Wendy Zuckerman

Just passing this milkshake through these filters could take days depending on how decayed the tissue is or how much mucus is in it. May turns into June. They're pulling 16-hour days. It's just late night after late night.

They're not finding what they need. It's depressing. Nothing is working.

They're not finding what they need. It's depressing. Nothing is working.

But then one day, Brian is testing this cartridge that was designed to detect the residue of chemical weapons. And from across the room, Armando hears his colleague saying something.

But then one day, Brian is testing this cartridge that was designed to detect the residue of chemical weapons. And from across the room, Armando hears his colleague saying something.

They found the magic cartridge. So Armando would now extract all the chemicals in the cartridge and then using a bunch of tools like mass spectrometry. Oh, my God. This is why we call it mass specs because there's so many R's in that word. Using tools like mass spectrometry, which separates chemicals based on their weight, and then try to identify Pavalon in that sample.

They found the magic cartridge. So Armando would now extract all the chemicals in the cartridge and then using a bunch of tools like mass spectrometry. Oh, my God. This is why we call it mass specs because there's so many R's in that word. Using tools like mass spectrometry, which separates chemicals based on their weight, and then try to identify Pavalon in that sample.

And here Armando catches a break because it turns out that Pavalon creates this really unique signature that, which meant, yes, they can identify this drug. And so now it's time to see if what works in pig livers works in human bodies. So in the spring of 1999, the cops start driving out to the graveyards and bodies start getting exhumed. And John said even for him...

And here Armando catches a break because it turns out that Pavalon creates this really unique signature that, which meant, yes, they can identify this drug. And so now it's time to see if what works in pig livers works in human bodies. So in the spring of 1999, the cops start driving out to the graveyards and bodies start getting exhumed. And John said even for him...

This pulling out bodies from the ground, this was rough.

This pulling out bodies from the ground, this was rough.

So the caskets get opened, bodies removed, tissue samples are taken out and then sent to the lab of last resort. Finally, after all this time, Armando and his colleagues start testing their very first patient. And... You know, at this point, if they find Pavalon in these bodies, it really does mean, you know, there was no reason for Pavalon to be in their system unless Efren had put it in there.

So the caskets get opened, bodies removed, tissue samples are taken out and then sent to the lab of last resort. Finally, after all this time, Armando and his colleagues start testing their very first patient. And... You know, at this point, if they find Pavalon in these bodies, it really does mean, you know, there was no reason for Pavalon to be in their system unless Efren had put it in there.

So they start testing patients.

So they start testing patients.

And then they test the fourth patient.

And then they test the fourth patient.

Yeah. They test another body. They don't find it. But then they get another hit and another hit. And they tell the cops, you know, these, Pavalon, we are finding it. And John remembers how he felt.

Yeah. They test another body. They don't find it. But then they get another hit and another hit. And they tell the cops, you know, these, Pavalon, we are finding it. And John remembers how he felt.

Yeah, so they picked out the 20 patients that were most suspicious because they couldn't exhume a thousand bodies. So these are the suspicious cases.