Body Harvest (9 page)

The remains of the sun sent a yellow beam across the sea from the horizon. It was just enough light for Troy and Lexi. Near the edge of the cliff, there were several notices giving details of organizations that could offer advice and help. There was also a wire fence and a warning notice. A long way below, there was nothing but vicious jagged rocks.

Troy checked out the fence. ‘That’s not going to stop anyone determined,’ he said.

‘You’re right,’ Lexi replied, stepping back and taking a short run at it. ‘I’m going over.’

‘You’re what?’

‘Going over the fence.’

‘Careful.’

‘I didn’t know you cared.’ Sprinting past him, she flew over the fence in one athletic leap.

‘Why are you …?’

Heading for the overhang, she pointed to a spot one stride away from the sheer drop. ‘Collecting evidence,’ she said, quickly putting on latex gloves. ‘See that bit of blue material on the gorse? If I’m not mistaken, it matches Tiffany One’s coat in the photographs.’

‘That’s thin ice you’re skating on,’ Troy called after her. ‘Watch out. Crumbly cliffs, remember.’

She stepped carefully towards the bush, the piece of fabric and the cliff. ‘One day, I’ll make an interesting fossil,’ she said as she peered over the unnerving rock face. She took a breath of sea breeze, plucked the material from the prickly gorse and immediately made for the safety of the cliff-top path. ‘But not yet.’ She clambered back over the fence and held out the small piece of fabric. ‘Hard to tell in this light but I’ll check the colour with the photo. If there’s a flake of skin, this is a shortcut to her DNA. Then we don’t have to find where she lived.’

‘That woman I found on the missing persons’ list,’ Lexi announced, ‘isn’t L4G#4. Her DNA profile is nothing like.’

‘What about Tiffany One?’ Troy asked, unwrapping a sturdy chunk of black pudding.

Lexi sat back and closed her eyes, just about to enter another period of meditation. ‘Waiting,’ she murmured. ‘Relax. Patience required.’

Twelve minutes later, her life-logger vibrated and she stirred slowly.

Troy called out, ‘Rise and shine.’

Refreshed, Lexi sniffed. ‘What is that?’ She looked at the remains of Troy’s breakfast and let out a groan. ‘Yuck.’

‘Black pudding. Shiveringly good.’

‘What’s in it?’ she asked. ‘Smells revolting.’

‘It’s a sausage made of pigs’ blood, onions and oatmeal. Or something like that.’

‘A sausage made of blood? Disgusting.’

‘At least it doesn’t crawl around like your insect food. It’s not a baked spider or whatever.’

‘Spiders and scorpions aren’t insects. They’re arachnids.’

‘All right. Let’s call them bugs, then.’

‘Or invertebrates,’ she replied, reaching for her life-logger, ‘but that 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 both
Dmitri 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 Treize
wasn’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 got to do with Charon Angel?’

‘Look at his sweatshirt. The image on it.’

‘Yeah. I think it’s … Let me check.’ Lexi tapped some keys on her computer, running image recognition software. ‘Yes, it’s a band sweatshirt. The group’s called Kaktus Changer – death metal from Iceland.’

‘And, according to Terabyte, what had Charon – Sharon Angie – been buying?’

‘Icelandic music.’

Troy nodded. ‘Exactly.’

‘There was something else,’ said Lexi. ‘She bought car parts online and she lives in a place called Wengen. But, listen to this.’ She read from some tourist information on the Swiss village. ‘It has a tranquil atmosphere because it is a rare example of a European resort that is free of cars.’ She looked at her partner and said, ‘Why buy car parts when no one’s got a car? Don’t tell me. You think Sergio Treize, Charon Angel and Sharon Angie are all the same person – and they don’t live anywhere near Wengen.’

‘That’s not all. I reckon he’s Samaritan 999 as well. All these identities are a front – to hide his dodgy activities.’ Adjusting the onscreen display so it showed the close-up of Sergio’s hand again, Troy said, ‘Check out his middle finger.’

Lexi squinted at the image. ‘Can’t you sharpen it up a bit?’

‘No. It’s at its limit. Any closer and all you’ll get are pixels.’

She sighed. ‘Well, there’s a slight mark. It runs round the whole finger, I think.’

‘And the skin colour’s a bit lighter.’

‘So,’ Lexi deduced, ‘he normally wears a ring – which stops the sun tanning him just there. He’s not wearing it now, though.’

‘Why not?’

‘How should I know?’ said Lexi.

‘I don’t either. But if it had sapphires in it and one of the stones dropped out …’

‘I was with you all the way there – till you started daydreaming. Are you going to claim you can tell his shoe size by looking at his hands?’

‘No. But,’ Troy said with a wry expression, ‘that sweatshirt would go really nicely with Adibok trainers.’

Lexi laughed.

‘We need Terabyte again,’ Troy said. ‘Can you talk nicely to him? Maybe he can trace where Sergio Treize really is if I keep him on a video call for long enough.’
Half an hour later, Troy settled himself in front of his computer. On his left, Terabyte was seated at a linked workstation. Lexi was on the other side. Both of them were out of range of the camera. ‘Okay?’ he asked.

‘I’m networked,’ Terabyte told him. ‘Ready when you are.’

Lexi nodded. She intended to listen for background noises and study the images for any hints of location.

‘Okay. Let’s push this boat out.’

Lexi looked across at Terabyte, raised her eyebrows and shrugged. She took the headphones from around her neck and positioned them over her head and onto her ears.

Troy soon established a connection to his main suspect. This time, Sergio was wearing a different sweatshirt. Plain and white, it matched his spectacles. From somewhere, light reflected from his smoothly shaved head.

‘Sorry to bother you again,’ Troy began. ‘I just wanted to ask if you’ve been monitoring Charon Angel, like we agreed.’

‘I don’t remember an agreement but, yes, as a favour, I’ve checked her out now and again. All perfectly innocent.’ He leaned to one side, apparently scrolling down a list. ‘Here’s an example. She was
posting stuff on Wednesday to someone who’s serious about suicide. “If you go ahead, your absence will change the way things are supposed to be. It’s a shame to deny the world your contribution.” No one’s going to say that’s urging a visitor to die, are they?’

‘No. That’s … good. Helpful. I’m still worried about your site, though.’

‘Oh?’

‘It’s a place where vulnerable people meet. Virtually meet. Maybe they don’t have the strength or the nerve or whatever you need to pull the plug alone but, when they get together, maybe they pluck up enough courage from each other.’ Troy noticed a flicker of annoyance in Sergio’s face. That suited him. ‘Why did you set the site up in the first place?’

‘To get people together so they could pluck up the courage to live.’

‘But not all of them do.’ Troy was trying to provoke Sergio enough to keep him talking – justifying his chat room – but not anger him so much that he terminated the connection. ‘Some of your visitors are exchanging how-to-die information.’

‘For a determined few, it’s the only way forward. My site eases their passage.’

‘It’s a fine line between easing and encouraging.’ His head twitched. ‘Look. I believe we all have the
right to die. The law in your country is stupid. It tells you you’re responsible for your body and actions, if you’re over ten and sane. So, if you do something illegal, you get punished. Right. Got that. I’m responsible for my body and what I do with it. Surely that means, if I get really ill and nothing will fix me, I can choose to bow out with a bit of dignity when the time’s right. I can choose assisted death. After all, it’s my body, my life, my responsibility. Right? Wrong, says the law. You’re not responsible for your body any more. The law is.’

Troy was pleased to have tempted him into a lengthy passionate lecture. ‘It’s not against the law to kill yourself.’

‘No. But you can’t get anyone to help. You can’t legally take that decision. See what I’m getting at? The law’s sending out a mixed message. In your country anyway. I’m responsible for my actions until I’m desperately ill and suffering. Then I’m not responsible. Most of us get help coming into this world. Where’s the help when we choose to leave it? What’s so bad about opting for assisted dying?’

‘Because there’s always a reason for living. There’s always hope. But, even if I agreed with you, it’s still illegal.’

‘It’s different over here. I’m glad your law doesn’t
apply to me. When I’m past it and life has lost its meaning, when it’s just useless existence and a drain on everyone else,’ Sergio said, ‘I’ll slip away peacefully with help and humanity.’

Out of the corner of his eye, Troy saw Terabyte fling his hair over his shoulder and mutter to himself. He then sat upright and, plainly frustrated, shook his head. Troy knew he had failed. Troy’s strategy had not worked. He said to Sergio, ‘That’s your choice, I guess. Nothing I can do about it from here. Thanks for your time.’ He ended the call.

Lexi stripped off her headphones and, along with Troy, gazed at Terabyte.

‘The signal’s pinging all over the place, from country to country, satellite to satellite. If I sat here online for a week, I’d still probably not pin it down. Very nice piece of work. All I can say is, it came here from Switzerland. Before that … Who knows?’

‘Thanks for trying.’ Troy faced his partner and asked, ‘Did you pick up anything?’

‘There was a distant scream. Not a human one. Pretty sure it was a seagull. That’s your lot.’

Troy exhaled. ‘I’m not sure that puts him near the coast. Don’t seagulls come inland quite a bit?’

‘I’ve seen a few around here,’ said Lexi, ‘but it’s asking a lot for them to reach Switzerland.’

‘This case isn’t hurtling towards a conclusion, is it?’

Lexi thought about it for a while and then said, ‘There is another way … But it won’t be much fun.’

‘What’s that?’

‘Well,’ Lexi replied, ‘he didn’t see me in either call. He doesn’t know what I look like. So …’

‘Oh, no,’ Troy muttered.

‘What?’

‘Are you thinking the same as me?’

‘No idea. But if an extremely healthy outer girl – about sixteen, all organs functioning beautifully – jumped off Hurlstone cliff, our bad guy might not be able to resist a raid.’

Troy nodded slowly. ‘Are you really volunteering to pose as a dead body? You could be trapped in a coffin for hours.’

‘The lid wouldn’t have to be nailed down – and I could be wired so I could speak to you.’

‘I’m glad
you
made the suggestion. I was thinking the same, but I sure wasn’t going to ask you to stay in a coffin all night in case he turns up.’

‘Lying down and keeping still doesn’t sound like a tough assignment. I’d meditate while you monitor the spy camera. You give me a wake-up call if he puts in an appearance. That’s quite important, Troy. I
don’t want to spend the rest of my life without a heart.’

‘I won’t let you down.’ Troy turned towards Terabyte. ‘Can you get the story out on the media and internet? Everywhere you can think of. “Hurlstone cliff claims the life of second girl this year. An unknown outer, sixteen years old, leapt to her death this evening.” That sort of thing. Make sure you mention the Hurlstone hall of rest.’

‘No problem.’

‘Put seven o’clock in the report,’ Lexi suggested. ‘Then he’s got five hours if he wants my lungs or heart. After that decay will make them useless. Hey presto. All over by midnight.’

‘What if he wants liver or kidneys?’ Troy asked.

‘Then I’ve got a longer wait. Eight to fifteen hours. Might be a good idea to shut me in with some cricket tortillas, preferably topped with radish and orange. And run a tube from the nearest beer barrel.’