Poison Doctor

Amelia Hartliss is working her home town, Manchester, in the north of England, pretending to be a postgrad student, attached to Salford University. She is undercover, looking for links between the academic staff, local business and international terrorism. She is dubious, not convinced that Deputy Director Caulfield has any idea what he's talking about, worrying about a threat to good health and happiness of the residents of the region. He points her to a particularly egregious individual, true, but just because nobody likes the man, why, it's not as though he's planning to poison the water supply. Is it? When she gets closer, Melia is horrified at the loose morals and dubious character of the so-called 'Doctor', but isn't impressed either by her new-found helper, the community worker Mr Boyson, a fellow with a grudge. He's pretty suspect, too, she thinks. It isn't until she meets a tough on the canal bank one dark night and gets beaten within an inch of her life, that Melia really starts to take these threats seriously.