I hung around waiting for Anna for most of the next day, then I met her off a bus at the main terminal.
“So, who are you today?” was her first question. “Mr Mathew, Mark, Luke, or John?”
“Just call me, Mark,” I said.
The next morning, as I listened in, Anna called Solomon’s girlfriend again. It was all in Thai, of course, but this is roughly how it went:
“Hello, it’s Anna from England. Remember me? I am in Bangkok with my husband.”
Pim remembered everything because of the shared interest in Davids.
Laughter. Giggles.
Had Anna checked Pim’s Facebook page yet? No, not yet. Anna had been very busy. What was Pim doing? Pim was not working today but was shopping in Bangkok with her friend Noy from the university.
They were in Siam Paragon. Did Anna know Siam Paragon?
Oh yes, of course. It was expensive, but that didn’t matter to Anna’s husband. “So is your David, in Thailand now?” Anna asked.
Oh yes. David was there but always working. She only saw him at weekends.
“Would your boyfriend, David, like to speak to my husband, David? I told my David about your David, and he thinks he might know him.
My husband is a member of something called the Malthus Society.
Have you heard of the Malthus Society? He thinks your David is also a member. Such a coincidence. Do you have your David’s phone number so my David can call him?”
A sticking point arrived.
Pim didn’t know his phone number. He only ever called Pim. He didn’t give his number to anyone. But Pim would tell him Anna had called and about Anna’s David. “What is your husband’s number?”
Anna looked nervous and looked at me, but I hadn’t had the translation yet. All I heard was my new phone number being given out. Then they said goodbye.
“I don’t think she likes me anymore,” said Anna like a six-year-old who’d lost her best friend. I gave her a hug.
“Never mind.” There were other ways to provide comfort. My spirits were back. I was firing on all cylinders again.
I called the US Army Research Institute of Medical Sciences (AFRIMS), saying I was an epidemiologist from England working on coronaviruses and influenza. I asked if there were other laboratories in Thailand besides the one, I already knew about - the Kamphaeng Phet AFRIMS Virology Research Unit (KAVRU). I was put through to an American accent.
“Yeh. Hi, I’m Captain Karen Thompson. How can I help?”
I explained again who I was and what I needed to know.
“Well, we work with KAVRU on stuff like that,” Karen said.
“Yes, but are there any other similar laboratories doing the same sort of thing? Influenza testing, virology research, that sort of thing.”
“Well, there’s the Virology Association,” she said, “and several HIV
centres around. You got the Thailand Science Park, and you got other universities doing some. What are you looking for?”
I had wondered whether to explain everything, but with Karen, it didn’t feel right. I hadn’t even given my name yet - so much for US
security. “Are there any private laboratories?” I asked.
“Not as far as I know.”
“Might the Thailand Science Park know more?” I suggested.
“Yeh, why not give them a call. What name is it, sir?”
I needed a new one and one that might have been Anna’s fictitious husband. “David Morris,” I said before moving swiftly on. “Do you know a guy called David Solomon, a virologist from USA?”
“David Solomon, you say?”
“He worked for a company called Biox in USA. He’s a world authority on influenza viruses. I heard he was working here in Thailand.”
“Hang on, sir. I’ll check.”
I waited. Then: “Mr Morris? Sure. He’s known. I understand he teaches at Thammasat University. He’s visited KAVRU a few times.”
“Any idea where he is now?”
“Sorry, but you gotta hang on again…yeh, here we go. My colleague says he’s still here. He lectures on bio-safety. Seem like the right guy to you?”
“That’s him,” I said. “Thanks for your help. I might be in touch again soon.”
“Sure, no problem. You take care now.”
I switched off and looked at Anna. “We call it bullshit,” I said in case she didn’t already know. “Let’s now try Larry’s friend Dr Vichai.”
I knew from Larry that KAVRU was where Vichai was based. I had listened to his lecture at the infectious diseases conference, and it was Vichai who had mentioned asthma inhalers to Larry when he used the excuse of a fictitious English girlfriend called Emily Sinclair. If anyone knew about a foreign virologist working in Thailand, it must surely be Dr Vichai.
It took an hour to find him but it was worth it.
“Ah yes,” he said. “Dr Solomon has visited us several times. He stayed a while to teach our technicians. I think he’s now in Bangkok.
He travels abroad but also lectures at Thammasat and has links with the science park. He is well known internationally for his work on virus genetics. We are lucky to know him.”
“He has become very well known to me,” I said. “Do you have his phone number?”
“I am in a taxi but if you call KAVRU and ask for Sarapee, she will know.”
Five minutes later, I had Solomon’s phone number and email address.
By then it was midday in Bangkok, 1am in Washington and 6am. in London when Colin called. I could feel his excitement.
“Good news, Jinx. We’ve got Washington buzzing. I sent my summary, my PECIS, to Larry. Senator Collis liked it. Then, around midnight, I called Lord Peterson who was in bed. I told him to wake up and listen. Did you get my report, I asked him. He said it was in his office on his desk. He'd read it in the morning. I told him to get the fuck out of bed and head to his office now. I was still in my office so why wasn’t he. He didn’t seem impressed by my language so I slowed down. I told him I thought international law on genetic engineering was non-existent so how would the government respond to a global pandemic caused by a virus genetically modified by a British scientist.
“Surely, someone should be held to account, I said. Was it him? If not who? So, I told him I’d already sent the report the Home Office and the Minister of Defence and that, being the chair of the House of Lords Science and Technology Committee, he’d better do something because the shit was about to hit the fan. Then I put the phone down.
“I’m pleased to tell you, Jinx, that around 1am the shit did exactly what I’d forecast and hit the fan. Peterson called me back, full of praise for Kevin and Tom. He didn’t praise me, but I can get over
that. Then someone from the Cabinet Office called. The prime minister himself now knows. We’ve got action, Jinx”
I hated to pour cold water on Colin’s effort but it had to be said. “It might be too late. Who’s dealing with the shipment that went from Nairobi to Singapore?”
Half an hour later, Colin called again. Larry had phoned from Washington. Interpol had been approached. Senator Collis had used the report to cut through bureaucracy, and instead of red tape, we were getting red notices.
“I’m told that GOB will go on a wanted list,” Colin said. “They’ve been watching him for years. If he enters Singapore or Thailand, then the local police will have an interest in him. GOB’s details are to be circulated within the next twenty-four hours.”
I threw more cold water. “But what about Solomon?” I asked.
“Yes,” Colin said more slowly. “I know. He’s trickier. No one can be classified as a criminal or a terrorist without facts. He could slip through the net.”
Another half hour passed, and Colin called again.
“The UK Foreign Office have told Bangkok and Singapore that you’re around somewhere that you’re working undercover but might need help from the local police.
I was sitting next to Anna on the bed in our Bangkok hotel room. If, to Colin sitting in London, I sounded frustrated, then I was. “I’m here as Mathew Johnson, Colin. Anna has spun a yarn to Solomon’s girlfriend that I’m called David something. Meanwhile, in every phone call we make, we’re getting closer to Solomon. I’m even about to try phoning the guy. He’s that damn close. How ironic if I get arrested before Solomon or O’Brian for having a false passport. I don’t want this wrecked by petty bureaucracy.”
“Just try to see the issue we’ve got, Jinx. Right now, all we can do is rely on the local police and immigration. Influence is what’ll matter. I wouldn’t want them speaking to you from behind bars.”
I understood but the urgency was now getting to me so I changed the subject. “What’s the news about Jimmy?”
“The Kenyan Police will also work with Interpol. Dominique Lunneau will be on their list, so will an inspection of the empty Shah Medicals factory site.”
“And Egypt?”
“The Egyptian police have names and two businesses to look at - the Shah Medical Centre and the site at Beni Suef. And Charles Brady called again. He thinks you’re avoiding him.”
“I am. What did you tell him?”
“That we haven’t finished the investigation.”
That was true. “Does he know about Interpol etcetera?”
“No. In the report, I referred to Virex and Biox as company X and company Y. Client confidentiality I said. Right now, everyone thinks they might be international pharmaceutical giants. The sudden action is due to fear that so much shit will fly that it’ll stick to politicians, regulators and even the WHO.”
“Good,” I said. “I wouldn’t want to be Charles Brady or Josh Ornstein just at this moment because I’m about ready to make the final assault.
I’m going to phone Solomon and keep him talking while Anna calls you to say we’re ready. I then need you to trace him to an accurate location.”