“CHECK YOUR EMAIL.”
The three innocuous words seemed to offer Mark Drybrough the relief he sought. At 32, Mark was beyond tired. Life had long ceased to be the fun it once was. He lived in a small house in Coventry that his great-uncle had left him, but he couldn’t maintain a job. He battled depression, going through dark periods when he refused to take medication, and he suffered psychotic fits. His mother, Elaine, paid his bills. He had no money, no car, no social life. He knew he was a disappointment—most of all to himself.
In July 2005, under the handle “spooky,” Mark posted a request on the Web site alt.suicide.methods: “Does anyone have details of hanging methods where there isn’t access to anything high up to tie the rope to. I’ve read that people have taken their own lives in jail, anybody know of inventive methods, the ones you don’t get to read in the paper.” Li Dao knew. She directed Mark to check his e-mail.
A few weeks later, Mark’s older sister, Carol, drove down from Leeds to visit the family. At dinner Carol arranged to meet her brother at a nearby park the next day. They confirmed the plan the following morning, but by four that afternoon he had still not turned up.
Carol drove to her brother’s home and knocked on the door. No answer. She let herself in and found a note on the inside door in block letters:
Please call the police.
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