The Contaminated Drugs Murders — Dan Ryan

When a client of 11-year-old Lexie Thatcher's father is accused of murdering a female jogger, only two people believe that he is innocent - Lexie and the mother of the murdered girl. So Lexie does the only thing she can think of to help him: she calls her friend Ethan Blaine (also eleven) to help prove the feckless youth's innocence. With Ethan in London and Lexie in Devon, they work together by phone, pooling their talents �" he the computer whiz kid with hacking skills and she the worldly bookworm �" as they struggle to find the evidence that will clear the youth. At the same time, Ethan has become obsessed with a case that has been dominating the news: the deaths of drug users from contaminated drugs. What is particularly fascinating about these contaminated drugs deaths is that some one is sending cryptic messages to the press and the police in the form of poems. And Ethan is determined to decipher these messages, calling on Lexie and her encyclopaedic knowledge to help him in return for his help to her in the case of her father's client. But are the two cases connected? And can Ethan solve them from behind his computer or must he come out into the real world and put himself in danger as he did when he set out to clear his mother of murder charge and uncovered a baby-selling racket and corruption in high places? In this case, it's a no brainer. One stolen credit card and an airline flight to Scotland later, Ethan contrives to meet with a killer... (Formerly, "Ethan and the Cryptic Clues") EXTRACT At that point something in her snapped... There was a sudden flurry of movement, as a police officer tried to get between Gillian and Buckman. But by then it was too late. Gillian was too quick, too strong and two angry to be stopped. In an instant she had stepped sideways, dodged past the policeman and flew at Jeremy Buckman, punching and kicking him and clawing at his face with her fingers. But by this time the other police officers had reacted �" three of them struggling to pull her off Buckman. But Gillian wasn't finished yet. She was a lot stronger than the policemen gave her credit for. And just when they thought they had got her off Buckman, she forced her way forward with renewed vigour, punching and kicking again. For a second time they pulled her off Buckman, this time more forcefully �" no longer showing deference for the fact that she was a woman. But even now as they tried to create space between Gillian and Buckman, she kept up the pressure, aiming a vicious kick at Buckman that missed him by inches. Finally the police managed to drag her away, still kicking and screaming. As her screams became more feint and distant, Buckman half-stood, half-crouched, cowering away in the corner. His nose was bleeding and his forearms were scratched. There was no hiding the relief on his face when the one lone policeman who had stayed with him led him back to the holding cells… “Have you gone mad woman!” shouted Detective Superintendent Beagle. The Liaison Officer gave the superintendent a stern look, as if to remind him that whatever this woman had done, she was still a victim. Obviously, a woman in a state of such grief couldn't be expected to have as much self-control as everyone else. The Superintendent backed off physically and even his facial features softened as he tried to give Gillian a sympathetic look. “I know how you must be feeling,” said Beagle. “But you must understand that even a man accused of murder has human rights. I… I mean, he could have you charged with assault.” He looked down at Gillian who was by now taking a series of deep breaths to calm herself. He thought that perhaps she was going to cry or show some sign of weakness, even though she hadn't shown any before. But instead she just carried on breathing deeply, getting her heartbeat under control. Finally she looked up at the Superintendent and spoke calmly. “YOU DO KNOW HE'S INNOCENT, DON'T YOU?”