‘Yes. Lee Lovett told me that an American company had shown interest in buying Heron Hall. I’m sure he said it was The Nirvana Project.’
‘Hampton-Dent wants to buy Heron Hall?’ Fin asked.
‘Yes, and the fact that somebody died there deflated the selling price and made the owners desperate.’
‘That’s illegal fixing,’ Dan said. ‘Do you think this could be motive?’
‘It’s a bit dramatic just to get a hotel at a knock-off price,’ Kelly said. ‘But it’s important nonetheless. It shows that we need to forensically examine each of these trading partners. Which company linked to Hank Hampton paid Angelina? Was it one of these?’
‘None of these, no, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t more we haven’t found yet. It’s easier to follow the names rather than the products. That’s where we’ve found dead ends,’ Emma explained. ‘Hank Hampton sat on the board of all four of these companies at some point. He has also hosted conferences on the efficacy of new and experimental drugs which disrupt biomarkers and immune systems. He is also linked via money to some of the funding for the clinical studies into the components of N-14, amongst others.’
‘Amongst others?’ Kelly asked.
‘Yes, that’s what I’ve discovered. N-14 is just one very minor cog in a huge wheel. Experimental drugs and compounds are being released onto the market all the time. Some are endorsed by celebrities and politicians both sides of the pond, and some don’t make it. N-14 falls into the grey area in the middle, along with about four hundred others. Officially, for our purposes, what this means is that it is still under the umbrella of those drugs and additives without rubber-stamped safety regulatory caveats. So, for example, when a drug is passed as safe, it can then be added to the food supply or consumed via medical prescription or over the counter, depending on its grading. There are thousands though which are “deemed safe” that don’t have to be tested. This is where the shady links come into play, because if they were safe, why have the cloggy bureaucracy confusing anyone trying to sue them for negligence?’
The room was silent.
Considering Emma had been threatened just last night, it certainly hadn’t dimmed her focus. The team looked at her with a mixture of confusion over where she sourced her energy, and admiration.
‘And that’s where it gets really interesting,’ Emma continued. ‘Hampton-Dent, or companies trading under its parent name, and I’ve only scratched the surface of how many of those there are, pay out millions in litigation per year. But that is nothing compared to how many claims they reject. Some estimates range from them paying out to only 5 per cent of claims against them. And the cases literally get swept under the carpet, ignored, or lost in paperwork. Claimants can’t afford to hire good legal teams, the paperwork is too complicated, or the judicial system is rigged against them, or all three.’
Kelly stared at Emma for a few seconds and the injustice of it all stuck in her throat. She could see the rest of her team thoughtexactly the same. These huge corporations poisoned ordinary people and got away with it. It was that simple.
‘And where does N-14 sit in all of this? Is it dangerous or not? Because the way you and Dan have explained it, if I’m getting this correct, it is toxic, and can cause huge damage, even fatal, but there is no existing certification, or even any acknowledgement that it is in the food supply?’
‘Correct,’ Dan said.
‘OK, so we’re dealing with an additive that doesn’t exist on paper, but its components do, so before we can prove that Jamie knew this and died for it, along with his sister, we have to prove that Hampton-Dent are covering it up?’
Silence.
Kelly sat down.
‘We start with the lab,’ she said, sitting up straight. ‘We need them to state categorically that this is a compound that is toxic and untested, with potential lethality. Once we have that, then we can start the process of confronting the manufacturer. I don’t need to warn you all that we might not get very far. The product is made in a lab in San Diego, shipped to factories in the Republic of Ireland and then packed in another factory in the Netherlands. By that time, it’s legal, so liability will rest on us proving Angelina and Jamie were killed for it, and at the moment I have no other suggestions.’
Kate indicated she had something to add. They shifted their attention to her.
‘I looked into the scientist, Sandy Cooper. She has written plenty of scientific papers for Hampton and Dent companies. When Emma flagged up the links, I began to pay more attention to who funded her work.’
‘Hampton-Dent?’
Kate nodded. ‘Without exception. If you follow the names of the companies and their stocks, they all come back to Hampton-Dent. Like Emma and Dan, I started looking at the small print under the articles in scientific journals. You can do a Google search of any of the companies listed underneath her title and they all go back to the same lab in San Diego. However, I looked further into it, and I managed to track down a couple of ex-employees and one was willing to answer a few questions. They didn’t know much about the structure of the company or the names of CEOs or that kind of thing, but one was extremely angry about the way they’d been let go and she had lots to say about Doctor Cooper.’
They all listened intently as Kate read from her notes.
Kate took a deep breath and Kelly knew there was something important coming. She was so proud of her team, and it went some way to softening the shock of last night.
‘She called Cooper a quack, which could be sour grapes, of course. But then she accused her outright of being responsible for the long-term illnesses of hundreds of people who’d been paid to take part in trials. Now, bear in mind this is a disgruntled ex-employee, we don’t know if we can trust her, but I asked about the studies, and she said they were testing diuretics and hormones and how they could be used to control behaviour. Ostensibly they were told that it was for breakthrough medicines for behavioural syndromes like ADHD. But she heard rumours it was for the military. She couldn’t name the compounds, but she did say that a couple of people were given huge pay-offs for their injuries and sent to recuperate in random places all over the world.’
‘What sort of injuries?’ Kelly asked.
‘Neurological. She said the test subjects were called assets.’
‘That’s an intelligence term, not a commercial one,’ Kelly said.
‘Right? She alleged they suffered bouts of uncontrolled rage and Alzheimer’s-like symptoms. There were several accidents involving violence and the whole project was shelved.’
‘Paul Burlington said he felt angry when he drank too muchYouthBlast,’ Kelly said.
