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  63. Acknowledgements

A few months ago, I received an anonymous letter that was posted from London. The author of the letter suggested that key data supporting the ground-breaking research published by Professor Kiraly’s laboratory may have been stolen from another research group at Cambridge.

Having awarded Professor Kiraly with the highly competitive Søgaard Prize for the research in question, the Committee was duty-bound to investigate. We take accusations of impropriety and theft very seriously, and so created a sub-committee to explore the authenticity and ownership of Professor Kiraly’s data, fully aware that rivalry between scientists is not uncommon, and that the anonymous letter may have come from someone with the intention of stirring up trouble.

I will spare you the details of our lengthy inquiry into this matter. Suffice it to say, we left no stone unturned, and have regretfully corroborated the allegations of data theft. Following a unanimous vote, the Committee has formally rescinded the prize awarded to Professor Kiraly at Rosenborg Castle in October of last year. We are currently considering other scientists to nominate as a replacement.

Our efforts to recover the prize money have been complicated by Professor Kiraly’s death. Our attorneys have recently learned that the prize money of one million euros was transferred from Professor Kiraly’s account at Barclays Bank in London to an unknown location. Most likely to an offshore account. We learned of the transfer when Professor Kiraly’s housekeeper, a Mrs Magdalena Bartosz, came forward to confess that she received a letter from Professor Kiraly in December. Inside the letter was a sealed envelope addressed to Kiraly’s bank manager that she was instructed to hand deliver. She claims not to know what was in the letter, but we can only surmise it was instructions for the transfer. The bank has informed us that, in the absence of convincing evidence of criminal activity, they will not breach their policy on the confidentiality of international transfers.

So, it seems that the money is gone, and unless Professor Kiraly speaks to us from the grave, we have given up hope of any chance to recover it.

Sincerely yours,

Dr Astrid I. Olsen

Acknowledgements

I am indebted to the many people who assisted in the making of this book.

My brilliant agent, Charlotte Seymour, for her continuing support and enthusiasm, and the entire team at Andrew Nurnberg Associates.

The talented crew at Legend Press in the UK, with a special thanks to Lauren Parsons for her keen eye for language and instinctive feel for what makes a good story.

Rosie Jonker at Ann Rittenburg Literary Agency in the USA for looking after my interests on the other side of the pond.

Jason Donald and Amy Butcher for insightful suggestions on an early draft of the manuscript.

Shamala Hinrichsen, Ginny Rottenburg, and Allie Reynolds for their always cheerful camaraderie and writerly friendship.