camera focused on Paul as he staggered around in the cage, gagged and smeared with excrement.
Rachel lay on her front behind him, staring into space.
A black leather-gloved finger pointed in front of the camera at Paul. “There he goes. He’s just about ready. You’ll see why they call it doggy style.” The distorted voice was deep — the laptop’s speaker struggled to replicate the sound.
Another voice with the same effect but slightly higher. “Right.”
“What’s up?”
“Nothing.”
The camera moved closer to the cage. The hand reached out and started rattling the frame. “Go on, boy, get it up her.” The hand pointed at the cage. “What’s he doing?”
“This is a bit too cruel.”
“They’re animals. There’s nothing cruel about this.” The gloved hand rattled the cage again.
Paul glowered and bared his teeth at the camera.
The video bleached white with a loud clicking sound then shot back to darkness before recovering the image of them in the cage. The clicking came again but the hand was by the cage now. There was a Taser at the bottom of the shot.
“Don’t make me use this again.”
Paul’s gaze moved from the Taser to his sister as she lay prone in the cage. He started breathing faster, on the edge of hyperventilation .
“Christ’s sake. We’ll never get these two to breed at this rate.” The Taser sparked again — the gloved hand held it jammed against the bars. The voice kept laughing throughout, the sound deep and unnatural.
The camera tracked Rachel crawling to the far corner of the cage, tucking herself into a foetal position.
“Want to be a good boy?”
Paul glared at the camera again, a primal moan coming from his chest.
The screen froze on Paul’s wide eyes staring at the camera. Text appeared across the image.
Dog Breeding Is Evil.
Siblings don’t have a choice whether they’re bred with each other.
The 1 0,000 pugs in the UK have the genetic diversity of 50 individuals .
Meanwhile, 9,000 dogs a year are put down because homes can’t be found.
The video ended.
Head spinning, Vicky turned to Zoë. “Where did you find this?”
“I was up in the Forensics area. Got speaking to one of the guys and he helped me with a few things. I got this on the dark net.”
“Who posted it?”
“I’m not sure we’ll find out.” Zoë sniffed. “The dark net’s all about hiding. It’s designed for pirates and child pornographers avoiding people like us. While we’re getting better at catching people, it’s not as simple as some idiot tweeting racist shit at Stan Collymore . These are people who love to hide.”
Vicky tapped the laptop screen. “Can you do anything with the voices?”
“They’re scrambled, ma’am.”
“Can you descramble them?”
“I’ll try. Anything else?”
“Just find whoever posted it.”
Chapter Twenty-Five
F orrester swallowed as the video finished on the screen in his office. His Adam’s apple bobbed up and down. He looked over at Vicky. “You told us there was a camera, didn’t you?”
“Paul thought there might have been one.”
“This isn’t good.” Forrester stretched his back out before frowning at MacDonald. “You think this is terrorism, Mac?”
“Not sure, sir. Dark net, right?”
“Aye.”
“Until about ten minutes ago, I doubt any of us knew it even existed.”
“Vicky?”
“If they’re posting it there, they’re preaching to the converted. Terrorists don’t tend to do that.”
“Go on.”
“I’m struggling to see why they’d go to the bother of doing this video, only to release it to a small group. I don’t know how many people will see that but it’s not exactly spreading their message, i s it?”
“Nothing about this makes sense to me.” Forrester leaned further back in his chair. “What was the flashing thing?”
“It’s a Taser overloading the sensor on the camera.” Vicky handed him a print Zoë had obtained. “If you remove the cartridge it doesn’t send
Rachel lay on her front behind him, staring into space.
A black leather-gloved finger pointed in front of the camera at Paul. “There he goes. He’s just about ready. You’ll see why they call it doggy style.” The distorted voice was deep — the laptop’s speaker struggled to replicate the sound.
Another voice with the same effect but slightly higher. “Right.”
“What’s up?”
“Nothing.”
The camera moved closer to the cage. The hand reached out and started rattling the frame. “Go on, boy, get it up her.” The hand pointed at the cage. “What’s he doing?”
“This is a bit too cruel.”
“They’re animals. There’s nothing cruel about this.” The gloved hand rattled the cage again.
Paul glowered and bared his teeth at the camera.
The video bleached white with a loud clicking sound then shot back to darkness before recovering the image of them in the cage. The clicking came again but the hand was by the cage now. There was a Taser at the bottom of the shot.
“Don’t make me use this again.”
Paul’s gaze moved from the Taser to his sister as she lay prone in the cage. He started breathing faster, on the edge of hyperventilation .
“Christ’s sake. We’ll never get these two to breed at this rate.” The Taser sparked again — the gloved hand held it jammed against the bars. The voice kept laughing throughout, the sound deep and unnatural.
The camera tracked Rachel crawling to the far corner of the cage, tucking herself into a foetal position.
“Want to be a good boy?”
Paul glared at the camera again, a primal moan coming from his chest.
The screen froze on Paul’s wide eyes staring at the camera. Text appeared across the image.
Dog Breeding Is Evil.
Siblings don’t have a choice whether they’re bred with each other.
The 1 0,000 pugs in the UK have the genetic diversity of 50 individuals .
Meanwhile, 9,000 dogs a year are put down because homes can’t be found.
The video ended.
Head spinning, Vicky turned to Zoë. “Where did you find this?”
“I was up in the Forensics area. Got speaking to one of the guys and he helped me with a few things. I got this on the dark net.”
“Who posted it?”
“I’m not sure we’ll find out.” Zoë sniffed. “The dark net’s all about hiding. It’s designed for pirates and child pornographers avoiding people like us. While we’re getting better at catching people, it’s not as simple as some idiot tweeting racist shit at Stan Collymore . These are people who love to hide.”
Vicky tapped the laptop screen. “Can you do anything with the voices?”
“They’re scrambled, ma’am.”
“Can you descramble them?”
“I’ll try. Anything else?”
“Just find whoever posted it.”
Chapter Twenty-Five
F orrester swallowed as the video finished on the screen in his office. His Adam’s apple bobbed up and down. He looked over at Vicky. “You told us there was a camera, didn’t you?”
“Paul thought there might have been one.”
“This isn’t good.” Forrester stretched his back out before frowning at MacDonald. “You think this is terrorism, Mac?”
“Not sure, sir. Dark net, right?”
“Aye.”
“Until about ten minutes ago, I doubt any of us knew it even existed.”
“Vicky?”
“If they’re posting it there, they’re preaching to the converted. Terrorists don’t tend to do that.”
“Go on.”
“I’m struggling to see why they’d go to the bother of doing this video, only to release it to a small group. I don’t know how many people will see that but it’s not exactly spreading their message, i s it?”
“Nothing about this makes sense to me.” Forrester leaned further back in his chair. “What was the flashing thing?”
“It’s a Taser overloading the sensor on the camera.” Vicky handed him a print Zoë had obtained. “If you remove the cartridge it doesn’t send
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