Chapters (97)
- Cover
- Back Cover Text
- Praise
- Booklist
- Dedication
- Epigraph
- One
- Two
- Three
- Four
- Five
- Six
- Seven
- Eight
- Nine
- Ten
- Eleven
- Twelve
- Thirteen
- Fourteen
- Fifteen
- Sixteen
- Seventeen
- Eighteen
- Nineteen
- Twenty
- Twenty-One
- Twenty-Two
- Twenty-Three
- Twenty-Four
- Twenty-Five
- Twenty-Six
- Twenty-Seven
- Twenty-Eight
- Twenty-Nine
- Thirty
- Thirty-One
- Thirty-Two
- Thirty-Three
- Thirty-Four
- Thirty-Five
- Thirty-Six
- Thirty-Seven
- Thirty-Eight
- Thirty-Nine
- Forty
- Forty-One
- Forty-Two
- Forty-Three
- Forty-Four
- Forty-Five
- Forty-Six
- Forty-Seven
- Forty-Eight
- Forty-Nine
- Fifty
- Fifty-One
- Fifty-Two
- Fifty-Three
- Fifty-Four
- Fifty-Five
- Fifty-Six
- Fifty-Seven
- Fifty-Eight
- Fifty-Nine
- Sixty
- Sixty-One
- Sixty-Two
- Sixty-Three
- Sixty-Four
- Sixty-Five
- Sixty-Six
- Sixty-Seven
- Sixty-Eight
- Sixty-Nine
- Seventy
- Seventy-One
- Seventy-Two
- Seventy-Three
- Seventy-Four
- Seventy-Five
- Seventy-Six
- Seventy-Seven
- Seventy-Eight
- Seventy-Nine
- Eighty
- Eighty-One
- Eighty-Two
- Eighty-Three
- Eighty-Four
- Eighty-Five
- Eighty-Six
- Eighty-Seven
- Eighty-Eight
- Eighty-Nine
- Acknowledgments & A Personal Note
- Excerpt
How many people will see the story? She wondered as she got into her car, telling herself not to worry. California is a long way from Manitoba. But her attempt at consolation was weak because she realized that in this digital world, everything was just a click away.
Emma wheeled out of the staff lot, eager to get home.
Turning onto the busy boulevard and accelerating, Emma didn’t notice that half a block behind her, a sedan had pulled out from a parking spot and was following in the same direction.
Thirty-One
Eternity, Manitoba
2000
Fourteen-year-old Marie Louise Mitchell cut a lonely figure in an orange jumpsuit, sitting by herself, handcuffed at a table in a small white-walled room at Eternity police headquarters.
Tears rolled down her cheeks. Her sniffling echoed in the room and through the microphones in the ceiling. They were connected to the speakers in the adjoining room where, unseen to Marie, Sergeant Lou Sloan, Bill Jurek and other investigators observed her through the one-way mirror.
At Sloan’s insistence, they had moved fast on her. The sergeant’s hunch of Marie’s involvement arose from the photo strips they’d found in both Nikki’s and Janie’s showing the three girls together. Upon Marie’s arrest and execution of the search warrants at the Mitchell home, Marie was fingerprinted, photographed and placed in a holding cell while analysis of her shoes, clothing and other material found in the Mitchell home was accelerated at the lab in Winnipeg.
Within hours, they had verified the physical evidence, confirming that Marie was the third person involved in the Tullock murders.
She was formally charged with all four deaths and advised of her rights again, then left alone in the cell. Sloan wanted Marie isolated so the girl could ingest the gravity of her situation. During that time, Sloan read and reread every piece of information they’d obtained on Marie and her family.
Sloan knew that Canadian high court rulings allowed police to use a range of tactics against a suspect, including misleading, bluffing, even lying, in order to check the suspect’s account against the evidence, the facts, and arrive at the truth.
She also knew the accused had the right to silence and a lawyer.
Sloan had to walk a fine line.
As Marie’s sniffles flowed through the speakers Sloan observed her, crying with her head lowered, looking every bit the vulnerable adolescent. Then a file folder snapped open and Sloan looked again at the crime scene photos of Roy Tullock, his throat slashed, Neal and Linda, eyes wide, frozen in death. Then she flipped to the photo of the message on the wall: KILL THEM ALL.
She was ready.
Sloan entered the room alone, sitting in the chair opposite Marie.