The Second Angel

Detectives remain uncertain as to the ultimate market for these supplies of quality-assured whole blood, but it’s generally believed the ultimate buyers were illegal P2 clinics in the Far East. When apprehended, Dreyer and Johannot were in possession of bank accounts totaling some $1.5 billion. Both men’s computer records confirmed them as officially classed P2. Following their arrest, however, medical examinations revealed no trace of the virus. A complete change of blood in conjunction with the drug ProTryptol 14 remains the only way to cure P2.

Chief Inspector Paul Arthuis said: ‘In nearly all cases involving vamping, first and foremost the perps are seeking a cure for themselves. But when they see how much money there is to be made from the trade in illegal blood, it becomes hard to stop. Sixty percent of murders today are blood-felony related.’

Even by the standards of the day, the case has horrified people throughout America, and several congressmen are already calling for more to be done to help the victims of P2. Congressman Peter Piers said: ‘This kind of thing will go on happening as long as P2 victims are condemned to a living death with no hope of a cure. That’s the real horror of what has been revealed in this appalling case.’

Perhaps the grimmest aspect of the facts that were presented to the court was the way in which Dreyer and Johannot disposed of the bodies once they had been drained of blood. The panel of five judges heard how the pair had fitted the furniture van with a fully automated disposal system, enabling them to reduce the bodies to a fine powder, and all without the risk of foul odors, air emissions, or wastewater discharges. Microcomputers controlled the parameters of the operation, which included a shredder, a reduction system to further reduce particle size, and a grinder. After a period of holding in a tank containing a chemical condensate, a steam-jet-ejector vacuum system expelled the end product through the van’s exhaust gases. The two men might never have been caught but for a police spot-check of emissions from vehicles running on compressed gases. The suspicions of the two officers were aroused when they noticed a spray gun on the van’s passenger seat of a type used by the military to knock out enemy soldiers. When the van was searched, the officers found four bodies drained of their life’s blood and awaiting pathological waste processing. Chief Inspector Paul Arthuis said: ‘It looks as if these two guys could probably have taught the SS a thing or two.’

Throughout the trial, Dreyer said nothing. It remains to be seen whether the dreadful sight of the cartwheel[34] and the executioner’s crowbar will encourage the condemned man to try and explain himself.