Page 49 of Drift

Negative result on a test for drugs on the thorn and stones. Negative DNA trace from the emesis sample. The DNA was explainable: the potential witness had no criminal history to link him to other crimes, either that or he had and had yet to be pulled in for any. But added to the acid-burning away of the fingertips? Thatwasspecialist, with Rita being right it was an old technique used by spies to burn away identity when they needed anonymity in the field.

Gray added that to the board after he put the files and coffee on the table, then he wrote down a single digit number on the whiteboard.

9

Another six similar murders well into Scottish borders had occurred over the past eight months with the same MO: murder/suicides, totalling nine with those done at the weekend. He added the locations clockwise around the number, starting with the oldest first, before he added family names and MOs.

Postmortem reports from the historical six killings noted marks on their backs over bone marrow extraction. The onlydifference here was that they’d been taken before death and not marked as unusual on the reports because of donor status with the victims. But the similarities were there, all cocooned in a creatively dark murder scene, as if someone pushed for the most extreme murder method and didn’t really care if touch on the body was found. Some postmortems mentioned swelling on the brain, but not all.

Gray added the term “Marks” on the board, then—

The Watchers. Tag teams x 3 at least.

No sexual connotation.

He didn’t get a sense of sexual drive here, not from the killer’s end, just a curiosity of… watching the extreme scene play out and then taking what they came for.But it was private watching as even Swansea Council’s CCTV of the park had drawn a blank on who these watchers were, and that mirrored the streets of the Soames and Carlton’s. Because those three murders had taken place over one weekend, spread over the UK, it definitely suggested more than one team at work. But whoever was doing these killings, they knew how to stay out of the limelight. Which suggested a good knowledge at street level, technology, and getting around security. But there was a small connection beyond the bone marrow, and that was how there was always access to a park close by.

He noted the park locations down from 1 to 9.

The printer finished its run, and Gray went over and took the photos before adding two of each to the whiteboard: an image of the crime-scene location, then the spouse, parent, or child who had been turned into a killer.

Mrs Carlton.

He looked at the mother who had killed her two daughters and husband that Thorn had given him access to. His search into her background uncovered Mrs Carlton spent time on tour in the army, so a lot of time away from both her husband and kids, a lot of time away to worry over losing what she had at home. There was also treatment for PTSD in the mix. A look into Mr Carlton’s private life saw he hadn’t cheated, but it hadn’t mattered: he was dead because of it. That echoed Tucker and his pesticide chemicals, the Soames boy and his vegan preference and being forced, in his mind, to eat meat, so he’d fed that meat back into the family system.

All three also had accompanying pinpricks. Jason and Macky on their fingers, and Mrs Carlson her elbow, as if she’d knocked into something. With some of the other victims, he’d never know because they’d been cremated.

Gray added another note:

Disorders and medication: 1-9

Each coerced killer had at least one disorder. ADHD: 8, 1, PTSD: 7, conduct disorder: 2, 3, 4 and aggression and anxiety 5, 6, 9. All nine on medication. He listed them down, then added something else.

He stood back for a moment, taking it all in, then checked the dates again.

Yeah, these were pack killers, a whole network of, which meant years of radicalisation and training, with a main mark or marks arranging it all, with someone in the medical field also feeding personal data over disorders.

The question was why. Why victims with disorders? Potentially open to a quicker reaction? More aggressive?

He addedCerebral edema, 6-9.

Postmortems on five of the victims didn’t mention swelling on the brain, but that didn’t mean it wasn’t there, just that the rule of suicide hadn’t warranted exploration of the brain tissue.

Zero evidence of drugs. 1-9

Like the Thorn sample, the toxicology reports on the previous five victims mentioned no drugs. Gray still waited on the official reports for the last three.

Either no drugs really had been used and medication had simply been tampered with, or whatever hit their systems was burned out without a trace.

The medical link ran a blank too. None of the disorder sufferers were treated in the same areas let alone under the same consultants. So where conditions brought them together, treatment and consultancy set them apart.

Gray shook his head.

Didn’t matter which way the evidence suggested, gut instinct called a poison of some sort in the extreme ways in which these people had died. Someone played on fears. Fed them. And no one was left alive to talk about it.

All except one potential witness.

Gray underlined Witness on the whiteboard.

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