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Chapters (206)
  1. Praise for Maplecroft
  2. Title page
  3. Copyright page
  4. Contents
  5. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
  6. THESE ARE THE THINGS AN EARTHQUAKE BRINGS
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  12. A DOCTOR, A LAWYER, A MERCHANT, A CHIEF
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  20. Phillip Zollicoffer, Professor of Biology, Miskatonic University
  21. Lizzie Andrew Borden
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  26. BE SURE YOUR SINS WILL FIND YOU OUT
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  29. I CROSS THE MAGPIE, THE MAGPIE CROSSES ME
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  31. Nance O’Neil
  32. THIS KNOT I KNIT, THIS KNOT I TIE
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  37. AND IF YOU HAVE A HORSE WITH ONE WHITE LEG . . .
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  43. THE WORST IS TO BE JUDGED WITHOUT HOPE
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  46. Lizzie Andrew Borden
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  53. BUT NETTLE SHANT HAVE NOTHING
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  55. CUT THEM ON FRIDAY, YOU CUT THEM FOR SORROW
  56. Phillip Zollicoffer, Professor of Biology, Miskatonic University
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  62. HAPPY IS THE CORPSE THAT THE RAIN SHINES ON
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  67. A DWELLING PLACE OF JACKALS, THE DESOLATION FOREVER
  68. Lizzie Andrew Borden
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  71. Nance O’Neil
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  84. Emma L. Borden
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  88. Owen Seabury, M.D.
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  91. Lizzie Andrew Borden
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  93. RIGHT CHEEK, LEFT CHEEK—WHY DO YOU BURN?
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  101. Aaron B. Stewart, Fire Chief, Farthington, Mass.
  102. Emma L. Borden
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  104. Gerald Macintyre, Telegraph Clerk, Western Union
  105. Owen Seabury, M.D.
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  107. Physalia, Z. University I Was Not Now
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  109. DEPART, ALL ANIMALS WITHOUT BONES
  110. Emma L. Borden
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  115. Owen Seabury, M.D.
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  119. Lizzie Andrew Borden
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  130. Owen Seabury, M.D.
  131. Phillip Zollicoffer. Physalia Zollicoffris.
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  137. Christoff Dane, M.D., Ph.D., University of Rhode Island, Kingston
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  139. Emma L. Borden
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  144. Owen Seabury, M.D.
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  150. Emma L. Borden
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  153. FAMILY SLAIN IN MAYFIELD
  154. Owen Seabury, M.D.
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  165. Lizzie Andrew Borden
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  176. Emma L. Borden
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  186. Owen Seabury, M.D.
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  197. Lizzie Andrew Borden
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  205. Inspector Simon Wolf
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Such a delicate suggestion, that we get the devil out of my filthy house—and it was presented with such aplomb! I accepted the offer immediately. We went to a dining room down by the pier, where over a light meal of coffee and egg sandwiches, the inspector unveiled the particulars that prompted this recent visit.

“Since last we spoke, there have been a series of peculiar crimes throughout the state. For that matter, now that I say so out loud, it’s entirely possible that the incident with the Hamilton family was not the first representative of the . . . spree, if I dare call it such.”

“A spree?” I asked, hoping my voice portrayed the strictest innocence.

“I shouldn’t leap to such conclusions, Doctor—but for lack of a better term, I’m afraid it will have to do. Suffice it to say, people are dying in very strange ways. With little evidence to suggest a perpetrator, or indeed—in some cases—even so much as a crime.”

“I’m not sure I understand.”

“That’d make two of us.” He sounded weary. He removed his spectacles and wiped them clean on his napkin. “But there seems to be a certain . . . biological component to the mysteries. Something pertaining to the ocean, and what strange things might lurk in its unfathomed depths. A name has come up, and it’s possible that this person has some involvement in the matter. But personally,” he said with great emphasis, “I suspect it’s more a case of devoted envy. I think the biologist has a reader who’s enthralled with the man’s work, and might be using it as a guide, or inspiration, or . . . something,” he finished weakly.

A warm, sick feeling in my stomach told me I knew the answer to my question before I even asked it, but I asked it anyway. “And this biologist’s name?”

“The initials E.A., and surname Jackson. I put it to you that way, because there’s precious little information on the man. Anywhere. He professes a doctoral degree in the sciences from Princeton, but Princeton has never heard of him. Neither have the next tier of schools, and neither have any I searched upon casting a wider net. As far as I can tell, he doesn’t exist—outside a frankly outstanding set of publication credits, here in the States and abroad.”

“You believe that E. A. Jackson is a pseudonym.”

“It must be. Or else the man is a phantasm.”

I tapped my coffee spoon against the saucer, and attempted to home in on his point. “But you said there’s some connection, between this mysterious Doctor Jackson and a series of strange crimes—maybe even the Hamiltons, or so you’d have me suspect. Since you’ve mentioned all these disparate elements in the same breath.”