Twenty One

Untitled Part 2

                                                                                    Chapter Two

                                                                                      Off To Uni

So it was, at the tender age of eighteen , with a heavy heart, Rachel hugged and said goodbye to her Mother knowing that she would mostly be alone for long periods with only the Village meetings to fall back on. Kristina the pivotal part of the family had always explained to her children that she had been born into a more subservient world and therefore accepted her role in life. But this is your world, she would say where men and women have equal rights. Do not get bogged down in Religion it will only hold you back, you can be anything you wish, just always be true to yourselves and kind to others, enjoy the life that you have been given, and do not tell your father we had this conversation.

Rachel found life at Bristol University fascinating, the atmosphere, the discussions and the boys all made for an exciting time. She found herself under the spell of Professor Richard Timms the most passionate, argumentative and even opinionated person man or woman that she had ever encountered,she became obsessed. All who attended his investigative journalism classes left the room gob smacked by the energy of the man. It was a masterclass of Who-done-it, he would come up with the most ridiculous scenarios obviously created in his own imagination and leave the class to mull over the why's and wherefore's, hopefully resulting in a solution. On the journalistic side he would encourage everyone to watch or listen to political programs and have a good old debate with the Politicians or Commentators.

By the end of the first year Rachel's confidence had grown to the extent of making up a crime story of her own and presenting it to Professor Timms, who in turn had the annoying ability of turning your story inside-out to the point where you were totally confused with what you had written.

"THE MAN WAS A GENIUS"

After two years of study it was time for the Summer holiday's and off to Spain with best friend Emily. Benidorm was fantastic, sun, sea, alcohol and boys, although maybe not in that order. Emily fell head over heals in love with a Spanish waiter against the advice of Rachel's suspicious mind, and it would take some undercover leg work to discover that Manuel as he called himself, was really Fernando, married with two children and one on the way. She thought it best to tell Emily at the Airport on the way home where it would be too late to find him and possibly end up in jail. She got over it.

Entering her third year at Bristol Rachel had a brace of things to look forward to. Firstly, discovering what juicy tit-bits Professor Timms had in store for her, and secondly, the arrival of her younger brother Steven to the University. He would be studying History, mainly the lead up to the formation of the State of Israel. But conscious of the Big Sister watching over me image they would travel too and from Budliegh separately, only meeting one night in the week for dinner, and phoning home to Mother Kristina on different nights. This would give them both their own space.

After completing some quite complicated assignments for the Professor, Rachel was summoned to his private office. This was very unusual as like her Father it was his special place. 

"Come in, sit down Rachel" he said, "I have a tricky one for you" and he proceeded to outline an ongoing Interpol investigation into the deaths of up to fifty people all over Europe. All strangled, more men than women, and all around the same age. With no apparent motive being found, no one had ever been arrested or charged in connection with these cases.

"This is out of my comfort Zone" said Rachel, "I have been covering small crimes and some Government frauds, why me?

"I always told you to think outside of the box, did I not" answered Timms, "there must be a link somewhere, take the details and do your research, but remember that Interpol have done the same things. Therefore think beyond the norm, take three or four months and we will speak again, enjoy"

Rachel juggling between English Literature classes researched what Interpol already knew from the Internet, and while mulling over news paper clippings and interviews with senior Detectives she quickly established that the killings had taken place in nine different countries, although none so far in the UK. There had been 39 men and 10 women all were approaching or had just celebrated their 25th birthdays, all had been strangled and all of the killings had taken place outdoors and at night. "There must be a link " pondered Rachel, "but what?

She began travelling to London, making a nuisance of herself at New Scotland Yard where it was clear that there was no more information than she was already aware of, and the investigation was for a multiple murder inquiry, very low key, considering the 49 deaths. 

When back at home on the weekends, Rachel discussed the case freely with her Parents, while not going into any details of what she had found. Although her Mother was fascinated her father Peter Riesen dismissed it as a piece of old rubbish, saying "If it hasn't happened in the UK why bother, as he walked into his study and closed the door" 

Not put off Rachel would wade through the facts. Was there a link to the different Cities? the victims ages, more men than women. It was like a Chandelier with the central piece missing, and with Professor Timms voice ringing in her ear, she began to think out of the box.

One, were all of the victims the same nationality? no.

Two, were they Gay?, no.

Three, were they known criminals?, no.

Four, were they the same religion? not known.

Five, were they originally nationals of the country where they died? not known

Six, Were they religious killings, as in a cult? no.

There were two not known's, four and five. What was their Religion. Who were their parents, and was there a Nationality link further back in time?

Rachel decided to trace three of the victims and trace their ancestry back to where they were born. Her first choice was Franco Mendez, strangled to death in Rome the day before his 25th birthday. Although as Rachel quickly discovered he was in fact a UK national living in Italy. This contradicted the theory of no UK victims. "But who was he? Scouring the archives in London Rachel discovered that Franco was born in 1983, married to a Manchester girl Susan and has a son Franco Junior. Franco was the son of Pedro Mendez who himself disappeared in 1990 at the age of 35 and was never found, Pedro's father Ricardo was an immigrant from Argentina who arrived in the UK in 1953 with his wife Isabella, Pedro senior was born two years later. No trace of Ricardo's parents could be found.

Secondly Madeline Mion, a French girl strangled in the Town of Leon in 2006 aged 25, unmarried with a three year old son Phillipe. She was the daughter of Peter Mion a successful Architect who himself vanished without trace twenty years before his daughters death. Peter was the son of Henry Mion who landed in France the orphan of European parents living in Columbia, no trace of them could be found.

Thirdly, Sven Hilgard from Stockholm Sweden, strangled on his 25th birthday behind a block of flats in the centre of the City, he had a two year old son with his wife Gertrude. his Father Bjorn had died in a mysterious skiing  accident when Sven was 16 years old. Bjorn was the son of Alfred and Rita Hilgard who came to Sweden in 1952 from Uruguay, no trace of them could be found.

Rachel had her first link, all originally Europeans re-entering Europe from South America in the early 1950s, most likely on false passports.