“Because she always does, and I feel this is something really bad, that she’s looking to make a statement.”

“Certainly you know her better than I do,” he says, and I don’t like the way it feels when anybody points out that I know her at all.

“Based on information I’ve gotten from Lucy, it seems Carrie has been laying the groundwork for some sort of coup,” I explain. “She’s been planning something for years, and I’m concerned about more people being hurt or killed. I’m concerned about a lot of things.”

“Well I’m glad you reached out to me, and I’m always grateful for your input, especially about a matter you’ve had so much personal experience with. What did you want my help with specifically?” The secretary-general has a Connecticut accent, and he doesn’t sound surprised or impressed by anything I’ve said.

“Last time I visited you in Lyon we had a conversation over a very nice Bordeaux, and you made the comment that anything can be weaponized, and of course that includes fear.”

“Which is the point of terror.”

“If you can create a weapon that causes enough fear,” I explain, “the fear itself can cause damage that’s as paralyzing and destructive as any physical device like a bomb or a laser gun. Fear can make decent people behave irrationally and violently. And imagine suddenly worrying that something airborne might kill you as you ride your bike or swim in your pool.”

“Yes, I agree,” he says. “That would be extremely bad, especially if there really is a weapon involved. I understand your office is doing the autopsy this morning in the Vandersteel case.”

“We’re done,” I reply. “By the time we got to it we already had a pretty good idea that she’s an electrocution and most likely is a homicide. But what’s new and somewhat of a surprise is there may have been an earlier victim.”

“Where and how recently?”

“In Cambridge at the beginning of the week. In fact I’m fairly certain of it now, and that leads to my next question. Could there be others, including in places outside the United States? Cases of presumed lightning strikes or weird electrocutions, particularly if the person is around water and out in the open. It’s also possible there are victims who survived. I’m not sure Elisa Vandersteel would have died had the electrical current not hit a metal necklace she was wearing.”

“We’re thinking the same way,” Perry says. “You and I both know that things start small but the problem is, by the time we recognize these things, they’re no longer small.”

“If we’re not careful.”

“That’s right. And we must be very careful because local terror in Massachusetts or the U.S. can be a proving ground for something international,” he adds, and I tell him about Molly Hinders.