And where did the adult Anguilla eels of Loch Ness journey to spawn?

The Sargasso Sea.

* * *

With no monster sightings in days, and nothing significant appearing on David's sonar array, the Highland Council was beginning to get concerned. They had invested a lot of money in penning off Urquhart Bay, and the entire world was watching and waiting… and forming opinions.

Despite the deaths of five people, there was still no real proof directly linking any of the killings to a lake monster. No creature had been sighted and no bodies recovered, save for Justin Wagners, and there were rumors spreading that in fact, his injuries had been a result of being run over by the Zodiac's propeller. Ron Casey was recovering in Raigmore Hospital, but the crime scene photographer could remember nothing about the boating incident that had led to the drownings of his two friends and the vessel's captain, and never claimed having seen a water beast.

The pressure was mounting, and most of it was on David Caldwell and my father, whose trial was set to reconvene in the next twenty-four hours.

* * *

My hotel phone rang on the eve of Angus's continuance, chasing me from a catnap. "Hello?"

"Zachary? Mary Tidwell. I just got the results back from the lab."

I sat up in bed. "Go on."

"Two things. First, traces of beta blocking chemicals were found in the eel's blood."

"Beta blockers? As in heart medication?"

"Yes. Most likely ingested from feeding on Ferox trout, which come in contact with the chemicals near industrial areas before entering Loch Ness."

"And the brain lesions?"

"Those were caused by PCB's… hydrocarbon poisoning. Somewhere out there, oil's leaking into the Great Glen."

Sniddles Club, Drumnadrochit

True and I waited until the waitress set down our drinks and left before continuing our conversation.

"So," I pressed, "do you think there's a pipeline leak or not?"

"Shh, lower yer voice. There's a million bloody reporters snoopin' roond the Highlands these days." He drained half his beer, then belched. "Jist 'cause ye find an eel wi' lesions, disnae mean it wis exposed tae oil in Loch Ness. First off, they're aye doin' water tests. Second, crude floats, people wouldae seen it."

"And what if it's not even getting into Loch Ness? What if it's coming through the remains of an underwater passage that connects the Loch with the North Sea?"

"Whit passage? That's a' theory."

"Just humor me, True. Where are the closest oil fields to Loch Ness?"

"There's two o' them, baith located jist offshore in the Moray Firth. The Beatrice Field's twenty kilometers off the coast in the inner firth. Big field, wi' three platforms. The Cialino Field's smaller, belongin' tae you know who. Johnny C. bought it for pennies on the pound frae Talisman Energy."

"Talisman Energy? Now why does that name sound familiar?"