Lost Bullet

by Malcolm Rose

  With a few metres – perhaps ten paces – to go, he squashed himself against the wall and beckoned to Malc. “This is it,” he said in a barely audible voice. “If Ethan’s right, he’s just ahead. It opens out into a big space. Go in, silent mode, and watch out for yourself. Whatever you do, don’t get shot. If you’re taken down this time... I’m next. There’s no easy way out from here.”

  “Confirmed,” Malc replied at his lowest volume.

  Chapter Twenty-Seven

  Luke felt abandoned. Everything had gone totally quiet. Only a few seconds had passed but it seemed like an eternity. At least, a rifle’s thunder had not ripped through the stagnant air. Luke could feel the cold against his back and dampness seeping into his shirt. It could have been sweat or moisture trickling down the wall.

  Making Luke jump, Malc’s profile appeared unannounced in the archway. Light glinted off his right side from one of the electric lamps set in the wall. He said, “Reece Morgan is here but unconscious.”

  “What?” Luke lurched into the middle of the passage. “More light, Malc. Show me.”

  The mobile led the way into the derelict chamber of The World Church of Eternal Vision. His spotlight picked out the Visionary in the centre of the ring of workbenches and machines, like a stricken actor on a freakish stage. Next to him lay a golf bag with a rifle protruding from it.

  Taking care of safety first, Luke yanked on disposable gloves and moved the weapon out of Reece Morgan’s reach. It was almost certainly unnecessary. Morgan was helpless, not far from death.

  He was dressed in his church uniform of dark suit, light shirt and red tie. Only his shaven head and hands were bared. And his face... it was almost unrecognisable. The right side was swollen and stretched as if it had been pumped up like a football. His eye had disappeared into the huge blister, surrounded by dead tissue that was turning black. He seemed to be paralysed, but the muscles on the left side of his face were twitching uncannily and horribly. Blood-filled spots were appearing on the skin and his left eye was stained red. The arteries and veins in his neck had ruptured, bruising his flesh and creating pools of blood under his skin. Occasionally, he struggled to drag a mouthful of air into his fluid-filled lungs, gurgling through the liquids in his throat. It sounded like someone sucking the dregs of a drink through a straw.

  Luke had seen the symptoms before. He knew exactly what had happened. Lost Bullet had been poisoned by rattlesnake venom. Because he’d admitted his sins to Ethan Loach, the preacher had put him through another rattlesnake test. Judging by the disfigurement of his face, the creature had bitten him on the right cheek. Like Sarah Toback before him, Reece Morgan had failed the Church’s test.

  “Malc. Send out an emergency radio message to the anti-venom unit at Thomas’s Hospital. He needs anti-venom for a rattlesnake bite. Now.”

  “Transmitting. However, it is highly unlikely to get here in time. Also, it is illogical to strive to keep him alive so that he can face the death penalty.”

  Luke looked up at Malc severely. “Well, that’s the difference between you and me. He’s a human being and, if there’s a chance of saving him, I’ll do it. And I’m just an FI, not a judge. It’s my job to charge him with his crimes, not sentence him.” He gazed down at the pitiful sight of Reece Morgan. “Is there anything we can do for him?”

  “The site of the bite should be left alone. Current medical practice does not recommend attempting to suck out the venom. The only suggestion is removal of constrictions near the swelling.”

  Luke nodded. “You mean, loosen his collar and tie.”

  “Confirmed.”

  When Luke leaned over him, unpicked his tie and tried to undo the top button of his shirt, Morgan’s left eye shifted as if he were aware of Luke’s presence. There was terror in that eye. Luke ignored it. Morgan’s neck was so bloated that his collar dug into his skin tightly. There was no slack to allow Luke to unfasten the button. “Laser, Malc. Burn the cotton or melt the button, whichever happens first.”

  Malc focused a red dot of light on the centre of the button to guide the laser and then fired. In the dust-laden air, the narrow beam glowed. After a few seconds, the collar gave way. It was like a dam bursting. More fluids gushed into Morgan’s bulging neck but at least he seemed to take in air a little more easily. Before his quietened heart failed altogether, his last breaths would not be so painful. Luke and Malc had eased his way out of the world.

  Nodding towards the golf bag, Luke said, “Scan what you can see of the rifle, and his hands, Malc. Have we got what we need to clinch the case?”

  “His fingerprints are on the rifle.”

  “That’ll do it, then.”

  “Confirmed. You have sufficient evidence to charge Reece Morgan with multiple murder and attempted murder.” Malc hesitated before adding, “You need to consider arresting Ethan Loach.”

  Luke shook his head. “I’d like to, but it won’t work. Not for murder anyway. Ethan didn’t bite him. The snake did. And I bet Ethan didn’t force him to face God’s judgement. I doubt if anyone’s ever refused the invitation to take the test. It’ll have been voluntary. You might as well put out a call to arrest the snake or God.”

  “Non-humans and mythical creatures are outside the law.”

  “I know what Ethan Loach will be doing. He won’t bring the Church back here again. He’ll move on. Right now, he’ll be passing round another piece of paper with a new address.” Luke sighed. “I’m done with Visionaries but I’ll help The Authorities round up the ones who’ve driven whites out of their homes and wrecked surgeries. They won’t get them all, though, and they’ll never get rid of The World Church of Eternal Vision. There’ll always be someone to carry it on.”

  Morgan stirred. His slow erratic breathing had suddenly become noisier, more desperate. His open mouth seemed to be trying to form a final word. “Res... Resp...”

  Luke looked at Malc. “Did the anti-venom unit get the message?”

  “Confirmed. A team is on its way.”

  But by the time that the medics arrived above ground, Reece Morgan was beyond help. And beyond further punishment.

  The Next Case

  Roll Call

  In their third thrilling case, Luke and Malc are hunting a serial killer who is killing women and girls with only one thing in common – they share the same name: Emily Wonder. It’s a tough case because the murderer uses perfect weapons – ones that leave no trace. When another Emily Wonder goes missing, Luke races through the streets of London to try to save her from the killer’s dreadful plan – before an approaching tsunami engulfs the city.

  Read ROLL CALL for more forensic crime-solving with Luke and Malc.