‘You can’t deny they’re where the heat is in sleep research at the moment.’
‘Generalized sleep research, yes. But ours is a specialized interest, isn’t it Dr Stratton? And with a PhD supervised by you, I’d say Douglas and Dambrauskas would look upon me as an equal, not as a potential student.’
‘The ugly face of raw ambition.’ He was about to continue but the phone rang. He picked it up. ‘Dr Stratton.’
‘Dr Stratton, it’s DC Holder, Sussex Police. You called us about the death of William Shaw.’
‘Yes, yes I did.’ Ruth looked at him and gestured, asking if he wanted her to leave. He shook his head and said into the phone, ‘I’m sorry for troubling you but I’m an old college friend of Will’s and I’ve only just found out. I just wanted to know what had happened, get things straight.’
There was a sigh at the other end, the guy unhappy perhaps that this one was a time-waster.
‘I see. Your friend was a known drug user Dr Stratton. Initially, the death was treated as suspicious, primarily because of information given to us by Mr Shaw’s flatmate.’
‘About the needle?’
‘So you’ve spoken to Mr Boniface?’
‘Yes,’ said Alex, guessing that he was talking about Luke. ‘It’s true though - Will would never have used a needle.’
He wanted to hear how the policeman would respond to that but there was just another sigh and a tired voice saying, ‘As I said, Dr Stratton, we did treat the death as suspicious at first but we haven’t been able to find any evidence to suggest that Mr Shaw was murdered, no sign of any force involved in administering the drug, no sign of a forced entry to the house. All I can say is that a phobia doesn’t count for much when you put it up against the craving an addict experiences for heroin.’
‘I suppose you’re right.’ He felt reassured and yet the guy hadn’t really told him very much. ‘So there were no indications at all that he might have been murdered, no motives, no enemies?’ He was conscious of Ruth, trying not to listen but looking shocked by what he’d just said. At the other end of the phone there was a pause. Alex could hear other people now in the background, other phones ringing, the sense of a busy office, real investigations that he was hampering.
‘We’ve explored all the possible angles you’ve mentioned and I’m afraid it’s looking increasingly likely that your friend’s death is exactly what it appears to be, a self-administered overdose. Unless of course, you have some information that might suggest otherwise - we’re always willing to explore a new lead.’ He was being sarcastic but Alex felt uncomfortable, conscious that the only extra information he had related to a completely different death, one that had also never been properly explained.
‘No, I’m sorry if I’ve wasted your time. I just wanted to be certain.’
DC Holder had sounded irritated throughout the call but seemed to soften now, possibly seeing through the annoyance of dealing with a time-waster to someone who’d lost a friend, who maybe felt guilty that he hadn’t done more.
‘Not at all. I’m sorry about your friend.’
‘Thank you.’
‘And Dr Stratton, if anything else does come to light, we’ll look into it. Don’t think we don’t take Mr Shaw’s death seriously.’
‘That’s good to know. Thanks.’ He put the phone down and said by way of explanation to Ruth, ‘An old friend of mine died of an overdose - I found out last night.’
‘Oh, I’m sorry.’ She looked a little awkward, saying after a moment or two, ‘Was there some doubt about it being an overdose?’
Alex looked dismissive and said, ‘No. No, not at all. It was just his flatmate, the guy who told me. He’s a real flake, mystical religious type. Anyway, he was convinced that Will had been killed.’
‘His name was Will?’ She looked sad, an appearance exaggerated by her sleepless eyes, glazed and struggling. Alex envied her, who she was, her feelings, the freedom she still had ahead of her. Every now and then he wanted to tell her urgently, to get out of there, go to the University of Florida. That was how he felt now, not wanting her to show an interest in what had happened to his life. Instead though, he simply answered her question.
‘Yeah, his name was Will. He was a politics student in my year. Went off the rails a bit after graduation, been a heroin addict for the last six or seven years. Still a bit of a shock though.’ He thought briefly of the previous night, not of when Luke had given him the news but of the hours afterwards, sleep.
As if reading his thoughts, she said, ‘So did that play any part in what happened last night?’ He knew that she was asking about the attack; it even gave him a certain amount of pleasure that she was so driven by professional curiosity.
‘Not directly. I’m assuming it must have been a factor but I have no recollection of Will featuring in my dreams.’
‘No sense of him being present in the room?’ Alex shook his head. ‘But the other person was present?’