Free Breaking Point by John Macken Page A

your best guess?’
    Dr Chris Stephens stared resolutely at the wood-effect table and said, ‘I’ve only had twenty minutes with them. No external marks, nothing to go on at all.’
    ‘So the cause of death could be …’
    ‘It could be anything.’
    ‘Great.’ Sarah ran a finger along the line of an eyebrow. She sighed loud enough to share it with the room. ‘I know it’s incredibly early, but we need to move fast. And if any group can move fast, it’s you lot. It’s what you’re set up to do.’ Her phone beeped but she ignored it. ‘Just to fill in those of you who don’t already know, GeneCrime have officially been tasked with investigating. No outside help as yet.’
    ‘Why us, ma’am?’ Leigh Harding asked. ‘I mean, it seems a bit preliminary for GeneCrime to be wading in.’
    ‘There’s something else here, detective.’ Sarah directed her attention across the table. ‘Charlie?’
    Charlie Baker sighed and rubbed his eyes. ‘There might have been more. Two other people have died suddenly on the Tube in the past month. One was diabetic, but other than that, an average male of forty-eight. The other was a female foreign student aged twenty-three. The deaths occurred three and a half weeks apart on entirely different regions of the Tube.’
    ‘Presumably there were post-mortems?’ Dr Stephens asked.
    ‘The male could have had a heart attack. Apparently the results were inconclusive. Diabetic, smoker, liked a bit of a drink now and then …’
    ‘And the student?’
    ‘She was repatriated to Lithuania, and we haven’t been able to trace whether a post-mortem examination was carried out there.’
    ‘So two fresh deaths in two days have begun to ring bells at the Met. They could be linked to previous events, or it could just be a case of four passengers out of several million randomly dropping dead.’ Sarah frowned. ‘Either way, we’re to do this quietly. Word gets out of several suspicious deaths on the Tube, we’re going to start a panic that will grind London to a halt. We have to be thorough and organized. If someone is out there doing this, well … you know what I’m saying.’
    ‘What about other priorities?’ Mina asked. ‘Are you advocating that we drop any cases?’
    ‘Nothing is to be dropped. Just back-burner for the time being. Danny Pavey still hasn’t been apprehended, so that case isn’t going anywhere for a while. The gangland stuff can grind on, as and when. In the meantime, this gets priority. That goes for CID and Forensics. OK?’
    There was a muted series of confirmations around the room. Scientists and CID officers made mental lists of actions, of procedures to be followed, of workloads to be shifted. As Sarah had just reminded them, this is what they did. Rapid responses to potential crises.
    ‘Right,’ Sarah said. ‘Forensics report to the morgue ASAP to start sample preps. Chris, you can have access as soon as Forensics are done. Helen, Leigh? I want you chasing back through Tabatha and Toni-Anne’s daily lives – where they worked, where they lived, where they went, anything that might link them. And get witness statements.’
    ‘Ma’am, we’ve just learned that Judith Meadows is a witness to Tabatha’s death.’ Detective Harding frowned at Sarah. ‘Should we question her officially?’
    ‘Our Judith?’
    Detective Harding nodded.
    ‘No, just find out what she saw. I know how you CID boys and girls like to play rough. I don’t want her giving birth in one of the interview rooms. We’ve just had the buggers decorated.’
    Sarah reached for her coffee again and stopped herself just in time. ‘Anything else?’ she asked. No one responded so she stood up to signify the meeting was over.

18
    VALDEK KOSONOVSKI PULLED hard on the lead, and the dog fell into line. Canines had strong necks, he concluded, compared to people. Put a lead on a man who didn’t want to talk and a few quick yanks would make all the difference. Chokers were the best, the