Free The Shadow Walker by Michael Walters

understand it, Nergui’s remit covers anything that’s a potential threat to the state. In the UK that would mean things like terrorism, subversion and so on. Lesser crimes—if I can call them that—although serious would not be construed as a threat to the state, and so would be handled by the police.”
    â€œThe police handle terrorists,” Drew pointed out.
    â€œIn terms of arresting suspects and so on, yes, of course,” the ambassador said. “But you would be working on the basis of information and guidance from Special Branch, MI5 and so on.”
    If only, Drew thought, but didn’t bother to interrupt.
    â€œBut here, you see, in what is still an emerging country, any kind of large scale or serious crime can be a threat to the state—fraud, corruption, industrial sabotage—”
    â€œAnd murder?”
    â€œWell, not usually, because most of the murders are pretty mundane affairs. But this is different. Just the sheer scale of it. They don’t know what they’re dealing with, and my guess is that the Minister has intervened personally, which is why Nergui’s involved.”
    Drew sipped on his coffee, mulling this over. “Do you think they know something they’re not sharing with us?”
    â€œI was hoping you might be able to give me some insights into that one. Not immediately, of course—I realize you’ve just got here. But it would be helpful to know how your thinking develops.”
    I bet it would, Drew thought. At least now he knew why the ambassador was being so open with him.
    â€œMy guess, though,” the ambassador went on, in the tone of one accustomed to having his guesswork taken seriously, “is that that’s not the case. Of course, they’re quite capable of not sharing information with us.” He shook his head, as if overwhelmed by the enormity of such behavior. “But I’ve got one or two sources of my own, and my impression is that they’re as baffled as we are by this.” He paused. “What’s your take on the whole thing, anyway?”
    â€œSo far? Well, I’ve not yet been through the case notes in any detail—they sent me over some stuff but most of it would need translating, of course. I’m meeting with Nergui after this to go through it all with him. But, on the face of it, it seems an odd one. The most straightforward explanation is that we’re simply dealing with a psychopath, someone who’s just picking victims at random. A Brady or a Sutcliffe.”
    â€œBut do—those kinds of people genuinely pick their victims at random?”
    â€œI’m not a psychologist, but I think there’s generally more of a common pattern than would seem to be the case here. Though of course we don’t really know if there is any pattern given that the first three victims are still unidentified.”
    â€œAnd if it’s not just a psychopath killing at random?”
    â€œThe odd thing, I think, is how professional the earlier killings seemed to be. The removal of the identifying marks, emptying of pockets. The removal of the limbs apparently done with some precision—not that we’re looking for a skilled surgeon, but I understand it doesn’t look like the work of someone in a hurry, panicking at the scene of the crime. It’s strange behavior for a psychopath, but then I guess that psychopathic behavior is strange by definition. Equally, the scale of the killings would be odd if this were some sort of professional hit—unless we’re looking at some sort of tit for tat feud.”
    â€œWhat, organized gangs battling for turf? That kind of thing?”
    Drew smiled. “Well, it happens in Moss Side all the time. It must be a possibility. But it does raise the question of why so much trouble was taken to hide the victims’ identities. If you’re sending a message, you’d surely want to make it as unambiguous as