Fenton's Winter Read Online Free Page B

The
voice however belied the image. It was both Scottish and
aggressive.
    As the interview proceeded
Fenton was convinced that he was answering the same questions over
and over again. It irritated him but, not knowing anything of
police procedure, he concluded that this might be a routine gambit
on their part.Annoy the subject till he loses his temper then look
for inconsistencies in what was being said.It annoyed him even more
to think that he might be being treated as some kind of laboratory
animal. His answers became more and more cursory while, silently,
he became more and more impatient. Of course Neil had not had any
enemies. He had no earthly idea why anyone would want to kill him.
Wasn't it obvious that some kind of deranged psychopath had
committed the crime? Why were they wasting time asking such damn
fool questions? Did the police have no imagination at all?
    "Miss Daniels tells us that Dr
Munro seemed very preoccupied, to use her word, over the last week
or so. Do you have any idea why sir?" asked Jamieson.
    Fenton said that he did
not.
    "Miss Daniels thinks it may
have had something to do with his personal research work." There
was a pause while Jamieson waited for Fenton to say something. When
he did not Jamieson asked, "Would you happen to know what that was
sir?" Again Fenton said that he did not. "But you were a friend of
the deceased were you not?" said Jamieson, turning on his smile
which Fenton could see he was going to learn to dislike a great
deal. "Yes I was, but I don't know what he was working on."
    "I see sir," said Jamieson,
smiling again. "I understand from Dr Tyson that you will be tidying
up the loose ends in Dr Munro's work?"
    Fenton said that was so.
    "Perhaps if you come across
anything that might indicate the reason for Dr Munro's state of
mind you might let us know?"
    Fenton was nearing the limit of
his patience. What possible relevance could Neil's 'state of mind'
have had to the lunatic who murdered him? Were the police seriously
considering suicide? Did they imagine that Neil had climbed into
the sterilizer and closed the door with a conjuring trick? Did they
believe that he had operated the controls from inside the chamber
by telepathy? A child of ten could have eliminated the suicide
notion within seconds but he bit his tongue and refrained from
pointing that out. Instead he said that he would pass on anything
he came up with.
    "Then I think that's all for
the moment sir," said Jamieson getting to his feet. "But we may
have to come back to you."
    "Of course," said Fenton
flatly.
    Fenton came downstairs to join
Susan Daniels in the main laboratory, a large bay-windowed room
that had once been a Victorian parlour. He apologised for being
late. Nigel Saxon was already there and was making an adjustment to
the machine in response to something that Susan had mentioned.
"Well, impress me," said Fenton.
    Susan picked up one of the
plastic sample spheres that Fenton had seen earlier and held it
over a blood sample. "In normal times we would be doing this at the
patient's bedside after a simple skin prick with a stylette, but
for the moment we're using samples that have been sent in the
conventional way." She touched the sphere to the surface of the
blood and Fenton saw it charge. "That's all there is to it," she
said, removing the sphere and introducing it into the machine. She
pressed a button and the analyser began its process.
    "Amazing," said Fenton, "But
what happens when the temperature varies and the sampler takes up
more or less blood. The readings will be all wrong."
    "That's where you are wrong old
boy," said Saxon with a smile. "The plastic is special. It's
thermo-neutral; it doesn't go soft when it warms up and it doesn't
go hard when it's cold. It's always the same. Well what do you
think?"
    Fenton admitted that he was
impressed. Saxon beamed at his reaction.
    "I suppose this stuff costs a
fortune," said Fenton.
    Saxon smiled again. "Actually
it doesn't," he said, "It costs very