"This particular group is thought to have raped and lynched a black girl in 1994. I would say that they more than don't want blacks around."

McCaskey said. "But even in hate groups, policies have to evolve. Or maybe there's been a schism. Groups like these always suffer rifts and breakaway factions. We're not exactly dealing with the most stable people on the planet."

"You're wrong about that," Liz said. "Some of these people are so stable it's scary."

Rodgers said, "Explain."

"They can stalk a person or a group for months or more with a single-mindedness of purpose that'd shock you. When I was in school, we had a case of a neo-Nazi custodian in a Connecticut public school. He lined all the corridors, both sides, with plastique. Put it in behind the molding while pretending to scrape gum off the floor. He was found out two days before blowing up the school, and later confessed that he had snuck the plastique in a foot a day."

"How many feet were there?" Rodgers asked.

Liz said, "Eight hundred and seventy-two."

Rodgers had not taken sides during the debate, but he had always believed in overestimating an enemy's strength. And whether she was right or not he liked the hard line Liz, Gordon was taking against these monsters.

"Assuming you're right, Liz," Rodgers said. "What's behind it? Why would Pure Nation write a press release like that?"

"To jerk us around," she said. "At least, that's what my gut tells me."

"Follow the thread," Rodgers urged.

"Okay. They set up a shop on Christopher Street, which is populated heavily by gay establishments. They targeted a black group for hostage-taking. The FBI busts them up, there's a public trial, and gays and blacks are openly outraged."

"And attention gets focused on hate groups," McCaskey said. "Why on earth would they want that?"

Liz said, "Attention gets focused on that hate group."

McCaskey shook his head. "You know the media. You uncover one snake, they'll want to do a white paper on the nest. You find one nest, and they'll go after other nests."

"Okay," Liz said, "you're right about that. So the media shows us other nests. Pure Nation, Whites Only Association, the American Aryan Fraternity. We see a parade of psychos. What happens then?"

"Then," said McCaskey, "the average American gets outraged and the government cracks down on hate groups. End of story."