Page 26 of Natural-Born Cullers

“Someone brought fact into the fiction,” murmured Cal. Then he frowned. “Camera is tipped over and smashed—”

Gray flicked the camera a look. It had?

“Alec Keates and Cane Stevenson identified these two here are the See no Evil killers,” said Cal. “Are we looking at a rival Red Room team, do you think?” He directed that detail more to Simon, more to focus… work. Routine. Back to—

Tick…. fucking tock.

“If it was a rival team—” Simon crouched too close to the dried blood, almost in Gray’s way as he got a shot of the ribs. “—they would have more than likely live streamed their killing as a warning.” Simon glanced around him. “I’ve found no evidence on scene of any other equipment other than to disrupt phone signals, but to get even a signal down here, you’d need something heavy to boost it, which this first team had. A lot of prep was needed beforehand to do that. Ferguson’s organisers would have scoped the location prior to him coming in and would have spotted another team working the area. Surveillance equipment fetches a good price on the dark web. And…?” He looked back at Cal. “How long from their camera going down did it take for this second killer to step in scene?”

“From Alec’s and Cane’s statements, a minute, no more.”

Tick… fucking tock.

“Whose statements?”

Cal frowned at Gray. “The witnesses. I just told you that.”

Gray shifted and took out his phone as he went back over to Noah’s body. Bits of dried red chalk played on curved bone, and he snapped the shot, needing, just bloody needing it to thicken, spill, bring life back into drip…

Fucking drop.

“So that leaves us where?” Cal gave a hard sigh, a harder look coming Gray’s way. “One killer going after the other for the domination of territory?”

“More artistic difference.”

Cal scowled at Gray. “Okay. Thank you for joining the discussion again, but—what?”

Gray pointed at Ferguson. “He took a bullet to the head. Direct, blunt, a clear cull of the main player in the field that suggests low tolerance. Your witnesses said his cameraman was kept alive through the Blood Eagle, right? This time with them as the live audience, yet Ferguson was a carcass when his was done, the witnesses kicked out at that point: so same care with the art itself, but not with the tolerance over application. Blood Eagle usually prefers his victims alive through it, but has one here who wasn’t.”

“So why give them both wings if he was pissed off with them?”

“He didn’t,” said Simon over to Cal. “Ribs have been stripped bare. He clipped their creative wings.”

Tick… fucking tock.

“Hmm,” said Gray. “He clipped their wings because of their low level of creativity with their See no Evil play.”

“To which you agree,” said Cal flatly. “Ferguson didn’tdo itfor you like Blood Eagle is here, hmm? Do you need time alone for a moment, get naked, roll around in the dried blood a little?”

Gray held his look, and Cal avoided it a moment later before Gray focused back on Noah. “Blood Eagle. He’s not perfect.”He frowned. “No cameras were used, but he’s after recognition for his art.”

“That’s obvious with how he let Alec and Cane go in order to contact police.” Cal came over.

“No, not just that.” Gray chased the near-perfect angle of bone, more the intricate run of jute rope that knotted them all together. All chalk-stained and… how good would this rusted rope look on Jack, red grains dusting tanned skin…? “He wanted the two victimsinside the cages to see him go live with his art.” Gray narrowed his eyes. “His flaw comes in how he knew Ferguson would be down here.”

He glanced up at Simon. “Blood Eagle’s had access to Ferguson’s Red Room and picked up on his love of using tunnels and international travel from there. He’s probably been scouting tunnels for months in the UK, along with picking up on the style of the Controller’s other Red Room event hosts until Ferguson came here.”

Gray thought for a moment. “Take the description given by the witnesses and run a check on CCTV in and around this location. He’s an artist: he’ll want to get in here and get a feel for the place and atmosphere. With the detail he works with, he’ll have a mass of notes and drawings, not only with this location, but also with other Red Room event organisers. But he’s not blind in his creativity: he’d use an artists’ tablet to organise his details, so keep a look out on CCTV for someone carrying a drawing tablet and case into here. You also need to get access to the Red Room guest list if possible, try and get a trace of the usernames to see who keeps coming back.”

“I think this is his first step into the public, because we’ve not seen anything else like this… yet,” said Cal. “Which may suggest the live streams were a trigger.”

Drip… fucking drop.

“No, he’s just pissing over Ferguson’s need for a wider audience as well.” Gray wiped a hand across his face, mostly to ease the need to feel red chalk on his fingertip. “The cuts to the bone are too accurate for a first performance. He’s built it over years, maybe starting with dead animals. But this shows too much confidence for a first kill. There are others, so he’s either not been confident with showing off his art, or someone’s guiding him, schooling him on what to reveal.”

Simon raised a brow. “Maybe he’s been brought up around someone in the trade? A butcher?” He let his camera rest around his neck as he took notes. “His goth look seemed as distinct as his Blood Eagle art here too,” he mumbled. “Although I’m betting he’ll dress down if he knows cameras are around, and if he knows how to gain access to the Red Room via the dark web, then he’ll know how to try and hide his identity. The art tablet and carry case could help narrow it down, though, when it comes to CCTV.”

“Hmm,” mumbled Gray. He dusted a thumb over red chalk playing on the curve of bone. “Use whatever you need from MI6 and 5, but from here on in, you go in with dog soldier in mind.”

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