The Descent (Detective Louise Blackwell) by Matt Brolly

Author:Matt Brolly [Brolly, Matt]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2020-07-22T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter Thirty

Louise called Dr Forrest first thing in the morning. Although she would have liked to see the man face to face, a journey to Exeter felt extreme for what could amount to nothing more than a lecture on drug-taking, and there was too much to do at the station.

The doctor was understanding. ‘That’s fine, how can I help?’ he said.

Louise was surprised by the high-pitched tone of his voice, disappointed by her own preconceptions. ‘Dr Everson mentioned to you that traces of DMT have been found in the three suicide victims in our town in the last few weeks?’

‘Yes, a very tragic situation,’ said Forrest.

‘Is there anything in your research that would link the taking of DMT to suicide?’

‘Not specifically,’ said the doctor.

‘What can you tell me?’ she asked.

‘What is your understanding of DMT?’ asked Forrest.

‘From my discussions with Dr Everson, I know the basics. I know that it is a hallucinogenic.’

Forrest cleared his throat, a squeaking sound passing through Louise’s earpiece. ‘I understand. I will confess, Inspector, I have been giving your case some thought since Dr Everson brought it to my attention. What piqued my interest was the suicide notes. This idea of a connectedness, another world. I can email some literature on the subject. There has been some interesting long-term analysis of DMT and this idea of another world, or a parallel universe has been prevalent. A particular quirk has been the feeling in many subjects that what they have experienced has been real.’

‘In what way?’

‘Well, the usual hindsight response after taking a hallucinogenic, LSD for example, is an acceptance that the experience was essentially a chemical trick of the mind. However, many users of DMT contend that their experience was a real one, that the drug transported them to another world or plane of existence. Furthermore, they tend to be able to recall the experience in greater detail even many months after taking the drug. And then there are the guardians.’

‘Guardians?’

‘Many of the volunteers in DMT trials claimed to have been met by guardians in these parallel worlds. They can take many forms – my particular favourite is the description by Terence McKenna, who called them “self-transforming machine elves” – but they do seem to be a constant as an experience to many who take the drug.’

‘This sounds like the stuff of science fiction,’ said Louise.

‘Doesn’t it just? As yet, we don’t know for sure why users have such similar experiences. The nature of researching such phenomena makes it very difficult to quantify. However, some users of DMT often become convinced of the existence of an afterlife. I am only speculating of course but maybe this was a factor in the decision of the women to take their lives. Fascinating though. Another possible avenue you may wish to explore would be the connection between DMT and NDEs.’

‘Again, you’ll have to elaborate, Dr Forrest.’

‘Apologies, I can get caught up in the jargon. NDEs are near-death experiences. I’m sure you’ve heard of those. Many patients who technically

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.