Chapters (73)
- Cover
- Dedication
- Prologue
- Part IAnnie
- One
- Two
- Three
- Four
- Five
- Six
- Seven
- Part IIHarry
- Eight
- Nine
- Ten
- Eleven
- Twelve
- Thirteen
- Fourteen
- Fifteen
- Sixteen
- Seventeen
- Eighteen
- Nineteen
- Twenty
- Twenty-One
- Part IIIAnnie
- Twenty-Two
- Twenty-Three
- Twenty-Four
- Twenty-Five
- Twenty-Six
- Twenty-Seven
- Twenty-Eight
- Twenty-Nine
- Thirty
- Thirty-One
- Thirty-Two
- Part IVHarry
- 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
- Part VAnnie
- Forty-Nine
- Fifty
- Fifty-One
- Fifty-Two
- Fifty-Three
- Fifty-Four
- Fifty-Five
- Fifty-Six
- Fifty-Seven
- Fifty-Eight
- Fifty-Nine
- Sixty
- Sixty-One
- Acknowledgments
- About the Author
- Also by Linwood Barclay
- About the Publisher
Harry had kept back the details for good reason. He didn’t want to start a panic in Lucknow. If word got out that there was some nut on the loose who had a thing for removing bones, no one would answer their door without a gun in their hands. Vigilante groups would form. Nutcases who shouldn’t be allowed anything deadlier than a peashooter would be carrying in public, guns slung over their shoulders and hanging from their belts, lining up for coffee at Dunkin’ Donuts. Also, when they did bring someone in for questioning—and Harry prayed that would be sooner rather than later—they didn’t want to poison the well. Fake confessions could be pretty convincing if the whole story was out there.
“What were you looking up, anyway?” she asked as Harry walked over to the counter, returned the books, and gave the librarian a nod of thanks.
“Maybe I’ve got hemorrhoids,” he said. “I’m dealing with a real pain in the ass right now.”
“Cut the bullshit, Harry. The fuck is going on? And what about Hillman? You still haven’t found him.”
“For all I know, Walter Hillman left town. There’s no evidence of foul play.”
Rachel had been whispering up to now, but her voice was growing in volume. “Except that he walked away from his Business Depot job without telling a soul, there’s been no action on his credit cards, and his car’s still parked at his place. Just like with Tanner.”
The woman behind the counter shot her a look.
“Let’s do this outside,” Harry said, taking her by the arm and getting a nasty look in return.
Once they were clear of the building, and Rachel had shaken off Harry’s grip, she said, “Do you even have a possible make and model on the car that hit Tanner? If a car even hit Tanner, because you’ve never said one way or another. You know I’ve talked to everyone who lives along there, probably the same people you did, and none of them heard anything like a car hitting somebody. No screeching brakes, nothing like that. The one who called it in was driving the pickup?” She dug a notepad from her pocket and flipped through the pages. “Tracy. Yeah. I know about him. He told me what he saw.”
She paused to catch her breath. Harry said slowly, “You done?”
“No.”
“Are you done for a second or two?”
“Okay.”