Chooser Of The Slain

The serial killer known as The Teddy Bear Killer (named by the media because he leaves his victims in woodland picnic areas - a play on Teddy-bears picnic) has already killed five times and seems to be targeting people who work in the financial sector. When DCI Jason Deeks and DS Jen Dawkins get called to the scene of the sixth victim they expect nothing out of the ordinary. But the examination of the body shows that this latest victim was killed whilst drugged, something the Teddy Bear killer has never done. This leads the investigation team on the trail of a possible copy-cat. At a run down theatre Oscar Jennings is working as a mentalist and illusionist, he is down on his luck and has been reduced to working in a provincial theatre due to debts. As he enters the theatre he talks with the porter who tells him about the discovery of another body, the sixth victim of the serial killer. Jennings seems upset by this news. The identity of the sixth victim is established as Father Strauss, a Roman Catholic priest, a break from the usual victim Teddy Bear chooses, which further highlights the copy-cat nature of this murder. Then it is found that the victim has links to the British Prime Minister, this leads to a visit to the investigating team by a pair of seemingly disinterested MI5 men, who pass along limited information on the victim and indicate that MI5 have no interest in the case. Information in the MI5 file leads Deeks to visit the boarding house the victim was staying in, there Deeks learns that the MI5 men had been at the house the day before the body was found, and whilst delving into the background of the victim Dawkins finds he was sponsored into the priesthood by Cardinal Peter LaRouge, who is now the Secretary of State for the Vatican - the Pope's righthand man. Jennings visits a bar, he no longer looks down on his luck, he is dressed professionally and sits watching the patrons, all of whom are bankers or stock traders. Jennings picks someone from the crowd who looks to be being excluded by others, using a coin trick to mesmerise his victim he leads him to a quieter part of the bar where he continues to mesmerise with the coin. Soon Jennings has control of his victim and tells him to leave acting as if drunk, after a while Jennings leaves and they go to the mans car and instructs him to drive to a picnic spot on the outskirts of town where Jennings kills the man and places his body spreadeagled as with previous victims. Jennings tells the victim before he kills him that this is all the fault of Deeks for trying to trick him with the fake sixth victim. In Italy Andrew Rourke is finishing up on a job for a mysterious employer known as The Bishop, he meets with a Mafia man and they discuss operatives that have been despatched on missions and can no-longer be recalled. Rourke kills the mafiosi and his guards and phones The Bishop to tell him everything is proceeding as planned and that all loose ends are tied up. The Bishop tells Rourke there has been a complication, tells him about Father Strauss and that the police are involved because he used the two MI5 men who visited Deeks to sort of the Strauss problem, and they botched it. Rourke says he will return to England to sort “this mess out” and assures The Bishop that nothing can stop events from happening. In France Cardinal Peter LaRouge is delivering a speech about how the Catholic Church must adapt a more rigorous approach in order to survive, he whips the audience up with dire warnings that eastern religions are winning the war for the hearts and minds of people, and that the church needs to use the same approach. After the speech LaRouge is driven to his hotel and talks with Milo – an associate of Rourke – about events in England and possible complications now the police are involved. Milo assures the Cardinal that Rourke will handle the situation. Deeks and Dawkins are discussing Strauss and the MI5 men when several suited men enter the incident room, one man takes particular interest in the incident board and when Deeks confronts him he turns around and it is Rourke who introduces himself as a member of MI6.