Chapter 14

Their day at lectures went well. The girls had developed a reputation for working on their studies to the satisfaction of their lecturers, and this made life so much simpler in the classes. It also gained them a grudging acceptance by the other students, where earlier they were ignored as uninteresting and unimportant under-achievers.

Being wives of Reginald Robertson gave them an enviable reputation as well, despite their lack of good looks. The other students saw the rationale: if Reg was happy with them as wives, and they in turn were happy with him, they must be doing something right for him, and with him. The other girls in the classes concluded that happiness was a good sign in any marriage, no matter how unusual the ceremony they went through.

The males also treated Reg with a new respect, for much the same reasons. To want to marry such ugly women, and be happy to do so, left them flummoxed. What amazed them even more, was the way Reg had blossomed socially over the last few months, becoming a competent conversationalist with practically everyone. The men also wondered how Reg coped with sex with all his women. His obvious happiness spoke well for that prowess, but none of them ventured to ask personal questions about that accomplishment, fearing a fierce reaction.

Lunchtime featured the usual Robertson get-together, when they chatted easily around the table; including Reg at times, at other times sticking to girl chat and letting Reg get on with his eating and drinking. It was noticeable that when lunch was concluded, Reg willingly gathered all the trays and emptied them into the trash receptacle before laying the empty trays on the trolley for the refectory staff to deal with. He acted the dutiful husband without any signs that he objected to such menial tasks.

More students were left wondering at the presence at the table of an older girl, one from a graduate year; a girl who seemed to be familiar with all of the Robertsons. Questions to other students soon revealed that she was a lodger with them, and clearly appreciated her lodgings. She looked happy to be with these younger people.

One day a short dumpy girl walked over to their table, and said hello to Prudence.

Prudence started, “Beth? What brings you over here?”

Beth was the one who had got Prudence to introduce them both to Frances, expecting to get an ‘in’ with the then Study Group. It had backfired. Prudence later came back to them on her own, appalled at the scheming of Beth. She was slowly assimilated into the Study Group, and more, after ensuring that Beth would never again be part of her social life.

Beth spoke, “Pru, you were right. I was a real shrew, and a bit of a twat as well, with all my scheming. I wanted to say I was sorry.”

“That is a nice change, Beth. How did that come about?”

“I was sulking for a while, after you broke with me and soured Reg and his girls against me. This guy came up to me and tried to commiserate with me. I thought he was just another guy wanting into my pants, and I am afraid I was a bit brusque with him, but he brushed that off and said he genuinely wanted to help, because he liked me.”

“Wow. That is quite something, Beth. Did anything come of it?”

“We gradually got to know each other better, and I ignored all the other men that normally I would pursue. I just could not get my thoughts off Tom – that is his name. I didn’t even try to get him to fuck me, and I got myself tested for STDs in case of problems ahead. I was clean, which made me relieved, for I found I actually wanted this man, no matter who he was.”

“Hey, great, girl. That is a much healthier approach to life, instead of looking for a guy with money or a title or both.”

“That is the conclusion I came to, and he must have noticed, for last week he gave me this.” She lifted her left hand for Prudence to see the engagement ring on her finger. It had a large-looking diamond in it, so Prudence hoped it was genuine.

“Oh!” Prudence broke out in a smile. “Congratulations, Beth, to you and Tom whatsisname.”

“Fanshaw, Tom Fanshaw, though weirdly, he spells it Fetherstonhaugh.”

“Sounds like one of these families that say their name differently from the way it is spelled, like Cholmondley is said as Chumley. Anyway, does he fit your target of well-to-do or titled?”

Beth looked shocked at herself. “I never asked him, never thought of it! Can you believe it, Pru? I don’t know about his family’s situation; I just know I want him.”

Prudence grinned at her. “Sounds like he is the man for you, Beth; just like Reg is the man for me. Follow your heart, Beth, not your avarice, and you will be happy, as I am.”

Beth peered at Prudence out of the side of her eyes. “Are you truly happy, Pru?; being just one of several wives in a group marriage?”

“I am exceedingly happy, Beth, and so are my co-wives. Reg has developed well, and we have trained him in what gives us pleasure, so all is well. We now have a couple of staff at our home, so we may very well start thinking about children soon.”

“Children? While you are studying?”

“The staff have accepted their duties which will eventually include baby-sitting, so we’ll have time for studying at home, as well as attending the lectures.”

Beth’s eyes widened at the talk of staff. “I though Reg came from a lower-class background, with no money to speak of?”

“True, but things are changing. He has a legal application for compensation for the loss of his father in an accident, so we expect he will have soon have some finances to help him. The staff are part of a deal we made with our parents, so things are looking up.”

“Glad to hear it, Pru. Wish me well with my man?”

“I do, Beth. I never had anything against you, just against the mercenary way you were treating everyone. I wish the new Beth all the best for the future.”

Beth walked off again, but with a spring in her step.

Frances came round to Prudence and asked, “Was that who I thought it was? Beth Templeton?”

“It was, Frances. It was a bit of a shock, too. She has changed; found herself a man that really likes her, and she doesn’t even know if he is well-to-do or not! Changed days indeed.”

Frances was pleased. “Glad to hear it. She was a bit of a shrew, before. Nice to know that leopards can change their spots after all.”

Frances walked round to apprise Freda and Erika of Beth’s changed attitude; and told Fiona the story of Beth and Prudence when they were first encountered some months back. This cheered them all up. Reg had heard nothing, as he was on his new phone for most of the lunch break.

When he closed his phone, and went to speak, Frances insisted on bringing him up to date on Beth Templeton, and he smiled happily.

“Great news of that girl. She was a real predator back then, as I recall. I have some news as well. I have been ringing a few of my contacts to tell them my new phone number, and Mr Gulland was quite informative.”

“Gulland? Who’s that?” Freda wanted to know.

“The local Finds man we are dealing with. He says the report has finally gone to the committee, and we should get a result tomorrow, hopefully.”

“Does this report cover all your finds, or just the first, Reg?” asked Erika.

“With the delay, both lots have been able to be listed under the one report; I think under pressure from the Greek bronzes expert. At least, that is what William Gulland says he believes.”

Erika laughed. “One of these ‘perhaps, if’ answers?”

Reg smiled back at her. “You could be right, my love.”

Frances told him, “Eat up, Reg. You are way behind the rest of us, and you are on clear-up duty, remember.”

Reg nodded, his mouth already full of the tasty chicken salad prepared by the twins. He had spent too much time on the phone, and was already trying to catch up. He raised his first with his thumb sticking up, to show his agreement with her instructions.

He was clearing the last of his meal when in the distance there was a loud but indistinct “Whump!”

Everyone sat there, looking around, as if this would tell them what had happened, and where, but some quick-thinking member of staff hit the fire alarm button, and all the fire alarms in the university buildings sounded the shrill demand for evacuation.

Reg quickly double-checked to make sure all his girls were with him, then cast his eye around for the nearest fire exit. Spotting it, he told his wives, “Right, girls. Hand in hand, so we stay together: that door over there, but walk steadily, no running. We don’t want a panic.”

Despite the alarm, all the students were walking quickly, in an orderly fashion, towards the exits. Fortunately the refectory dining area was not full at this point. The refectory staff had opened their own emergency door behind the kitchen and were ushering students near the counter to exit through their kitchen area. It was all surprisingly calm until they got outside, where students were starting to mill around. University staff were waving their hands and directing people to the mustering areas, where the person in charge would count heads to discover how many were there, and report that number back to his or her superior. That superior would be getting the data on how many were officially on the university grounds, which would be compared to the composite muster he received, to check for discrepancies that might mean people trapped indoors.

Inside, the admin staff were checking with the emergency services that the alarm had automatically rung through to them. They were assured that the fire brigade were about to leave, and the first ambulance, as were the police first responders, who were on their way for control duties. The university staff were asked about further need for ambulances, but had no information as yet, so simply said “It was an explosion; we know nothing more.”

The Robertson clan had found the muster point for the refectory, and stood there to be counted. Fiona was peering about in every direction, and was first to spot smoke in the sky.

She exclaimed, “Shit. It is the Chemistry building. I can see smoke there, just above it.”

Reg took charge of his group. “Girls, leave it to the professionals, but if you know someone who would have been in that building, give them a ring to make sure they got out safely.”

To his surprise, every one of his wives had their phones out immediately and were texting fellow students, and Fiona was doing so as well. He then remembered Cedric Wells, who was doing chemistry among other subjects, and tried to recall his number. Failing, he got out his trusty paper notebook from his inside pocket, and looked him up. The number was indeed there, and he tried it, getting an immediate ring.

The ring was answered, “Yeah?”

“Cedric? Reg here. Are you O.K.? The smoke is coming from Chemistry.”

“Yes. Fine, Reg. A few of us were there early, to check how our experiments were doing, so the bang was a bit of a shock. Sounded like a gas explosion to me. We were rushed out, but we were on a lower floor, and it was easy to escape; for there was no smoke at the time. The whole building shook with that blast, though. I was surprised we were able to walk out without any obvious damage at our level. The building must be well-designed to survive such events.”

“Cedric? You should find one of the fire brigade people and tell them of your experience. It may help them work out what happened. If it was gas, there might be another explosion if it is still leaking.”

“God, yes. I hadn’t thought of that. I’ll do that right away. Bye, Reg.”

He looked up, to find that he was being observed by his girls. He asked, “What?”

Frances took charge. “Reg, did I hear you say gas?”

“Yes. Cedric was in the building early, but got out o.k. He thought it sounded like a gas explosion.”

“Gas explosion? But that couldn’t happen without a lot of gas being released first. Don’t they have gas detectors in the labs?”

“I think they do, but it is mainly for noxious gases, like carbon monoxide. You’d need a pretty fancy detector for all the possible chemical releases, for each is dangerous at different saturation levels.”

“I get that, but this is probably natural gas – methane – isn’t it?”

Reg mused, and then nodded. “Makes sense, Frances. A methane gas detector is pretty simple, so why didn’t the alarms go off before the explosion? And what triggered the blast?”

Fiona contributed, “I think all these detectors are mains-powered, so if the power was shut off, the alarm would sound in response to lack of power. The alarm would have to have been sabotaged.”

Frances scorned, “And how could the power be off in the first place, in your scenario? We didn’t have a power cut here – the lights were on in the refectory at the serving area.”

Freda came in with, “But if it wasn’t an accident, perhaps someone switched off the power to the lab before the explosion, or sabotaged the alarm system in advance?”

Prudence tried to be practical. “Why would anyone want to blow up a chemistry lab, for Pete’s sake? I don’t see any point to it.”

Reg said, slowly, “Unless it was to destroy something in the lab, such as records?” he continued, pensively, “But what records, or whose records, of what experiments?”

Fiona said, “It would have to be someone who knew how to cause an explosion that would do what he wanted of it, and know about alarms as well. An ordinary gas explosion by itself might be all blast, and no fire afterwards, so not enough to destroy records. These might be in a cupboard, for example.”

Reg felt a light go off in his head. “James Fitzgerald!”

Frances exclaimed, “What are you talking about? How can Fitzgerald be involved? He’s not even in the country!”

“Apparently. That is all we know. That proposition may or may not be true. I was told something about his studies here, as I mentioned before. He was fascinated by explosions and explosives, so there is a possible link to this one. I wonder if Dawson has mentioned this to the police that have arrived?”

He looked around. Anyone got the number for Student Services?”

Freda had it in her phone, so passed the phone to Reg. “Here. It is STU in the directory.”

Reg found it and keyed for that number. It rang immediately.

“Frank Dawson, please.” he asked. He was put through to the manager.

“Dawson.”

“Reg Robertson here. That explosion that just happened? I think it would be useful for the police to know that James Fitzgerald was an explosives nut, don’t you?”

He listened and said, “Glad to hear we are on the same wavelength, sir. Goodbye.”

He turned to the girls. “He thought the same way, and has mentioned it to the police, as a possible avenue for exploring the cause of the explosion. We have done what we can, so let’s see if we can get back to our normal lecture schedule today.”

He looked around, and noted that he was not the only one thinking about getting back to normal. Others were trying to find who was in charge of their muster, in order to ask about scheduled lectures. He left them to find out. Word would soon spread as to the answer, as he had earlier noticed one lecturer with a small electric loudspeaker.

Sure enough, at last the lecturer announced, “Attention please. Thank you, everyone, for an excellent evacuation today. It went well. All students can now go to their lectures, EXCEPT any in the Chemistry building, which has been closed off by the investigation team. Anyone scheduled for the Chemistry building should check with Student Services for advice.”

As Reg and his girls started to move back to the refectory to pick up abandoned bags and books, Reg said to Frances, “There was no mention of all staff and students being accounted for. I wonder why? Perhaps some casualties?”

“Who knows, darling? Leave it to those whose job it is; not ours.”

“Yes, but...”

“No buts, dear. Leave it for now, please.”

“Yes, dear.” Reg turned her to face him, and soundly kissed her. He then said, “I am glad we are all fine, at least.”

“We were in the right place, at the right time,” Frances told him “Well away from the explosion.”

This set Reg off on a new tack.

“An explosion at lunchtime, when everyone should be out of the building. I wonder if that is significant?”

Erika was puzzled. “Significant in what way, Reg?”

Reg turned to face her. “I was thinking that the explosion was not intended to harm anyone; just cause damage and destroy certain unknown items.”

Frances intruded, “That still assumes a deliberate explosion, Reg. It COULD have been an accident.”

Reg shrugged. “Perhaps, but if it was deliberate, it was planned – timed – with care.”

Reg’s phone rang. He started, not expecting any call, with so few people knowing his number.

“Hello?” he answered his phone.

“Mr Robertson? Sergeant Phillips here. Can you speak confidentially?”

“Of course. Only my girls are near me.”

“Of course ... can you answer a couple of questions?”

“Depends on what they are, Sergeant.”

“First, have you seen any sign of James Fitzgerald today?”

“No.” Reg was very definite.

“Then has any other person of your acquaintance seen him?”

“No.”

“Anyone mentioned having seen him recently?”

“No. These replies are getting monotonous, Sergeant Phillips.”

“Sorry about that. It has been suggested that the explosion was set off by James Fitzgerald, but no sighting has been made of him. There appears to have been no sighting of anyone acting suspicious in the Chemistry building.”

Reg suggested, “Pre-planted device, set off at a distance?”

“Possible. What makes you say that?”

“The way the whole family is trying to stay out of sight. He may have planted the device during the night, if he had a means of effecting an entry.”

“If he could get in, he could surely pick up anything he was looking for, and get away without bothering with an explosion, sir.”

“I get your point. What if what he sought was in a securely locked metal cupboard, not accessible to him?”

“The explosion to destroy the cupboard and its contents? Could be; it was a very large explosion, wasn’t it? Would the blast have destroyed a locked cupboard, though?”

“Ask around, sergeant. Apart from anyone possibly hearing more than one explosion, what was securely locked in cupboards, and why?”

He paused, then continued, “And while you are about it, if I was ensuring destruction, I would have planted some explosive and incendiary device at the particular cupboard, to make certain; probably set off by the first blast.”

The Sergeant responded, “Mr Robertson, you have a most peculiar mind!”

Reg told him, “I do not know much about my mind, sir, but I have read a lot, and logic suggests things to me, that is all.”

“Thank you for your assistance, Mr Robertson. I will see you later.”

The call concluded, Frances raised an eyebrow towards Reg. “Police?”

“Yes. Why do they keep assuming I know something that I don’t?”

“It is not that, darling. They know that you will steer them in the right direction, because of your clear thinking.”

“The only clear thinking I do is listening to my wives!”

“Good boy! Keep it up, Reg.” They laughed at each other, knowing all was said lovingly.

Reg scowled at her again, and asked, “How the hell did he know my phone number? I didn’t give it to him.”

Frances looked coy as she answered, “I did, darling. I thought he might need to speak to you again; preferably without having to bother me first.”

Reg said, grudgingly, taking her point, “I suppose,” and left it at that.

Despite the explosion, most of the university’s life went along as normal for the rest of the day, apart from all the gawking by students at the taped-off Chemistry building, where police, some of them in white forensic garb, were coming and going. A few carried out plastic bags with samples of some kind inside. None of them would say anything to any enquirer, other than, “Our enquiries are continuing, so we can say nothing at this time.”

The media also showed up after a couple of hours; the local press first, then TV crews looking for the best shots of the damage. They were disappointed to find that most of the damage was internal, with only the lab windows blown out, and a little smoke damage showing above these windows. What fire there had been was soon extinguished by the sprinkler system.

The fire brigade spokeswoman told the media people, “The fire caused by the gas explosion was soon put out by the well-designed sprinkler system. The sprinkler pipework in the ceiling was bent in places by the blast pressure but did not get punctured, so everything functioned as planned. All university laboratories have such safety measures for good reasons, and this example shows how effective they are in preventing the spread of fire.”

All questions about the cause of the explosion was met with, “All we know at this time is it was a gas explosion. Most chemistry labs have many gas outlets for class use, so we don’t know if this was a gas tap left on by accident, or a gas leak somewhere. We are checking out the possibilities.”

She refused all attempts to extract details, saying, “I cannot tell you what I don’t know. Our forensics team are too busy to be disturbed in that way. There may have been subsidiary explosions, if there was flammable material in the laboratory, so that would complicate their work. They will report on their findings as soon as they can, and we will let you know.”