Evangeline’s snort killed that pipe dream like a late frost did blooms. “Aulelei. No, I’m sorry, but I can’t deliver your killer on a silver platter. I have yet to develop the power of divination.”
“Then what are you good for?” Andi put some extra whine in his voice, knowing Evangeline liked the banter.
She put one hand in front of her mouth, her eyes widening in mock indignation. “What am I good for, he asks? Let’s see if I ever again push to have blood tests rushed on your behalf.”
“I didn’t say anything!” George hastened to get some physical space between them, the traitor.
“Is it too late to say I’m sorry?”
“With you it always is because we both know you’re never sorry.” Evangeline huffed. “It’s one of the reasons I like you. Now follow me.” She led them into her office, where the desk was overflowing with documents as usual. With the precision of a magpie going after something glittery, Evangeline selected a binder from somewhere in the chaos and opened it. “The victims have been dead for three days. Estimated time of death last Friday. I’m almost certain it was some time after midnight, so early Friday. Very early.”
“Almost certain?”
“Yes, Andi, almost certain. An exact time of death is hard to pinpoint with bodies found in water. They haven’t been in there for long, which helps, and the way they died suggests it was after dark.”
When George opened his mouth to ask something, Evangeline held up her hand. “Let me finish first, and then you can quiz me. The victims drowned in that lake. The water in their lungs is the same as the water they were found in. There are all the typical signs of drowning, like frothy fluid in the airways and over-distended lungs. I didn’t find any defensive wounds on the victims, which led me to believe they were somehow sedated. Toxicology confirms traces of ketamine in the urine of all three victims. We were lucky you found them when you did, because ketamine can only be traced for a short time after it is taken. Death has slowed down the process of its breakdown, which we are thankful for. The most likely scenario I can come up with is that whoever killed the three men somehow managed to give them the first dose of ketamine and then used their disoriented state to take them to the lake. Depending on how far away they were from it, the killer—or more likely killers—must have given them several doses, because ketamine wears off after approximately fifteen minutes. And before you ask, no, I can’t calculate how much ketamine they were given. It’s impossible. The last dose was definitely shortly before they went into the lake, and it was an overdose to knock them out.”
“They were unconscious while drowning?” Andi didn’t know if that was a mercy or not.
“They were basically unconscious for the whole ordeal, I’d say. Ketamine causes a loss of awareness, one of the reasons it’s used as a rape drug. I doubt they even realized they were brought to a lake. My guess is the killers guided them into the water until they came close to the deepest part. Then they gave them the last dose, easiest would have been a spray, and shoved them forward. The chains and rocks did their part, and the victims were dead.”
“Your theory would also explain why their feet weren’t bound. Whoever did this wasn’t able or willing to carry them.” George rubbed his forehead with his thumb, no doubt contemplating what this meant in terms of the kind of person they were looking for.
“How hard is it to get the right dosage of ketamine into somebody?”
Evangeline furrowed her brows. “You have to calculate, but it’s not a secret or anything. Given the age of the victims it was probably a bit more difficult to get just the right amount to have them still functioning but docile, but the final dosage was easy because you just have to pump them full.”
“Is it safe to say whoever did this had to have basic knowledge in chemistry and math?” George was trying to narrow their pool of suspects down, but one look at Evangeline told Andi it wasn’t working.
“I’m sorry, George, I’d love to say yes, but anybody with access to the internet could have done it. There’s fucking charts about the exact amount of roofies for certain bodyweights out there, some of them even considering the amount of alcohol consumed. All you need is the patience to visit a disreputable site and read up on it.”
“Damn!” George threw his hands in the air. “You said the easiest way to overdose them in the water would have been a spray. Can you say how they got the first dose?”
Evangeline shook her head. “Ua ou faanoanoa. My best guess is the first dose was orally given because spraying three people at the same time is rather difficult. From then on it could have been spray or orally or per injection, though I didn’t find any injection marks on their bodies, so it was probably spray.”
“Thank you, Evangeline. Was there anything else?” Even though the coroner hadn’t presented them the killer on a silver platter, she had still given them more to work with.
“Nothing directly linked to their deaths. All three of them were in remarkable shape for men their age, none of the usual problems with the heart or too much fat around the internal organs. They were as healthy as I would expect from men at least ten to fifteen years younger.”
Andi nodded. This was the kind of information he liked to save in his mind. Not obviously important but maybe crucial at some later point when they were stuck. “You’ll inform us if you find anything new?”
“Ae sao fo’i. I rushed the blood and urine samples, but everything I’ve taken from the chains and clothing is still processing. I’ll keep you updated.”
“Thank you so much, Evangeline.” Andi waved at her while George said his own goodbyes. They went back upstairs, where George grabbed his keys. Andi couldn’t help the small smile flitting across his features. It was always nice to be in tune with one’s partner. “I’ll get the address of the cabin they stayed in.”
6. Clues and Puzzle Pieces
THE DRIVEto Lake Moultrie was silent for the most part, Andi doing his breathing meditation thing George knew was meant to prepare his partner for whatever insectoid input they were going to get. At the moment George felt like they were looking at hopelessly entangled balls of yarn, in different colors and with different lengths and thickness. There was no particular line they could follow, no piece standing out enough to grab it and yank without tightening the knot to a point where it could only be cut because there was no hope of ever detangling it. It was a normal state for huge cases with so many variables and so little distinctive evidence. It also meant they had their work cut out for them and that Andi’sgeschenkwas more important than George would have liked. In the cases following the busting of the trafficking ring, they had been able to keep the use of Andi’sgeschenkto a minimum, mostly relying on it to point them in the right direction. Those cases had been a lot more clear-cut, even though two of them had been cold cases from over ten years ago. George was still amazed what a difference a tiny nudge in the right direction—concerning an investigation—could make. One little hint and a case that had appeared to be hopeless was wide-open and ripe for the solving all of a sudden.
This case, though, was bigger, and just looking at all the potential suspects and the media coverage the murder would receive as soon as the news got out had George shivering. They needed some clues, some results as quickly as possible. Andi knew this as well, and as much as George hated to put additional pressure on his partner, he still relied on Andi to provide those results where Evangeline and Shireen—and in extension he himself—met their limits.
They arrived at the cabin shortly after noon. The building looked more like a small chalet than anything George would have linked with the term “cabin.” Which—for him—should be nothing more than one or perhaps two rooms built from roughhewn planks that had gone silvery from age. The simple life. Then again, the three victims had been rich, and there was no indication so far that they had kept a frugal lifestyle. The huge two-story building with the extensive wrap-around porch was built from wood, but there was nothing rough about it. The oak planks looked as well-tended as the broad gravel driveway that led to the cabin, cut into the surrounding forest with laser-like precision. The windows at the front, flanking the broad door, were floor-to-ceiling, and only the shades that were down kept them from getting a good look inside. Andi was already tense, the tendons in his neck twitching every time he swallowed. George hastened to get out of the car and close to his partner. When Andi got too immersed in the impressions bombarding him from all sides, he lost a great deal of his situational awareness. It was George’s job to see to it his partner didn’t trip or run into anything. Normally George would have preferred to have a look around before Andi tapped into the additional channels of information he had at his disposal, but the way his partner’s body was coiled like an elastic spring made it clear this wouldn’t be happening today.
“Andi, are you okay?” It was a moot question; of course Andi wasn’t okay. George just didn’t know what else to ask. Andi knew he was here to help him, and verbalizingsomethingprobably helped George more than it did Andi.
“So much upheaval, cars rattling the ground, heavy steps, the eggs were dislodged, loud, so loud, glass clinking and breaking, alcohol in the air, something leaking from a car, lethal, seeping into the ground, stench of gunpowder, sonic waves, blood, so much blood, dead things in the room without entrance, cold, pieces of tissue, fur, nothing substantial, loud, stomping, crashing, alcohol, smoke, thudding, more bodies, clinking, dragging over the floor, dust in the colony, too many vibrations, thud, thud, thud, down the stairs, something heavy and metallic in the sweat, no longer tempting, thud, thud, thud, down the stairs, thud, thud, thud, down the stairs, rumbling, rattling the ground, finally silence, then a humming, stomping again, more silent, more careful, stress, adrenaline, going round the rooms, going round and round, always careful, out of the house, the humming again, gone, silent, the night….”
Andi was breathing hard. His right hand found George’s biceps, and he gripped him hard, as if he were drowning. “Food, blood bags for nourishment, I’m Andi, no, not so loud, they’re hatching, don’t draw attention, I’m Andi, can’t get out of the web, prey, prey,I’m Andi!”
