Chapter 10: Detective Chu Notices Something

The report came through at 7:14 AM on a Tuesday, routed to Chu's desk through the overnight backlog the way all non-fatal overdoses came through — timestamped, assigned a case number, waiting for someone to decide whether it required attention or a file drawer.

Chu noticed it the way he noticed most things: not immediately, and not by accident.

He had been working through the backlog in chronological order, which was the only honest way to work through a backlog, because chronological order had no preferences about what was important. The report for the male victim, thirty-one, South Valley address, was the fourth item in the stack. The attending ER physician had checked the standard boxes. Acute stimulant toxicity, suspected unknown compound, recovered without intervention after six hours of monitored observation. Standard language for a non-fatal that didn't fit a familiar profile. Standard disposition: referred to narcotics for case review.