would include some major favourites – like prawns. Not as tasty as a bowl of caramelized mealworms.’ She read from the screen and smiled. ‘Hey presto. The DNA on the blue material is a pretty good match with L4G#4. We may only have her heart, but I think we’ve got her name. Tiffany Clara One.’ Straightaway, she began to update her spreadsheet. ‘One homeless man, one transplant error and two suicides. That’s probably one real suicide and one that the victim definitely didn’t perform himself.’
‘That’s called murder. And it happened to bothDmitri Backhouse and Jerome Eleven. We’ve got a whole load of other charges as well. Unlawful killing in the case of Olga Wylie, burglary at her house, probable abduction of Jerome, mutilation of bodies for sure, prevention of proper burial or cremation of three of them. I bet we’d think of some more if we put our minds to it.’
‘I doubt they’re the only victims,’ Lexi said. ‘When we get the bad guy and the clinic, I reckon there’ll be lots more we don’t know about yet. Lots more offences. Your first case is going to set some sort of record.’
‘If we crack it.’
‘You’re with me, remember,’ Lexi replied. ‘We’ll crack it.’
‘We’ve got plenty on the victims. But the culprit? That’s a dead horse I’ve been flogging. Going nowhere.’
Lexi smiled. ‘Things don’t look good when your best suspect’s not even in the right country.’
‘But …’
‘Yeah. I know. We don’t have total proof she’s …’
Troy got to his feet. ‘I’m going to take a look at that interview with Sergio Treize.’
‘Why? What’s it going to tell you?’
‘Maybe nothing, but you never know. There’s something I want to check out.’
Using a giant screen at maximum resolution, Troy put the video recording on fast-forward until he got to the part where he suggested that Charon Angel could be scouting for body parts. Then he ran the interview at normal speed.
There was a convincing expression of shock on Sergio’s face as he exclaimed, ‘What?’
Out of camera-shot, Troy’s detached voice said, ‘For medical transplants.’
Sergio replied, ‘I find that hard to believe.’ Then he turned his head to the side and stroked his chin for a few seconds.
‘That’s it!’ Troy cried. He stopped the clip and ran it backwards in slow motion until he reached the frame he wanted. There, he froze the action. Stepping up to the screen, he said, ‘Look at his wrist.’
Lexi shrugged. ‘It’s a watch. A traditional Swiss one.’
‘I’ll zoom in on it. See? Can you make it out? What time does it say?’
‘Er … A quarter past one or thereabouts.’
Troy nodded. Jabbing his finger towards the digital clock in the corner of the large monitor, he said, ‘Thirteen sixteen.’
For a moment, Lexi was silent but then she also jumped up. ‘The same time zone as us. Sergio Treizewasn’t in Switzerland! He’s local.’ She hesitated again before grabbing her mobile. ‘I’ll call Terabyte.’
Troy scrutinized more images from the video call while Lexi reminded Terabyte about the interview with Sergio Treize. Then she asked, ‘Did the call definitely come from Switzerland?’
She put his response on loudspeaker.
‘Yes.’
‘Are you sure?’
‘Absolutely. I traced it and it was definitely Swiss. But …’
‘What?’
‘Well, I suppose …’ Terabyte went quiet for a moment. ‘It’s possible Switzerland wasn’t the source. If someone was being devious – really devious – they could’ve been anywhere in the world and relayed it through Switzerland. You’d need a lot of insider knowledge.’
‘The sort of knowledge a website administrator might have?’
‘I guess.’
‘Thanks, Terabyte.’ She put her phone down and concentrated on the screen again. ‘You had a feeling he wasn’t in Switzerland, didn’t you?’ she said to Troy. ‘You were right. But, thinking about it, this is all about Sergio Treize. What’s it
‘That’s called murder. And it happened to bothDmitri Backhouse and Jerome Eleven. We’ve got a whole load of other charges as well. Unlawful killing in the case of Olga Wylie, burglary at her house, probable abduction of Jerome, mutilation of bodies for sure, prevention of proper burial or cremation of three of them. I bet we’d think of some more if we put our minds to it.’
‘I doubt they’re the only victims,’ Lexi said. ‘When we get the bad guy and the clinic, I reckon there’ll be lots more we don’t know about yet. Lots more offences. Your first case is going to set some sort of record.’
‘If we crack it.’
‘You’re with me, remember,’ Lexi replied. ‘We’ll crack it.’
‘We’ve got plenty on the victims. But the culprit? That’s a dead horse I’ve been flogging. Going nowhere.’
Lexi smiled. ‘Things don’t look good when your best suspect’s not even in the right country.’
‘But …’
‘Yeah. I know. We don’t have total proof she’s …’
Troy got to his feet. ‘I’m going to take a look at that interview with Sergio Treize.’
‘Why? What’s it going to tell you?’
‘Maybe nothing, but you never know. There’s something I want to check out.’
Using a giant screen at maximum resolution, Troy put the video recording on fast-forward until he got to the part where he suggested that Charon Angel could be scouting for body parts. Then he ran the interview at normal speed.
There was a convincing expression of shock on Sergio’s face as he exclaimed, ‘What?’
Out of camera-shot, Troy’s detached voice said, ‘For medical transplants.’
Sergio replied, ‘I find that hard to believe.’ Then he turned his head to the side and stroked his chin for a few seconds.
‘That’s it!’ Troy cried. He stopped the clip and ran it backwards in slow motion until he reached the frame he wanted. There, he froze the action. Stepping up to the screen, he said, ‘Look at his wrist.’
Lexi shrugged. ‘It’s a watch. A traditional Swiss one.’
‘I’ll zoom in on it. See? Can you make it out? What time does it say?’
‘Er … A quarter past one or thereabouts.’
Troy nodded. Jabbing his finger towards the digital clock in the corner of the large monitor, he said, ‘Thirteen sixteen.’
For a moment, Lexi was silent but then she also jumped up. ‘The same time zone as us. Sergio Treizewasn’t in Switzerland! He’s local.’ She hesitated again before grabbing her mobile. ‘I’ll call Terabyte.’
Troy scrutinized more images from the video call while Lexi reminded Terabyte about the interview with Sergio Treize. Then she asked, ‘Did the call definitely come from Switzerland?’
She put his response on loudspeaker.
‘Yes.’
‘Are you sure?’
‘Absolutely. I traced it and it was definitely Swiss. But …’
‘What?’
‘Well, I suppose …’ Terabyte went quiet for a moment. ‘It’s possible Switzerland wasn’t the source. If someone was being devious – really devious – they could’ve been anywhere in the world and relayed it through Switzerland. You’d need a lot of insider knowledge.’
‘The sort of knowledge a website administrator might have?’
‘I guess.’
‘Thanks, Terabyte.’ She put her phone down and concentrated on the screen again. ‘You had a feeling he wasn’t in Switzerland, didn’t you?’ she said to Troy. ‘You were right. But, thinking about it, this is all about Sergio Treize. What’s it
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