Chapter 18 Knocking on heaven's door
Theresa was hurrying down the corridor, she was carrying a large plastic tray covered with cups, each cup did contain pills or liquid and they were carefully marked with names. The inhabitants of this institution were all in need of some sort of medication, from something as simple as extra vitamins to insulin or even strong painkillers and it was quite a job to make sure that everybody got the right dose. The rehabilitation and retirement home was very large and also one of the more luxurious ones in this state, most of the residents were elderly people who were physically and mentally ok, just feeling their age or recovering from surgery or disease, but this wing did contain people who needed constant help and surveillance. Most of the people who lived there had dementia at different stages while others were crippled by a long and often hard life. The wing was sealed off and you had to enter a new code each day to enter, it was a safety procedure they did need since some of the patients were smart enough to understand what a code was but too far gone to realize that they were supposed to be there.
Theresa knew them all by now, she had worked there for three years and to her this job was a challenge but a welcome one. It was a privilege being able to help these poor souls enjoy the last years of their lives and she was glad she had gotten this job. Some of the other facilities around the city were far from as nice as this one.
One of the other nurses did stick her head out into the corridor. "Theresa? When you have finished delivering the meds, could you help me with Mrs Smithson? I have to turn her and that darn machine is at strike again"
Theresa nodded. "Sure, haven't the janitor fixed it yet?"
The other nurse shook her head. "Nope, there was a leakage in the pipes under the showers remember? He had to fix that first and that goddamn lifter is a bastard, it has jammed completely"
Theresa sighed, the machine they used to help them manoeuvre heavy patients had been acting up a long time and Mrs Smithson was morbidly obese and also in the last stages of Alzheimers. Her daughter had taken care of the woman for a while but she had used food to subdue the at times very confused woman and the result was that Mrs Smithson couldn't move on her own and needed to be turned around quite often to avoid pressure sores.
Theresa did deliver the medicine to the different rooms, each patient had a nurse appointed to him or her who would make sure that they did take their medicine, nothing was left to chance there. She did pass by the room of Eugenia Brooks, once a show dancer in Las Vegas, now a frail and tiny little being who had returned to her childhood and constantly asked when her mother would come to pick her up. She did peek in to check on Mr Badran who had come from Hungary as a lad and still spoke very bad English. He was as sharp as a razor but paralyzed from his waist down due to a working accident, still he never complained even once.
Theresa did enjoy the company of these people, even those who at times were tough to handle. Emmelina down the hall was the worst case they had, she was both mentally disturbed and suffering from several physical ailments and in spite of all that surprisingly strong. Subduing her was at times tough. Theresa would never forget the one time the woman had managed to get out of bed on her own and had painted the entire room with her own faeces, it had taken a week to clean the room. But when Emmelina was having a good day she was a sweet and caring person who had such a cute personality and she was also very intelligent and knew a lot. She had been a teacher and at times she still believed that she was at school. Theresa knew that some of the fates she did encounter here were tragic, and it was her job to make them less so. Some were visited regularly by friends and family while others never saw anybody else than the staff, it had made Theresa cry more than once.
She delivered the last cups of medicine and turned to walk back to help with the obese woman but one of the doors did open up, it was Jade Bryant, a long time resident there and everybody's favourite. Jade was a very sweet woman who was as clear as crystal mentally speaking but she had suffered a fall some years ago and broke her femur and hip and her family had sent her to this place because they wanted her to be taken care off by professionals. She was so fragile the smallest fall caused fractures and her posture was rather bad now due to that. It was sad since she had once been a gymnast on Olympic level "Theresa sweetheart, could you do me a little favour?"
Theresa did smile and walked over. "Of course Jade, what can I do for you today?"
Jade tilted her head, she was a very well groomed old lady, always careful to look her best with nice clothes and some make up and she did even dye her hair once a month. She always said that old age was no excuse for letting oneself go. "I forgot my reading glasses in the living room, could you please go and get them for me? My legs ache today and I don't think I have it in me to walk back to get them."
Theresa did pet Jade's hand. "No problem dear, I will be right back"
She walked back to the living room which lay at the end of the corridor, it was a very nice room made to look like a real home. Some institutions had these terrible rooms which did look like something out of prison, there was no comfort and about as cosy as an abattoir but here everything was made to please the inhabitants. To some the sight of an ordinary room was calming and soothing and they had several TV's there so nobody would fight over the choice of channel. The glasses were on the table and she got them and walked back, she knew that Sandra was waiting for her so she had to hurry, Mrs Smithson was too heavy for one person to handle, and she tended to get cranky too.
She entered Jade's room and for a moment she got confused, where was the lady? Then she saw that Jade was sitting in the chair by the window, facing the garden. She put the glasses down on the table. "Jade? The glasses are here. Jade?!"
There was silence and Theresa got that odd sinking feeling in her gut which did tell her that something was wrong. She took two steps forth, laid a hand on Jade's shoulder and her head did roll back, mouth and eyes open but empty. Theresa didn't scream, she was too professional to do that but she did back away and pressed the alarm button next to the bed. She couldn't believe it, Jade had been alright just three minutes earlier and now she was most certainly dead? Death was a common visitor in this place and not one they did fear but she couldn't help it, she had a terrible feeling in her gut. Something about this was not right. When the others came scurrying with a crash cart and defibrillator Theresa had already gone over the small storage of medicine Jade kept in her room and everything was normal, and yet…Theresa had been a nurse for almost thirty years, she knew death and she knew disease and this just didn't make any sense to her. Jade had just died, abruptly, with no warning. She would ask for an autopsy, this was a suspicious death but she feared that her request would be rejected. After all, Jade was 97 and sometimes people just stop, simple as that.
Judith was stressed out, so overworked she felt as if she was riding a carousel all the time. Her head was spinning and she was sure that she soon would drop like a stone. The morgue of the county coroner had called and asked for help and as a complete and utter moron she had agreed, not knowing the mess she was getting herself into. Three of the employees over there were out cold with the flu and suddenly she was working there with just one assistant and since the county coroner also had the task of checking all the corpses sent from the hospitals and homes around the city they were up to their elbows in work. They had to take tissue samples of the dead before they were sent off to the funeral homes, some of them had to be checked for cause of death, others were just ghastly and had to be put back together. Judith did suddenly miss the morgue at the police station, at least she got to work with just a few corpses at a time and it was fun solving a mystery and giving the families some closure. This was routine work and bloody boring. Blood samples, bone marrow, cut off this, leave that, check that person for malpractice.
She had been at work for fourteen hours straight without even a small break and she was seriously gonna complain, this wasn't safe. The assistant was a young dude who was smart and skilled but by now he was moving like a zombie and had just about as much brain power as one. They were processing some blood and tissue samples, there had been an outbreak of some sort of stomach bug at a restaurant and three people had died as a result of it, it had been a huge scandal and now the court tried desperately to find out if those three had some sort of pre-existing condition which could have caused their deaths. The restaurant was one of the most fancy there was in the city and the mayor was a patron of the place. Judith did groan, the three dead people were elderly and frail and it was a nasty bug. Of course some would die from something like this, it was just natural.
She did place some of the petri dishes in the incubators, it was a waste of time and money and a truly pathetic attempt at throwing the blame on the customers, she was rather sure that the judge would see that too. The assistant was checking the tissue samples for any signs of chemical contamination, which in short meant drug use. As if a sixty seven years old grandmother of five would shoot up with crack? Ridiculous. The assistant did place some dishes with samples on a table and started checking them using some chemicals, he was half asleep and Judith stared at the clock. It was half past eleven and if they weren't done by eleven she was gonna leave, screw the work that was left. It wasn't gonna help anybody if they screwed this up.
"Oh…fuck…damn it"
She turned around. "What?"
The assistant was a bit pale. "Uh…oops? I think I have used the wrong chemical here, look, it turned purple? It isn't supposed to turn purple now is it?"
He did show her a petri dish with a tissue sample in it and it was purple indeed, a very bright colour. Judith did take the dish and noticed the number and letters written on the lid. "You did make a mistake yes, this sample isn't from the batch you were supposed to check at all. You did take the wrong stack"
The assistant did groan. "Jeezes, I am so sorry, I am just so terribly tired. "
Judith did take the dish and looked at it, she found the list of samples stored in that closet and frowned. It was a sample from an elderly woman who had died in her home all of a sudden, nothing really odd about it. But purple? She grasped the bottle of chemicals and checked it, it didn't say anything about a purple reaction? None of the drugs on the list should show up as purple discoloration? Judith was dead tired, and annoyed and also frustrated but her instincts were always keen. She grasped the bottle and the dish and went over to the computer, there could be some sort of medicine that chemical did react to, which wasn't listed on the label. She did a quick search and the assistant did stand by her side, also a bit curious. At first nothing did come up, then she found a page where some rare reactions were registered, and she did read the list slowly. Her head wasn't working at all, it felt as if she was floating through the air. She needed twelve hours of sleep, at least! And a visit to the spa, and her chiropractor for damnation, her legs hurt after a whole day on hard concrete floors.
She did suddenly stop, her eyes got wider and she held her breath. What the…no, it wasn't possible? The assistant did wet his lips. "Contamination?"
Judith did close the page. "Definitely. They are sloppy around here, these samples are worthless, God alone knows where they have kept them, and how they have been treated. Leave a note about it will you? "
The assistant sighed and nodded. "Will do, goddamn it, I am ready to drop dead any moment"
Judith did grin "Please don't, I don't need yet another cadaver today, the last one was one too many"
She did take a look at the morgue, there was still some blood work which should be examined and two bodies which had to be checked for anything unnatural but damn it. She couldn't work for one more minute. "Know what, screw this. We are leaving, the dead do not leave this place and so sad but the computers did just stop working."
She did bend down and pulled a lever hidden underneath one of the tables, all the screens went black. "OOOPS"
The assistant laughed. "Alright, I am with you. Who is on tomorrow?"
Judith did shrug. "I don't know and I don't care, pity be with the poor sods but I am out of here, right now"
She grasped her coat and her purse and the assistant did kill the lights, it had been a very long day indeed and now she was ready for her bathtub, her bed and some food but not in that order though.
Robert Black was a man who did enjoy his work a lot, he was a podiatrist and an expert at treating people with foot lesions. He always claimed that good health came from the bottom and that your feet were the most important part of the body. He was running a clinic down town but he did also visit people in their homes and he did have a few days each month when he did go to retirement homes and other institutions and he was used to seeing a lot of neglect. Some people just didn't take care of their feet and it was a crying shame. He had seen some horribly overgrown nails over the years in addition to sores and boils and even gangrene. He was arriving at one of the less fancy retirement homes this day, it was apparently a well run facility but in truth the inhabitants spent most of their time drugged and the care was pathetic if not completely missing. He did make a habit of bringing along small things the people there would enjoy, yes he was smuggling but who cared? The staff didn't allow the poor souls any sort of fun at all, except the TV which was stuck on the same horrendous reality shows each day. These people were like cattle in a slaughter house, awaiting death.
The head nurse did meet him at the door, she was looking at him as if he was the proverbial devil himself, they didn't like that outsiders did enter the home but he had a deal with the owner and they couldn't turn him away. He did chose to ignore the sour face and smiled at the woman. He had made an observation over the years, there were basically two types of nurses working in these places. One was the warm hearted caring loving type who were lovely people no matter how they did look and then you had this type who did look like the offspring of a horror movie monster and a Russian body builder and had the temperament of a boar with a toothache and as much love for their fellow man as the world's worse dictators. The woman did lead him through the dark corridors, this place did reek of piss and it was about as cosy as the dungeons underneath the colosseum. "We have two less patients, the old nigger and the slut did croak this week"
Robert had a hard time accepting the way this woman did talk about the patients, she showed no respect whatsoever. "I am sorry to hear that. Mr Greene and Mrs Lara were such lovely people"
The woman just grunted. "Bloody nuisance was what they were, but they did die suddenly, just dropped. Thank goodness, less of a mess to remove"
Robert frowned. "Just dropped?"
She nodded, there was some malicious glee in her eyes. "Yes, the nigger died at the breakfast table, landed face first in a bowl of oatmeal. And the old ho sat in front of the TV when she just farted, shat herself and died"
He took a deep breath, he had visited some other retirement home a few days earlier and there too some residents had died all of a sudden, very unexpectedly. It was normal that people did die in such places but so many in such a short time?
He did his job, trimmed toe nails and fixed some warts and dead skin and when he returned to his car he sat down and brought out his cell phone. He felt silly, he was an idiot for even thinking this way but what …He couldn't live with himself if he didn't check this out. He did dial a number, had to wait a while for anybody to answer. "It is me, Robert. Do you have a minute?"
The voice at the other end was feminine. "Yes, what is this about? I am at work now, I cannot talk for very long"
Robert did take a deep breath. "Listen, I am most likely wrong and just being paranoid but could you call the different retirement homes and institutions in the area? Check if there has been an unusual number of deaths there lately?"
The voice was a bit tense. "Are you kidding me?"
He closed his eyes. "I wish I was but no, I have a hunch here. Please? You can call back whenever you like"
"Alright, fine. I will make some calls, will get back to you soon"
Robert felt a surge of gratitude. "Thank you Margerita, I owe you one"
"Yes you do, don't forget it now. A ticket to the next concert with Paracord would be great"
Robert had to grin. "Do not push your luck now"
He did hang up and leaned back against the seat. There was no reason why any of those two there should die so suddenly, they were in excellent health except from their dementia. No, something fishy was going on, he was sure of it.
Judith had returned to her regular job, the flu crisis was over and she was ready to kiss the floors of her familiar little house of horrors. The work at the county coroner's office had been a nightmare and she was happy it was over. And now they all owed her a big f 'ing favour. There wasn't that much to do right now, only two bodies, one the victim of an accidental shooting and the other one a guy who had driven a motor bike down a highway while being high as a kite. Judith had had it with shooting victims, she saw way too many of them and she couldn't understand what went on in the heads of people who kept loaded guns in their own home. If some crazy brute did break in that gun didn't do anything good, if anything it would only increase the risk of violence and death. She had seen that time and time again.
She got to work on the motor cyclist, the guy had hit a car from behind and lost control and they said that he probably was intoxicated and she had already found that they were right. The blood alcohol levels were sky high pluss the levels of other drugs which also were through the roof and she was rather sure that he would have crashed no matter what. Sometimes an autopsy does reveal things which are more unusual and unexpected and this case did. Apparently the guy had been drinking hard for a long time and there was cancer of the liver, very advanced too. She was going to change the cause of death from accidental due to intoxication to suicide. It was very apparent that the man had known that he was dying and he probably wanted to go out with a bang, quite literally.
She finished and removed the body, she needed a break now, the room was cold and the air was being switched all the time, which didn't exactly help creating a very warm environment. She left and went to the break room, she had brought her lunch, and was looking forwards to it. Judith was very careful when it came to diet and she did feel cold shivers down her back when she saw the officers who were gobbling down donuts, hot dogs, burgers and God alone knows what else. She had seen what that kind of a diet did to people, the sight of a heart almost stuffed full of blood clots or plaque did never seize to shock her. Her salad with nuts and organic vegetables was delicious and healthy and screw those who claimed that it would turn her into a bunny.
She was almost done eating when her phone rang, she did frown and picked it up, it was a number she hadn't seen in quite a while. "Judith speaking?"
The voice at the other end was familiar, but they hadn't spoken for some years. "Judith, it is…Margerita, remember me?"
Judith did remember the woman, she had been a very smart and skilled person who had taken a class in heart diseases which Judith too had been in. They had become good friends during that semester and did hang out together some times. She knew that Margerita had become a good nurse, a person with both talent and a caring heart. "I remember, of course I do. What is going on?"
She heard a hint of hysteria in Margerita's voice and knew that she had hardly ever met a person less prone to become hysterical than that woman. She was like a rock. You couldn't make her blanche even if you tried. Margerita was breathing hard. "Judith…I…Listen, this may sound like a complete…it will sound nuts…but I am mailing you a list, please, take a look at it and when you are done call me back. Tell me what you think. Please?"
Judith did frown. "Alright? I will check it out, is it an emergency?"
Margerita did sound tired. "Yes, it is an emergency. "
There as a beep and Judith did see that she had gotten a mail, she swallowed hard. This didn't sound very good at all. For Miranda to be this distraught something horrible had to have happened. "I have gotten the mail, I will call you back soon"
She opened the file and frowned, it was a list of deaths, names, ages and locations and at first she didn't understand, then she saw that Miranda had added another list, of deaths in the same locations. Judith did take a deep breath, then another one. She felt the hairs stand up at the back of her neck and she ran over to the computer. She had access to the records of the coroners of the entire county and she started to work, frantically. If this was real…
She sat down after fifteen minutes, feeling dizzy and horrified. Margerita was right, the number of elderly people suddenly dying within this county had steadily increased, even the best retirement homes had at least three times more deaths than before, and the increase had been slow and steady, nobody had reacted.
Judith felt sweat on her brow, the deaths were all sudden and often unexpected but the deceased were elderly people, frail and on the last leg of their journey anyhow, nobody had reacted. Judith tried to think, she grasped her phone again and called a friend working in a different county, if this wasn't just here… The man who did answer had been one of Judith's mentors and he was very smart and experienced. She did explain the situation and there was silence at the other end for some seconds. "Judith…Two days ago three kids did die, all in institutions all over this city, all were in need of continuous care and very ill. I didn't think about it but…"
Judith swallowed hard. "What about elderly people?"
He could be heard punching on a keyboard with remarkable energy. "I am on it"
She heard that he opened tabs, checked lists and his voice was hoarse. "Oh dear, we too have had an increase in sudden deaths"
Judith didn't know what to say, what to think. Her mind was numb. "Judith, we have a killer on the loose, you have to alert the authorities"
Judith did swallow a few times, her throat felt tight. "I…I will do that, right now. Please, spread this, ask everybody to check the records, at least for the last year."
"I will do, call me back. This could be something truly horrendous"
Judith did stare at the wall, her mind was numb and she did call Margerita again, explained the finds. The nurse was shocked, and she promised to call the other homes and institutions and check if somebody had noticed anything out of the ordinary.
Judith did make a new list, then she attached the information needed and printed it all. She gathered her courage and left the morgue, Thor was at work this day and she knew that she had to persuade him into taking action immediately. Lives were at risk.
Thran and Bard had been working on a drug related death in one of the better areas of the city, they had long ago realized that such deaths weren't exclusively something which only did happen to people living in the ghettos, there were more people among the higher classes involved in such than what one could expect. They were just very good at hiding it and if shit hit the fan they did lawyer up until they became as impenetrable as a medieval fortress. Thran had managed to get at least two people behind bars and they were preparing for the trial of a third person. The judge would send that one away for life for he had used school kids as couriers and that in turn had turned the kids into targets for rivalling dealers. It was a terrible mess. Bard was on the phone when Thor suddenly did open the door to his office and his eyes were dark, his skin rather grey and his voice low and oddly tense. Uh-oh, this wasn't good.
Thran did walk over and Bard did finish the call and followed him. "What is it?"
Bard saw Judith in there and that was never a good sign, she did look haggard, her eyes were wild. Thor did sigh. "Judith, explain this, and close the door please. This doesn't leave the room, understood?"
Thran frowned. "Okay?"
Thor sat down, he did look tired, old. It wasn't like him at all. Judith did swallow and her hair was plastered to her forehead, it did look as if she had been running a fever. "A friend of mine and a co-worker did discover something worrisome at a retirement home down town. The number of sudden deaths had increased over the last months. I checked it out, it isn't only there, it is…everywhere. This city, the county up north…"
Thran was going pale. "Are you insinuating…"
Judith did look down. "I am sure Thran, I am not insinuating anything. Somebody is killing people, elderly people and those who are in need of constant care. "
Bard felt his mouth going dry. "How? Why haven't anybody reacted?"
Judith was leaning towards the desk. "Because death is a common visitor in such places, and even if the deaths were unexpected that does happen quite often. There was nothing suspicious about it when it happened. But now…I am not often having problems finding words but at least fifty people have died, who shouldn't have died like that at all"
Thran was thinking hard. "Tell me, did any of the deceased have a terminal diagnosis? Were they close to death?"
Judith shook her head. "No, that was one of the things which did strike me first. They all had ailments but that was to expect, but nothing which would have caused their deaths soon no."
Thran stared at Bard, his eyes were very dark. "The killer doesn't bother with those who will die soon anyway, he goes for those who may yet live for years to come"
Bard was nauseous. "God, an angel of death"
Thor was lighting a cigarette with trembling hands. "Yes, and one who has found a very nasty method of doing his work. We cannot let this leak, there will be a panic. And that is the last thing we want. "
Judith stared at Thran. "Is this guy out for glory and fame or is he of the truly creepy type?"
Thran swallowed. "He isn't in it for fame, I can tell you that for sure. If he were he would have alerted the authorities in one way or the other, to revel in the confusion and panic. No, he is on a mission and he won't stop. He thinks he is doing the right thing"
Judith did shudder. "Like the Nazi's in the 40's, they did kill off everybody who were deemed as inferior, the ill, the retarded, those who were deviant in any form. They believed that it was the humane thing to do"
Bard nodded. "Yes, eugenics at its worse, I have read about it."
Thor grunted. "Is this person a Nazi then?"
Thran pressed his lips together. "I doubt it, he may have that type of sympathies but I doubt that this is what drives him. He has been at it for months, slowly and methodically. No, I think it is personal, a deep conviction. Maybe religiously driven, maybe not. But I am rather sure that the culprit is white, probably living alone or with his parents, and socially regarded as a loser"
Judith did frown. "It cannot be a woman?"
Thran shook his head. "No, the killer haven't had personal contact with his victims, it is almost like an industrial method behind it, it is impersonal and distant. A female killer like that does it herself, she needs to be up and close to her victim, to be able to feel that she is truly doing anything at all. "
Thor took a deep breath. "So, how does he do it and how the heck do we stop him? We cannot order guards to check out each and every retirement home?"
Judith nodded. "I will check the autopsy reports of the deaths, I have access and if I don't my friends can get it for me. I have contacts. There is no way he could have visited all those homes, in many counties. The only thing these poor people had in common was that they were suffering from ailments and old age, they did use medicine."
Thor did snap his fingers. "Then it is the medicine we have to focus upon. "
Judith nodded again, her face was stern. "I will ask for the medication lists for each of the dead, and samples too. I am sure I can come up with some excuse."
Thor smiled. "Do that, Bard and Thran, follow her and help her. I will give your current case to officers Browne and Withlow. They can cope with that last phase."
Thran just grunted, and Bard sent the boss a swift grin. He didn't like the idea of spending time down at Judith's little house of horrors.
The two did follow Judith downstairs, she stared at her computers and let out a huge sigh. "Right, first of all we need a list of all the medicine those people were on. Then we have to think like the killer would"
Thran grinned. "I can do that"
Judith frowned. "Really? I doubt it. This is the work of somebody who is extremely cautious and probably capable of not doing mistakes which will be detected."
She pulled up a file on her computer. "Look at this one, it is one of the people who did die last month, a former gymnast. She had brittle bones and got medicine for that and she did also have a weak heart. She was on this type of heart medicine and know what?"
Bard shook his head. "No? What?"
Judith did walk over to a closet and found a jar of pills, showed it to them. "When someone dies like that, unexpectedly they automatically take samples to make sure that nobody did screw up the medication. But she had the normal doses of her medicine in her body, nothing was out of the ordinary"
Thran tilted his head. "So the culprit must use something they don't test for?"
Judith smiled. "Bingo, something extremely efficient and yet something which doesn't leave a trace in the standard tests"
She froze, her eyes got huge and for a moment she did look as if she had seen a ghost. "What is wrong?"
Bard was getting worried and Judith moaned. "Oh no, oh God!"
She ran over to the computer and started typing with racer speed. "I think I may know what the culprit has been using. I came across an odd reaction in a tissue sample some time ago and was sure it was due to contamination but…"
She turned to them again. "I have ordered for tissue samples to be brought here, and also all available medication left by the deceased. We have to test everything"
Thran did frown. "Everything?!"
She was still pale. "Yes, this bastard is sly you guys. So very sly"
Bard wetted his lips. "So what was it that you discovered?"
Judith went over to a cupboard and pulled out a thick black book, it was full of coffee stains and so worn it was a wonder it still was in one piece. She did go through the pages with the zeal of a wiener dog digging for a fox. "This book was one of my favourites"
Thran did bend over and read the text on the back. "Toxicology and natural toxins"
Bard blinked. "Seriously? Sounds morbid"
Judith did smile. "It is. You cannot imagine how ingenious nature is when it tries to come up with the worst possible methods of causing death. "
She opened a page. "Look at this?"
Thran leaned over the book and Bard did too. "Ah…a cone shell snail?"
Bard frowned. "I have heard of those little buggers, poisonous as hell right?"
Judith nodded. "Yes, among the most lethal toxins known to man. But I have a suspicion"
She did grasp a pen and made notes on a post it pad as she went, her brow was furrowed and her eyes dark. Thran didn't want to interfere but he was getting very curious. "What is it?"
Judith did straighten herself up. "The deaths, they were incredibly fast. And also non violent. No screams, no pain, no convulsions. They just stopped, suddenly. He is being methodical but also merciful. He doesn't want the patients to suffer. He wants them dead, just that. Fast and cleanly and efficiently. "
Thran shuddered. "That doesn't make me feel any better to tell the truth"
Judith nodded. "Yes, but what I want to check is if the culprit in fact has used several poisons at once, to make it faster and also to make the poison less traceable"
Bard tried to keep up with those two. "So you need to test the medicine to find out?"
Judith nodded. "Yes, a poison has to enter the body to be efficient, if it isn't in their ordinary medicine it has to be in something else they use. Something nobody does anticipate"
She blinked. "Bard, do me a favour, check the list and organize it by time of death? It has to mean something"
Bard went over and went to work and Thran tilted his head. "You think about the daily routines?"
Judith nodded. "Yes, and I think that we may look at different mixtures for different victims."
Thran frowned. "That means that he is picking out his victims carefully, with a plan"
Judith smiled but it was a pained smile. "Yes, unfortunately. He isn't killing randomly, that would cause suspicion if say five people died at once in a place. No, he is spreading it out, over time and also geographically. Few of the employees of these homes do socialize with people from other places."
Bard raised a hand. "Look, I have sorted the list"
Judith ran over and she did tap the screen. "Yes, I knew it. Most have died either late in the evening or in the middle of the day. That is when medicine is distributed and care is given. A few did die in the early morning, some do have treatment also then."
She sighed. "Think about the things you do every time before going to bed, all the things which could contain poison?"
Bard did shudder. "Toothpaste, soap. Mouthwash, ointments"
Judith nodded. "And if one adds that these are deaths at retirement homes you can add enemas, suppositories and drops"
Thran shook his head. "It is terrible, but that means that the culprit has to work in the system, he has to have access to the medicine and things the inhabitants use"
Judith grinned. "Yes, and there is this one firm which does transport medicine and equipment from the apothecaries to the homes, twice a week. They do have the entire county and the surrounding ones as customers, hundreds of homes and centres."
There was a knock on the door and a delivery man did enter, he carried a few boxes and he didn't look very comfortable. "These are from the county morgue, I haven't made a delivery here before, so sorry if I seem uncomfortable"
Judith smiled. "Don't worry, if you are lucky you won't see this place ever again"
She grasped the boxes and signed for them and the man did leave, looking a bit green. Even if there wasn't somebody on the slab a morgue is still a morgue. She did open the boxes. There were small plastic bags in them and each was marked with a number and a name. She did frown, picked them out. "Alright, here is what we have got, these are the medicines left behind by the last five victims"
Bard did cock his head, he was curious. "They don't just toss the medicine and stuff away?"
Judith shook her head. "Heavens no, when somebody does die like that, abruptly and sudden the medicine is always kept, in case somebody did screw up the doses or something. It is the law. And medicine isn't trash, it can be lethal if it is ending up in the wrong hands. Not everybody is able to see the difference between something which can make you high and something which will cause you an excruciating death."
She did sort the content, placed it on a table. "Alright, I need you to help me or we will never be done. Take that stash of petri dishes and fill them with a little from each container or bottle, just one pill or a drop of liquid is enough. Just don't mix the contents from different patients please. "
She went over to a cupboard and brought out a bottle of chemicals, she did stare at it. "This is what I used back at the main morgue, it should show the same reaction if the same poison was used. "
Bard did grasp one of the trays and placed dishes on it, he had been helping Tilda with her biology homework and was familiar with how one works in a lab. Thran was also efficient and before long there were five rows of petri dishes with different medicine and produce lined up alongside them. Judith did swallow. "Right guys, here goes!"
She did drip a small drop of chemical into each petri dish and then they just had to wait, it felt like an eternity but soon things started to happen. "Alright, let us see"
Judith nodded to Bard. "Take notes please"
Bard grasped a pen and a notepad and Judith took a deep breath. "So, first reaction, victim number one of this batch, it was in the toothpaste. Bright purple reaction, very strong. "
Thran cringed, it was devious. "Next, the former gymnast I did mention, eyedrops, very strong reaction but more red than purple, probably different toxins or a different mix"
She went over the next three too and found poison in an antibiotic cream for foot ulcers and a capsule of Omega 3. She did also find it in an ointment for irritated skin. It was no longer any doubt, they did have a serial killer on their hands and one which did work with horrifying efficiency. Nothing was stuff things anybody would suspect, the patients all had had medicine which were way more likely to cause sudden death and they had been checked for that but who does check a bottle of eye drops for poison? Nobody in their right mind that is.
Judith sighed. "Now I have to identify the poisons, that is trickier but we do have a nice set of instruments here which should be able to identify them. "
She did take the samples to the huge machines and started to prepare them. She was humming as she worked and Bard turned to Thran. "Let us be useful too, if that bastard has used exotic poisons he has to have access to them"
Judith didn't turn around . "Yes, check that out. It is rare substances, very dangerous and highly regulated. Nobody is allowed to just buy something like that"
Thran sighed. "Right, but can you give us a clue? I mean, what types of poison do we talk about? Snakes?"
Judith did load a dish onto one of the machines. "No, not ordinary snakes in that case. Sea snakes. All the toxins I can think of are of a marine nature"
Bard snapped his fingers. "Right"
Thran sat down. "Then we go for anything or anybody who deals with marine wildlife, zoo's, wildlife rescues, biologists, everything"
Judith did work and so did Thran and Bard, the room was silent for a while. Just some pings from the computers as more mail did arrive at Judith's mail box. She ignored them, she had to concentrate now. After a while she had a list. "Listen, we are talking about the poison from the blue ringed octopus. Cone shell snails, sea snakes, and the worse of all, box jelly fish, the Australian variant. "
Thran did turn around. "Irukandji?"
Judith nodded. "Yes, a devilish mix, and add some poison from the puffer fish too and you have something which could kill a tyrannosaurus"
Bard grunted. "The culprit has mixed all these poisons?"
Judith nodded. "Looks like it, each batch special made for the victim, to fit the method of delivery. All these poisons are neurotoxins and affect the nervous system. He has skills, I will give him that"
Thran turned the screen. "We haven't found anybody who works with those poisons in this country. I guess such people are rare and far between"
Judith did make a grimace. "I sort of expected that. Know what, extend the search, see if you can find somebody who used to work with that type of substances. Go back…thirty years or so"
Bard did crack his fingers and Thran did wince. "Al-righty then"
It was silence yet again, the material the computer had to go through was vast and complicated and difficult to sort through. In the end they had some names, none did ring a bell with anybody.
Judith frowned. "I got an idea, check the list of employees at Medic delivery AS, they deliver medicine and stuff. Compare the last names, I have a hunch"
They found the site of the company and entered the list of employees, both were eagerly comparing names and in the end they did find one that did match, partially. "Desmond Hue-Barlay. We have a Theodora Smith Barlay here"
Judith was suddenly tense. "Right, who is she?"
Bard did read. "Who was she is more correct, she did die two years ago. She was a marine biologist and worked with Costeou and other great names. Expert on sea snakes? She did die of heart failure in her own home"
Judith frowned. "Right, does it say anything about….oh don't bother, I can check that…"
She opened a new tab on her own computer and worked fast, her tongue in the corner of her mouth and her eyes were shining. "Here, ah, I was expecting it. She had Alzheimers for about twenty years before she died. Her husband did take care of her and then her son. And he is…Desmond!"
Thran swallowed. "Folks, we have a motif, I am darn sure we do"
Bard was sometimes shocked by how fast Thran did think, how his intimate knowledge of the human psyche did enable him to know things about a person he had never met. Judith grinned, her face did look like that of a wolf right now, a very hungry one. "Do tell"
Thran made a grimace. "I have seen such cases before. People who have gotten stuck with the task of taking care of a family member, they love the person and want to do what is right and at the same time they blame that person for the fact that they are stuck there, unable to have a real life. They have to spend time caring for somebody who cannot care for themselves and thus they have to shun a lot of life. It makes many bitter, some to the point where they snap!"
Bard nodded. "I can see that, you think that is what has happened here?"
Thran grinned. "Most likely yes, I think Desmond did kill his own mother, to end her suffering. But it did change him, he feels guilty and to alleviate that guilt he kills others too, puts them out of their misery, ends the suffering, feels a bit better about himself afterwards, for a wee time"
Bard swallowed. "Sounds like hell to me"
Thran sighed, "Yes, it is. He is probably riding a downwards turning spiral towards complete madness. "
Judith took a deep breath. "Yes, most likely. More have died recently, he is speeding up. And then there is the three kids, he isn't as picky anymore"
Thran shook his head. "No, he is still picky, in his eyes his compassion is growing, he is granting mercy to the innocent and helpless of all ages not just the elderly, in his eyes he is an angel, somebody who does a good deed. The doubt comes but he does quench it with more planning, more death"
Judith did blink. "Jesus, he has to be insane"
Thran smiled. "Yes, very much so but even those who are completely bonkers can seem to be normal. They can function, have a job, even a family who never will suspect anything at all"
Judith nodded. "Fine, but we have to get the guy, asap!"
Thran nodded. "Yes, we do. So you need to make a call to the firm he works at, pretend to be a nurse or something. Claim that Desmond has forgotten something at your place"
Judith did make a grimace. "Oh bugger, ah, what am I to say? Uh…yes, I can pretend to be from Fairview, it is one of the stops he makes each week isn't it?"
Bard did confirm and Judith did pick up a phone which did go on the landlines. She did punch in a number and waited for a moment. A woman answered at the other end and Judith did suddenly surprise them completely. She did normally sound very British with a sort of hard accent but now her voice was that of a southern belle for sure and it was a bit hoarse and rusty, like one who smokes a lot. "Yes, this is Sandy, from Fairview retirement home. Uh, I just wondered, your delivery guy, Desmond? He did leave two trays here, not one and the other one is going to the old nunnery downtown, St Anna's you know? You wouldn't happen to know where he is now? We have to send somebody over with the tray"
Judith did make notes. "That is great? The rehabilitation and retirement centre by the old reservoir? Thank you so much, I don't think he meant to make that mistake, it is so easy to do. Right, take care and have a good day"
She ended the call and smiled. "He is heading for the rehab centre, will be there in twenty."
Thran closed his eyes. "Bard, inform Thor, ask him to send every available car over to that place and please, inform everybody that the man in question is very dangerous. I wouldn't say he is beyond killing somebody if he feels threatened. But for God's sake, no sirens or lights, and use the back roads. Stay hidden"
He turned to Judith. "Is there some sort of antidote to those poisons?"
Judith was wide eyed. "Are you kidding me? No. "
Thran swore. "Fucking brilliant, right, nobody get near the guy, make sure that Thor gets that message"
Bard ran and Thran did run too, he got their vests and guns and Judith did also insist on following them. Thor did send out an alarm and a warning and for a few minutes there was chaos at the entire station. SWAT was called in and informed and there was an exodus of cars leaving the garage. It did almost cause a road block in itself and Thran and Bard used Thran's private car and were ahead of everybody. It wasn't that far to the rehab centre and they did enter the parking lot and parked the car behind a container. There was some road work going on there and Thran ran over and waved his badge.
The workers did look shocked at first, then one of them did drive an excavator into the street and blocked it, anybody using the road had to enter the parking lot in order to turn around. The workers did scurry and Thran did look intense. He ran up to the reception with his badge and a very tired looking large woman with stiff curls and a worn uniform did sit by the reception desk. Her name sign said that she was Theresa.
Her eyes got huge when she saw two handsome cops running through the doors and her mouth did drop. Thran didn't try to smile. "Listen, in a few minutes somebody you know will arrive, it is Desmond the delivery guy"
She did wet her lips. "Yes? We all know him, sweet guy but a bit silent, and not a fan of exercise"
Thran nodded. "Desmond is to be arrested, he has …he has done something very bad. Do not go near him, and do not touch anything he does carry. Make him leave his tray on the counter here and pretend as if everything is okay, can you do that? Send him off as fast as possible. We cannot apprehend him inside of this place, too many people could become hurt"
She was pale. "Oh God…what… what has he done?"
Thran saw that this woman was somebody used to handling tough truths. "He has killed a lot of people, by poisoning their medicine. I know this place too have had unexpected deaths recently"
She suddenly turned red in the face. "Oh…God have mercy! I was wondering about those deaths, I loved those people, none of them were knocking at deaths door and should have lived on. But I am just a nurse…"
Thran smiled swiftly. "You nurses are important, you are the machine which keeps the system running. Now, prepare, he cannot be far. There will be cops and SWAT soldiers hidden everywhere, do not be afraid"
She straightened up and her face became a professional mask, a stiff smile and indifferent eyes. "Right, I am ready"
Thran smiled, a real smile and she did blush. "Good girl!"
She did almost melt.
Thran and Bard did seek cover behind the container and Judith had somehow managed to eel her way into a set of rose bushes, she couldn't be seen but she would be able to see everything.
Thran and Bard had ear pieces and heard that the others were in position, they held their breaths. Before five minutes were gone by a delivery van did pull into the parking lot, it was moving slowly and the man who did leave it was not exactly an Adonis. He was obese and huffing and puffing as he did open the side door and picked up a tray from a shelf inside of the van. He did walk towards the entrance and Thran did make a grimace. The man was in terrible shape, they had to be sure that he didn't die of an heart attack.
He did enter and the lady behind the desk did continue filing her nails, not even bothering to look at him. "Place the tray on the table, Daisy will pick it up "
Desmond made a sort of pout. "Where is she?"
The large woman just rolled her eyes. "Late, apparently Mrs Smithson threw a tantrum at dinner and there is soup everywhere. I can sign it"
He did hand over the papers and the woman did sign for the meds with a steady handwriting, Theresa sent him a swift grin. "Have a good day"
The man shrugged and left the room, he was in the process of putting the papers back in the bag when he saw the reflection of a SWAT soldier in a window and he did react immediately. The doors did lock behind him and he saw that multiple cars were blocking the access to the parking lot. In desperation Desmond did turn around and he did run with remarkable speed, he did run around a corner and entered a small garden with a roof and some benches. The area was supposed to be cleared but not everybody had heard the warnings and there was a woman there, an elderly person with long white hair and pale complexion. She was wearing a pink bathrobe and she did carry a teddy bear.
Desmond grasped onto the woman and pulled something out of his pocket, it was a syringe and it was filled with some sort of golden liquid. The SWAT team did move forth, they were surrounding the man and had their guns drawn. Desmond was foaming around the mouth, eyes wild. "Do not get any closer, or this bitch gets it"
He held the syringe over the woman who was obviously confused. "Mama, is that you?"
Desmond was obviously desperate and Thran did move forth, he was wearing a vest but that wasn't protection against a syringe, and the content was probably very lethal. "Desmond, you do not want to hurt that sweet lady now do you? You don't want anybody to be hurt, we know that. "
Desmond was shaking. "She stole my life, all of it. I am nobody, she stole it all. But she had to go and I helped her and it was good, I am good. I help people"
Thran nodded. "Yes, we know that. You want to make them free don't you? Free from the pain of disease and age"
Desmond stared, Thran's voice was low and spinning, almost hypnotic and he was almost lowering the syringe when the woman giggled and reached into her pocket. She was obviously at a child like stage and had toys in her pockets and what she did pull out was a rubber snake. It was very life like and meant to look like a scarlet king snake, a relatively harmless species which did resemble a very lethal sea snake, the so called coral snake. "Look, isn't he pretty, he is my friend, I call him Randolph"
The woman did wave the snake innocently in front of Desmond and everybody there saw that the man's brain literally broke. He dropped the woman and the syringe and started screaming. "It is the snake, it is the snake, the devil, the tempting one, seducing Eve, the eye of evil"
The woman laughed like a kid and threw the rubber snake at Desmond who did scream like a woman and froze, the snake did hit him over the shoulder and he let out another horrible wail. "I am bitten, I am bitten, I am gonna die!"
He fell to his knees and grasped his chest, eyes bulging and veins throbbing. The soldiers did grasp onto him and cuffed him but the man was convulsing, spit flowing from his mouth and Judith did throw himself down next to him, she did inject him with something but it was too late. He did kick a few times and went limp and Judith did swear. "Fucking shit! Goddamn it!"
Thran frowned. "Can you do anything?"
She shook her head. "Nope, he is gone. Look at his face"
Bard saw and whistled, the whites of the eyes was completely red. "What the fuck happened to him? Heart attack?"
Judith did shake her head, got up slowly and brushed gravel off her pants. "No, he did die of fear. Burst all his veins at once I am sure. I bet his blood pressure was through the roof already and then the snake…He must have believed that it was a real one. "
Bard nodded. "Yes, he must have been used to snakes and thought it was a poisonous one. "
Thran took a deep breath. "At least he won't kill any more people. I kind of pity him!"
Judith did nod. "Yes, he was clearly a very disturbed person. Send somebody to his home, I bet he did use his mother's old specimen to create the poisons!"
Thor had come over and sent an order to the experts who did deal with dangerous chemicals. The house had to be checked from roof to basement, those substances were too dangerous to be left there. Judith stared at the dead body and the staff did apologize but the child like woman was very affected by dementia and had managed to slip away in the chaos. Thor did smile. "At least the press won't be able to catch wind of this until it is good and well and done with. Just facts, no speculations"
Thran nodded. "Yes, and some closure for the relatives. It is good"
The team did leave and the office sent a van for the body and after a while there was nothing left there which did remind anyone of what had just happened. Thran and Bard did leave and drove back to the office at normal speed and they were rather quiet. It had been a very unusual case, solved with remarkable speed but also a very disturbing one. Bard shook his head. "I am glad I am not religious, I don't want to ponder what sort of afterlife it is that awaits that guy"
Thran shrugged. "If we are to discuss philosophy I guess he did mean well, but it still doesn't excuse what he did"
Bard grinned. "The road to hell is paved with good intentions right?"
Thran smiled. "Yes, but one man's good intentions is another man's damnation!"
They were already on overtime and prepared to leave for the day. Thor did stick his head out of the door. "Well done guys, this was a nasty situation, thank God only the culprit did die"
Thran nodded. "Any word from the sanitation crew?"
Thor nodded. "Yes, the leader called me. The cellar was filled with all sorts of venomous creatures, most on ice or in alcohol but the dude had also been online. You can buy anything from the web, even poisons. He had quite a stack, the leader said that it was the most dangerous house he had ever visited. It will take a week to clear everything out"
Bard shuddered. "And he did live in there? Jeezes. "
Thor smiled. "Judith is gonna make sure that the nurses who did alert us are rewarded, they deserve it. And have a nice day guys, stay out of trouble and stay away from snakes"
Thran did wave his hand. "Will do"
Bard shook his head. "There are ribbon snakes under the barn"
Thran grinned. "And those are about as dangerous as a kitten. And we do leave those to the dog. Come on, I am hungry"
Bard grasped his coat and did hurry after his husband. "Me too dear, me too"
Judith did confirm her diagnosis, the poor man had suffered from several ruptured aneurysms and it was maybe ironic but sometimes fate can be cruel and strange. She did however keep the rubber snake. Who knew, may be it could come in handy again sometime.
