The Black Dots, Part Five

In my visit to the pharmaceuticals factory, I discovered that there was no black dot serial killer. The black dots themselves were the murderer. It was a virus that was being manufactured as a biological weapon and it had somehow leaked out of one of the containment units.

My attempt to see Mr. Dowling served two functions. I was hoping that he had access to an antidote, though I knew that to be unlikely. Failing a cure, I intended to infect him the same way he had infected me. Then we could die together.

In the end, I died alone.

The Black Dots, Part Four

By the time I got to Pine Hill, someone had warned Mr. Dowling of my impending arrival. An army of his goons were waiting for me outside. There was no way I was getting an audience.

I thought maybe they'd been warned about how I shot up the pharmaceuticals factory and they weren't going to let me do the same thing to Mr. Dowling's precious estate. Turns out I'd misread the situation.

I now had my own Black Dot on my forehead. It meant I had only a few hours to find a solution or I'd be the next victim.

The Black Dots, Part Three

No one could remember what the pharmaceuticals factory was built for, other than to pollute the entire city with noxious fumes and wastewater. It was owned by Rufus T. Dowling, the reclusive textiles baron who at one time controlled more than a third of the city's real estate.

Ever since his wife's death, he had rarely been seen in public and his empire was in decline.

Once I had learned the truth about the black dot killings, the first question I wanted answered was whether Dowling knew about the plot. That's why I drove to his mansion on Pine Hill.