Other Books by This Author

Also by John Verdon

Think of a Number

Shut Your Eyes Tight

Let the Devil Sleep

Title Page

Copyright

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

Copyright © 2014 by John Verdon

All rights reserved.
Published in the United States by Crown Publishers,
an imprint of the Crown Publishing Group,
a division of Random House LLC,
a Penguin Random House Company, New York.
www.crownpublishing.com

Crown and the Crown colophon are registered trademarks of Random House LLC.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available upon request.

ISBN 978-0-385-34840-9
eBook ISBN 978-0-385-34841-6

Jacket design: Eric White
Jacket photograph: Marcia Lippman

v3.1

Dedication

For Naomi

Contents

Cover

Other Books by This Author

Title Page

Copyright

Dedication

Prologue: Long Before the Killing Began

Part One: An Impossible Murder

Chapter 1: The Shadow of Death

Chapter 2: The Scum of the Earth

Chapter 3: Something in the Woods

Chapter 4: Pure Evil

Chapter 5: Bloodthirsty Weasels

Chapter 6: Ants

Chapter 7: Mick the Dick

Chapter 8: Coldhearted Bitch

Chapter 9: Black Widow

Chapter 10: The Demented Slut

Chapter 11: The Little Birds

Chapter 12: Willow Rest

Chapter 13: Death in Long Falls

Chapter 14: The Devil’s Brother

Chapter 15: A Cynical Suggestion

Chapter 16: Like the Knife

Chapter 17: An Impossible Shot

Chapter 18: A Question of Gender

Chapter 19: Crime and Punishment

Part Two: Peter Pan

Chapter 20: Disturbing Discrepancies

Chapter 21: An Unsettling Frankness

Chapter 22: The Second Bouquet

Chapter 23: Click

Chapter 24: All the Trouble in the World

Chapter 25: Fat Gus

Chapter 26: Not a Fucking Chess Match

Chapter 27: A Desperate Man

Chapter 28: Like the Crack of a Whip

Chapter 29: Game Changers

Chapter 30: Beautiful Poison

Chapter 31: Another Black Widow

Chapter 32: Another Missing Player

Chapter 33: Major Appointments

Chapter 34: A Gentlemen’s Agreement

Chapter 35: A Mysterious Way

Chapter 36: An Unusual Killer

Chapter 37: Death Wish

Chapter 38: A Fondness for Fire

Chapter 39: Terrible Creatures

Part Three: All the Evil in the World

Chapter 40: The Morning After

Chapter 41: A Cautionary Tale

Chapter 42: The Missing Head

Chapter 43: Video Evidence

Chapter 44: The Thrill of the Chase

Chapter 45: Out of Harm’s Way

Chapter 46: The Spalter Brothers

Chapter 47: Still Missing

Chapter 48: Montell Jones

Chapter 49: Positively Satanic

Chapter 50: Jabbing the Madman

Chapter 51: The Plan

Chapter 52: Florence in Flames

Chapter 53: A Terrible Calm

Part Four: Perfect Justice

Prologue: The Growling of the Tiger

Chapter 54: Cornered

Chapter 55: Ring Around the Rosies

Chapter 56: A Fatal Rage

Chapter 57: Pocket Full of Posies

Chapter 58: Ashes, Ashes

Chapter 59: All Fall Down

Chapter 60: Perfect Little Peter Pan

Chapter 61: Perfect Chaos

Chapter 62: A Trick of the Mind

Acknowledgments

Prologue

Long Before the Killing Began

There was a time when he dreamt of being the head of a great nation. A nuclear power.