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ever seen the way a drowning man frantically looks around himself, confused, searching for a miracle that is just not there? A miracle that will never come?’
    Still silence.
    ‘Have you seen the way the body convulses, as if it was being electrocuted, as the person finally lets go of hope and breathes his first mouthful of water? The way his eyes almost bulge out of his skull as water enters his lungs and he slowly starts to suffocate?’ The caller deliberately breathed out heavily. ‘Did you know that it’s impossible to keep your eyes shut when you’re drowning? It’s an automatic motor reaction when a person’s brain is starved of oxygen.’
    Garcia’s gaze returned to his screen.
    The caller laughed one more time. This time a relaxed giggle. ‘Keep on watching, Detective. This show is just about to get much better.’
    The line went dead.

Five
    All of a sudden and with incredible speed, water started jetting out of the holes on both pipes inside the glass enclosure. The man tied to the chair was caught by surprise, and fear made his whole body jerk violently. His eyes widened in complete desperation as he realized what was happening. Despite the gag in his mouth, he started screaming, frantically, but on the other side of the screen Hunter and Garcia couldn’t hear a sound.
    ‘Oh my God,’ Garcia said, bringing his closed right fist to his mouth. ‘He’s not bullshitting. He’s going to do it. He’s going to drown the guy, goddammit.’
    The man kicked and wiggled ferociously inside the enclosure, but his restraints wouldn’t give an inch. He couldn’t break free no matter what he did. The chair was solidly bolted to the floor.
    ‘This is insane,’ Garcia said.
    Hunter stood still, his eyes unblinking, staring at his computer screen. He knew that from their office there was absolutely nothing they could do – except maybe collect evidence. ‘Is there a way we can record this?’ he asked.
    Garcia shrugged. ‘I don’t know. I don’t think so.’
    Hunter reached for his phone again and got the LAPD switchboard.
    ‘Punch me through to the head of the Computer Crimes Unit, now. This is urgent.’
    Two seconds later he heard a ringing tone. Four seconds after that the phone was answered by a baritone voice.
    ‘Dennis Baxter, LAPD Computer Crimes Unit.’
    ‘Dennis, this is Detective Hunter from Homicide Special.’
    ‘Hello, Detective, how can I assist you?’
    ‘Tell me, is there a way I can record a live webcam broadcast that I’m watching on my computer right now?’
    Baxter laughed. ‘Wow, is she that hot?’
    ‘Is there a way or not, Dennis?’
    Hunter’s tone knocked the play out of Baxter’s voice.
    ‘Not unless you have some sort of screen recording software installed on your computer,’ he answered.
    ‘Will I have one?’
    ‘On an LAPD office computer? Not as standard. You can put in a request and IT will install one for you in a day or two.’
    ‘No good. I need to capture what’s on my screen right now.’
    A split-second pause.
    ‘Well, I can do it from here,’ Baxter said. ‘If you’re watching something live over the net, just give me the web address. I can log into the same website and capture it for you. How does that sound?’
    ‘Good enough. Let’s try it.’ Hunter gave Baxter the sequence of numbers the caller had given him minutes earlier.
    ‘An IP address?’ Baxter asked.
    ‘That’s right. Aren’t they traceable?’ Hunter asked.
    ‘Yes. That’s actually their main purpose. They work almost like a license number plate for every computer connected to the net. With that, I can pretty much tell you the exact location of the source computer.’
    Hunter frowned. Could the caller have made such a silly mistake?
    ‘Do you want me to start a trace?’ Baxter asked.
    ‘Yes.’
    ‘OK. I’ll get back to you as soon as I get anything.’ He disconnected.
    The water was already reaching the man’s waist. At that speed, Hunter calculated that the man would be