test students or not?
Ryan: Well, some of them, yes!
Jenks: Including Kate?
Ryan: YES!
Jenks: Why was she being tested?
Ryan: She was being tested because… Because we wanted to see if she was good enough to become Prime Candidate, OK?
Jenks: So Kate WAS in the running to be Prime Candidate.
Ryan: YES!
Jenks: And did YOU ask Simon to test her?
Ryan: Yes, I did, but I didn’t ask him to do anything stupid, he KNEW it was against course rules.
Jenks: How far DID you ask him to push her?
Ryan: I didn’t ask him to push her. I asked him to TEST her, there’s a HUGE difference! If Simon decided to give her too much caffeine or morphine or whatever, that’s HIS responsibility. So if he did anything wrong, it was his own responsibility, he did it with his own mind and his own hand. WE had NOTHING to do with it!

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