Every Dead Thing

UK cover

*Every Dead Thing* is part one in the Charlie Parker series. It was originally published on May 11, 1999, and is John Connolly's first novel. It takes place about six months after the murders of Susan and Jennifer Parker, and follows Charlie Parker as he searches for their killer, The Travelling Man.

## Plot

### PROLOGUE

The prologue shifts between Charlie buying flowers and visiting Susan and Jennifer's grave, and his recollection of the night they died.

### PART ONE

Part One begins around late June, when Charlie takes on a job by bail bondsman Benny Low to find bail skipper Fat Ollie Watts.

Charlie successfully tracks down Fat Ollie, who is hiding in his girlfriend Monica Mulrane's apartment in Astoria. Fat Ollie attempts to escape, but before Charlie is able to chase after him, he is gunned down by an unidentified man, who then proceeds to kill Monica as well. Charlie gives chase and injures the gunman so that he cannot reach his getaway vehicle. Someone fatally shoots the gunman from the car and attempts to shoot Charlie as well, but misses, before speeding away. The police arrive at the scene shortly after and takes Charlie to the police station for questioning.

While he waits in the interrogation room, Charlie considers what he learned the previous day, from Emo Ellison (a mechanic working for Fat Ollie). Fat Ollie had an agreement with Sonny Ferrera, son of Don Ferrera, a local mafia boss, where Fat Ollie would supply his right-hand man Pili Pilar with a car with fake license plates once or twice a month.

Last week, Pili came back looking like he had been in a car accident. Fat Ollie had him checked out and sent to a private clinic that wouldn't ask too many questions, before going to move the car out of sight. However, something he saw in the car spooked him and made him nauseous and he told Ellison to go home and tell no one he was there. Soon after, Fat Ollie's place is raided by the police and Fat Ollie gets bailed and then disappears. Emo Ellison was also visited and tortured by Bobby Sciorra, one of Don Ferrera's closest men, a few days after for information.

Back in the present, Charlie gives his statement on the shooting but withholds the information he learned from Emo Ellison. He is then interrogated by SAC Ross (who is there because he believes the case is connected to the Ferreras), who does not believe him and is sure he is holding something back, but Walter Cole gets him off Charlie's back, in exchange for Charlie joining him for dinner at his house that night.

At his house, Walter asks what Charlie is doing back in New York and about his activities in the past few months. His questions bring Charlie back to late April the same year, when he, on Woolrich's instigation, traveled to Louisiana. According to Woolrich, a local psychic, Tante Marie Aguillard, had a dream about a young girl being killed in the bayou, and had been hearing her cries at night. She also said that the girl's face was cut off and she was blinded before she died.

Woolrich and Charlie visited Tante Marie, Charlie noting that Woolrich seemed close with the old woman's daughter, Florence. Charlie talked to Tante Marie, and when she told him about the girl, Charlie felt the girl's final agony, and in her agony felt the agony of his own wife and daughter. He then knew for certain that their killer was the same man, The Traveling Man.

Back in the present, Walter tells Charlie that he needs a favor from him on behalf of The Barton Trust. Charlie asks if it's related to Evan Baines, a young boy who went missing during a charity event at the Barton house a few weeks prior, but Walter tells him no. Isobel Barton, head of the trust, is friends with a young woman named Catherine Demeter, who had also been dating her stepson, Stephen Barton (who works as a minor drug pusher for Sonny Ferrera). Catherine recently went missing and Isobel Barton wants her found, but doesn't want to involve the police. Walter asks if Charlie thinks Sonny Ferrera might be involved in Catherine's disappearance, but Charlie thinks it's unlikely.

After talking to Philip Kooper, the chairman of the Barton Trust, Charlie reluctantly agrees to look into it, and the following day, Charlie visits the Barton house to speak to Isobel Barton. Isobel Barton tells him that she and Catherine became friends through Stephen Barton. Isobel tells him that last Saturday, Catherine left work early and then failed to make a dinner appointment with her the next day. Isobel doesn't believe that Catherine would have simply left, stating that she seemed very happy with her job and got on well with Stephen. She's also aware of her stepson's connections to the Ferreras and his illegal activities, and is afraid that Stephen might have gotten Catherine involved in something.

The next day, after making a court appearance related to an insurance case he was previously working on, Charlie visits Pete Haye's gym in TriBeCa, that Stephen Barton frequents. Pete Haye tells him that Stephen hasn't been in for about a week, and that the previous day, some of Ferrera's men were also asking for him.

Next, Charlie visits DeVries's department store, Catherine's place of work, and speaks to the personnel manager, as well as Catherine's coworker who was with her on her last shift before she disappeared. She and Catherine were working in the china department when Catherine suddenly saw someone and ran after them, trying to reach them before they could leave the store. Apparently she looked quite ill afterwards.

Charlie heads over to Catherine's apartment in Greenpoint, Brooklyn. He gains entry to the building by lying about being from a gas company, and uses a power rake given to him by Angel to open Catherine's door. Searching the apartment, Charlie finds a photo album, containing photos of Catherine and her sister Amy. Amy does not appear in any photos past the age of eleven or twelve. There are also birth certificates for both of the sisters. Charlie also checks the telephone in the apartment, and finds that on Sunday, several calls were made to the sheriff's office of Haven, Catherine's home town, as well as to Earl Lee Granger, the sheriff's, home.

After that, he goes to see Frank Forbes, Catherine's psychiatrist. He learns from him that Catherine's sister was killed when Catherine was eight. Amy was one of several children killed in Haven, Virginia in the late 60s to early 70s. The children were all abducted, abused and tortured, and their remains were dumped in the cellar of an old house outside Haven. The prime suspect was a local wealthy woman named Adelaide Modine, and her brother William was suspected as an accomplice. The locals of the town stormed the Modine house before the police could get to it, and hanged William in the basement. Adelaide was supposedly found burned to death in another house, and that seemed to be the end of the case.

Back in the present, Charlie visits Willie Brew's Auto Shop where his car is undergoing repairs. There, he meets up with Angel and Louis. Angel tells Charlie that word is getting around that he's looking for Stephen Barton's girlfriend, and the Ferreras aren't happy about it. Sonny Ferrera seems to have disappeared along with Pili Pilar, and Bobby Sciorra is looking for them. Also, there's a hit out on Charlie but neither Angel or Louis know by whom.

Charlie returns to his Manhattan apartment, and spends some time maintaining and cleaning his guns, before he's contacted by Walter. Stephen Barton has been strangled to death and his body dumped in a sewer. Charlie is permitted to view the body and learns that the police is suspecting Sonny Ferrera. Charlie, however, thinks this is unlikely.

Next, Charlie visits Don Ferrera, who hints that he doesn't think that Sonny is responsible for Stephen Barton's death, but whoever killed him would benefit from the police suspecting him.

Charlie returns home and is briefly visited by SAC Ross and another fed who question him about his visit to Don Ferrera.

The following day, Charlie pays a visit to the Barton house to offer his condolences and let Isobel Barton know that he's planning to go to Haven, Virginia to investigate further. He notices a lone blue china dog that seems to have been part of a pair once, and inquires about it, learning that the other piece was damaged some time ago.

Charlie returns to his apartment, but while packing for the trip, he is called by The Traveling Man, who mocks and taunts him, and hints that he's going to start killing again and that he and Charlie will meet soon. The call is coming from the phone booth on the same street, but before Charlie can leave the building, a young boy rings the doorbell with a wrapped gift. When Charlie reaches the phone booth, there is no one there. He returns to the apartment building and the boy, Jake, tells him that a man with a scalpel and "no face" forced him to bring the package. Charlie instructs his neighbor to call Walter and then opens the package. It contains a jar with Jennifer's cut off and preserved face inside.

Walter soon arrives and calls forensics, and Charlie is taken to the police station to give his statement. The Traveling Man used some kind of voice program when calling Charlie, the voice kept changing.

The following day, Charlie visits Columbia University to speak to Rachel Wolfe. They discuss The Traveling Man's phone call and Rachel identifies parts of the speech as quotes from *Ulysses*, and some parts to be possibly biblical. Charlie feels an attraction to Rachel and Rachel seems to be interested in him as well.

Charlie also talks to Walter, and tells him that he intends to leave for Virginia. Walter wants Charlie to stay, in case The Traveling Man calls him again and might be traceable, but Charlie is determined to continue his search for Catherine Demeter. The tension rises between Charlie and Walter and they part on bad terms.

### PART TWO

During his drive down to Haven, Charlie notices that he's being tailed by a man and a woman in a red 4WD, but arrives in Haven without further incident. He checks in at the Haven View Motel, and then goes to check out the local bar. He notices quickly that he doesn't seem welcome there, particularly after it's made clear that he's not just passing through, and starts asking questions about the Demeter family. He is antagonized by a pair of of local clan members, which escalates into a fight, but it's quickly stopped by the arrival of Deputy Wallace. Charlie goes back to the motel to sleep.

The next morning, Charlie heads over to the local library to look at the newspapers from the time of the child killings. However, the archives from the relevant years are missing, and the librarian says that they've been borrowed for research. The remaining files are not of any help and while the librarian is distracted by a group of schoolchildren, Charlie goes behind the desk and finds the missing files in a drawer. The newspapers make very little mentions of the abductions, until Amy, the first white child to be taken. Charlie copies the relevant material and leaves. A different deputy, Burns, is waiting at his car with his bag and says that he'll escort him to the town line. Charlie reaches to show him his ID, but in the process, Deputy Burns catches sight of his gun and arrests him.

He spends a few hours in a holding cell before the ranking deputy Alvin Martin arrives and lets him out. Martin drives him to Green River Eaterie where they discuss why Charlie is here. Haven has been slowly dying ever since the child killings, but recently a computer software firm has showed interest in locating close to Haven. This would bring money and jobs, and the locals aren't keen to discuss the past in case it jeopardizes things. For this reason, Martin doesn't believe Catherine Demeter ever returned to Haven, as if she did, the entire town would be talking about it.

Charlie tells him that Catherine Demeter made phone calls to the sheriff's office as well as the sheriff's home before she disappeared, and inquiries about the sheriff's whereabouts. According to Martin, sheriff Granger has been taking a few days off out of town and was due back to day but may come back tomorrow instead.

Martin is not keen to have Charlie in town either but reluctantly agrees to help him in his investigations if it might make him leave sooner. He gives Charlie the names of two people who might have useful information: Connell Hyams, lawyer and the son of the local doctor at the time of the killings, and Walt Tyler, whose daughter was the first child to be killed.

Charlie visits the home of Hyams, but Hyams is reluctant to talk much about the incidents. According to him, he and the Modines didn't mix much. He returned home from Richmond the evening before Adelaide Modine's body was found, and was present during her autopsy.

While driving back to Haven, Charlie sees that the house of Earl Lee Granger, who lives on the same road, is dark and there is no car in the yard.

That night, the man and woman who were tailing Charlie earlier try to shoot him in the motel, but are caught off guard because Charlie chose to sleep in a different room than assigned. Charlie shoots the man in the throat, and the woman shoots him in the upper right arm, causing Charlie to drop his gun. He descends to the second floor where he ambushes the woman, hitting her in the face with the nozzle of a fire hose, before choking her unconscious with the hose.

He calls the sheriff's office and is taken to the Haven medical center to be patched up and questioned. The female attacker is still unconscious and possibly in a coma. Walter also calls to check up on him and to tell him there have been no leads from the jar with Jennifer's face. The next day, two feds arrive and question Charlie. SAC Ross is also due to arrive later.

Martin takes Charlie to speak to Walk Tyler. His daughter, Etta Mae, was the first child to disappear. Two more black children disappeared, but the police didn't do much about it until Amy Demeter was the first white child to be abducted. The police mostly focused their efforts on black men and a handful of poor or homosexual white men, until a boy from Batesville managed to escape abduction and was able to give enough details to identify Adelaide Modine.

The sheriff was out of town that day, and a mob of people from the area, including then deputy Earl Lee Granger, went to the Modine house. Adelaide Modine was gone and only her brother William was there. Some had suspected William before because he was rumored to be gay, and the mob, believing him to be an accomplice, hanged him in the basement. Walt Tyler states that William was innocent, because he had seen him together with deputy Granger on the night one of the children was taken, and other nights too. Granger let the mob hang William without interfering. The death was certified as a suicide by Doc Hyams.

Soon after, a fire started in a house outside town and the badly burnt remains of a woman was found. The body was found with Adelaide Modine's jewelry and a bag containing money and bank papers. Doc Hyams also identified the body has Adelaide Modine through dental records. The bodies of the children were found the next day in an abandoned house on the Modine estate known as the Dane House. The children had been brutally tortured and sexually assaulted before being killed. Walt Tyler also gives Charlie the location of the house.

As soon as Martin and Charlie leave, a call comes in, telling them that the female attacker has died. When they arrive at the medical center, the two feds try to detain Charlie but Martin defends him. According to deputy Wallace, the engine of a car outside caught fire and in the short period while everyone was distracted, someone broke the window of the woman's room and stuck an ice pick through her left ear.

Charlie slips off to the bathroom, pretending to be sick, and uses the opportunity to leave through the rear exit, getting his car from the motel and driving to the Dane House. He searches it and finds a trapdoor with what appears to be a new lock. Upon breaking it open and entering the cellar, he finds the remains of Earl Lee Granger and Catherine Demeter, both having been shot to death and left to decay.

Suddenly Charlie hears footsteps above him and runs back up the stairs. The person tries to close the trapdoor and lock him in the cellar, and almost succeeds, when a gunshot is heard, injuring the opponent and allowing Charlie to escape. The opponent is revealed to be Connell Hyams, who despite the gunshot to his shoulder tries to shoot Charlie. Before he's able to, someone from outside shoots him twice fatally. Charlie sees Bobby Sciorra through the window, realizing the hit on him was ordered by Sonny, and Don Ferrera sent Sciorra to kill the assassin to remove any potential evidence against his son.

Charlie takes Hyam's keys and then drives to his house while piecing together the incident. Hyams was Adelaide Modine's accomplice in the child killings. He learned that Catherine Demeter was coming back either by chance, or by someone informing him, and took her to the Dane House and killed her. He also took Granger, who Catherine had called, so that no one would learn about Catherine's return. Since he was Granger's neighbor and had a key, he was able to enter his house and listen to and erase any messages left on the answering machine.

Charlie arrives at Hyams' property and starts searching through files for something to connect him to the Ferrera's. He eventually finds a rental agreement for a warehouse in Flushing, Queens, signed over five years ago by Hyams' with Mancino Inc, a company established by Sonny Ferrera.

Charlie starts to drive back to New York and calls Martin. Martin is livid that Charlie ran off, and Ross is too. Charlie asks Martin to help hold the feds off for him, telling him what he found in the Dane House, as well as about Connell Hyams. He also believes that Adelaide Modine is still alive and faked her own death with the help of Hyams. The body believed to be Modine's was so badly burnt that it was only identifiable through dental records, so it's possible that it was someone else's body and Hyams, being the son of the doctor responsible for the autopsy, could have swapped out the dental records. Charlie also believes that the reason Catherine Demeter returned to Haven was that she saw Adelaide Modine and recognized her.

Next, Charlie calls Angel, who tells him Pili Pilar has been found and is being held at the Ferrera house, but still no sign of Sonny. Charlie gives him the address for the warehouse in Flushing, asking him and Louis to watch it until he arrives. He then parks his car and pays for a flight from a private airfield back to New York. He takes a cab to the warehouse where he meets up with Louis and Angel. With Angel picking the locks, they make their way inside the warehouse and into the basement. Inside a storage alcove they find a table with leather restraints, as well as the body of Evan Baines wrapped up in a plastic sheet. There are no injuries to the body aside from a hard blow to the temple. Charlie also finds a shard of blue china clutched in Evan's fist.

Angel finds a small camera and motion sensor hidden in the wall of the alcove, connected to video recorders in a small room directly above, which would secretly record anything happening in that alcove. They go back into the basement and start digging, quickly uncovering the body of another child, who was visibly tortured before death.

Before they can dig further, Louis warns them that someone is there. They hear footsteps and Angel and Louis both hide in the darkness. Before Charlie can draw his gun, Bobby Sciorra appears and holds him at gun point. For many, many years, Adelaide Modine and Hyams have been torturing and killing children in the warehouse and buried their remains, and Sonny Ferrera has been secretly recording them for his own enjoyment. Don Ferrera was unaware about this until Pili Pilar's car accident, after which Fat Ollie Watts found incriminating material in the trunk of the car.

Bobby Sciorra was sent out by Don Ferrera to deal with Fat Ollie, Hyams, as well as the assassins Sonny sent after Charlie, in order to remove any evidence incriminating his son. Bobby Sciorra didn't kill Charlie at the Dane House because he was ordered to only kill him if there was no other option.

Sciorra says that he just ran out of options and is about to shoot Charlie, when Angel appears. Before Sciorra can react, Louis stabs him in the back of the head. Charlie takes Sciorra's car keys and uses his car to drive to the Ferrera house, noting that it's the same black Chevy involved in Fat Ollie Watt's murder.

When he arrives, he finds Don Ferrera cradling the dead body of Sonny, having shot his son to death. Don Ferrera reveals that Ollie not only found tapes in the trunk of the car, but also a dead child, as watching hadn't been enough for Sonny anymore and he'd taken a child himself. Don Ferrera sent Bobby Sciorra after Fat Ollie and anyone else who could incriminate his son, including Hyams who he recognized and found from the tapes before burning them.

Next, Charlie drives to the Barton estate. He finds it empty, aside from the body of a woman, wearing Isobel Barton's jewelry and dress, her face so badly beaten as to be unrecognizable. He also confirms that the shard of china found with Evan Baines' body matches the single china dog in the house. There's also gas leaking, and three microwave ovens have been filled with metal objects in order to cause an explosion. Charlie just barely manages to escape the house in time, and sees Adelaide Modine drive away.

He gives chase and eventually is able to push her car off the road and down a hill. Isobel Barton, aka Adelaide Modine, emerges. After Catherine recognized her at the store, and promptly disappeared, Modine hired Charlie to look for her, telling him that Catherine was a friend of hers. She also killed her stepson Stephen so that he would not be able to expose her lie.

Adelaide Modine tries to attack Charlie, but is shot in the chest during the scuffle. Before she dies, she tells Charlie that she knows who he is and she knows who killed his wife and daughter. Then, the car explodes, igniting the spilled gasoline around Modine, and she dies in the flames.

Charlie is questioned regarding everything by the police and Ross, but is not charged on anything. Shortly after talking to Walter Cole and Rachel Wolfe, Charlie's phone rings. Florence Aguillard tells him that Tante Marie told her to call him and that he has to come now because The Traveling Man is coming.

Charlie takes a flight to Louisiana that same evening. On the plane, Charlie experiences a sudden severe nosebleed and headache, and he hears the voice of Tante Marie telling him that "he's here”, before passing out.

### PART THREE

Charlie, having met up with Woolrich, Morphy, Touissant, and a few others, heads to the Aguillard house. According to Woolrich, Florence has been spotted around the house with blood on her dress and carrying a gun.

They arrive at the house and quickly find Tee Jean, Tante Marie's son. He has been disemboweled, partially skinned and blinded, his body put up for display against a dead tree. Inside the house, they find Tante Marie, who has been killed and mutilated in a similar way, put for display in her bedroom.

They hear shouts from outside and run out to see Florence with a gun. She's covered in blood and seems to be in shock. Woolrich tries to calm her down, but Florence shoots herself.

The following day, Charlie meets Woolrich for breakfast. Charlie notes that Woolrich has lost weight and looks ill. Woolrich tells him that they found a partial fingerprint on the scene of the murder, and that Charlie's involvement in the investigation will be limited, but that they're going to tap his phone in case The Traveling Man tries to contact him again.

They return to Charlie's room at the Flaisance, and some tech guys from the FBI soon arrive to hook up Charlie's cell phone and hotel room phone, and Woolrich leaves. At 4 pm, Rachel Wolfe calls Charlie, but Charlie tells her he'll call her back. At 6 pm, The Traveling Man calls, but seems to be aware that the call is being listened to and doesn't stay on long enough for the call to be traced, he asks after Woolrich and states that he'll call again in thirty minutes. Woolrich is called and arrives five minutes before the next call. The Traveling Man tells them to listen and not interrupt, and mocks Woolrich over Florence's death, stating that he would have liked to kill her as well. He tells them that the next message he sends will be one of blood, and hangs up. Once again, the FBI got nothing.

After they leave, Charlie calls Rachel and tells her what's been happening. Rachel tells him she's coming down to New Orleans to join him.

That night, Charlie sees the girl that Tante Marie saw being killed in the bayou. She begs him for his help and he vows to find her.

Early the next morning, Charlie is woken by Morphy calling and telling him to meet him for breakfast. He tells Charlie that the investigation has been taken over by the FBI. The fingerprint found in Tante Marie's house has also been identified as belonging to Tony Remarr, one of Joe Bones' men. Joe Bones is a notable name in the New Orleans drug business, and a rival of David and Lionel Fontenot. Joe Bones has also been interested in buying the Aguillard land for quite a while, but Tante Marie has refused. Morphy doesn't think it's likely that Remarr killed Tante Marie and Tee Jean, but rather that he was sent out by Joe Bones to intimidate them, arrived shortly after their deaths, and in his shock got careless and left a fingerprint. Joe Bones claims to not know anything about it, and that he hasn't seen Remarr for days. Morphy also gives Charlie a copy of the police report regarding the deaths, which includes the ME's notes. Traces of ketamine was found in the bodies of Tante Marie and Tee Jean, used by the killer to paralyze them yet keep them aware and conscious during the mutilation.

Charlie receives a message from Rachel Wolfe, letting him know that she's flying in later that evening. Charlie calls Angel and Louis and asks them to accompany her. Next, he joins the Aguillard family when they're collecting the bodies, and speaks to Tante Marie's eldest son, Raymond. Raymond tells him that him and a few others have caught glimpses of the dead girl that Tante Marie saw, by a slough in Honey Island, a swamp and nature reserve, and gives Charlie the directions to it.

Rachel arrives shortly after, accompanied by Angel and Louis. Them and Charlie discuss the case over dinner, Angel confirming Morphy's theory about Remarr likely leaving an accidental fingerprint out of shock. Rachel also identifies part of The Traveling Man's speech to Charlie as being from The Book of Enoch. Back at the Flaisance, Rachel and Charlie share a kiss.

That night, the body of David Fontenot is discovered in a shack in Honey Island. His car appears to have been shot at and crashed, after which he escaped to the shack where he was shot dead. Morphy believes it might have been done by Tony Remarr on Joe Bones' order and Angel, Louis and Charlie discuss this over breakfast. It is unclear what David Fontenot was doing there at night with no backup, but most likely he'd have had to have been lured there by someone he trusted with the promise of something he wanted enough to take the risk.

They head back to the Flaisance where Louis gets a case of firearms delivered by an associate. Then, Charlie and Louis go to talk to Joe Bones, dropping Angel off in the vicinity as a backup. Joe Bones says them that Remarr is no longer part of his operation and was not sent to the Aguillard house by him. He also claims ignorance about David Fontenot's death.

When they return to the Flaisance, Morphy has left a message asking Charlie to call him. He tells Charlie to meet him for dinner at Bucktown, because one of Remarr's exes has an apartment there. She is currently doing time but Morphy thinks it might be worth searching the apartment for clues as to Remarr's whereabouts. Inside the apartment they find the corpse of Remarr who has been flayed and killed by The Traveling Man.

The police arrive. Woolrich is not happy that Charlie's at another crime scene, and also tells him he's coming by the Flaisance sometime later to speak to him. Morphy drives Charlie back and invites him to dinner at his house the next day.

Charlie, Rachel, Angel and Louis all meet up and Charlie describes the way Remarr's body was mutilated and arranged. Rachel identifies that it's almost identical to an illustration of the Marsyas myth from an old medical textbook. She also found that Tee Jean's body was arranged according to another illustration based on Marsyas. She still has not found a match for the other bodies.

While they're talking, Woolrich arrives. He seems to recognize Louis and know about his past. He asks Charlie to follow him and they sit down to talk at a cafe outside. Charlie refuses to talk about Louis' and Woolrich drops the subject. He asks if Charlie is familiar with the name "Edward Byron", but Charlie doesn't recognize the name.

Byron apparently used to be a janitor at the same hospital where Susan had Jennifer. He was fired because he was suspected of mutilating a corpse and stealing drugs, specifically ketamine, but there wasn't enough evidence to press charges. Ever since he was fired, no one has heard from him and he owes six months worth of alimony to his ex-wife Stacey, who lives in Baton Rogue. It was also said that Edward Byron always hated New York and wanted to move back to Louisiana. Woolrich also tells Charlie to stay away from Stacey Byron because she is under police protection, and to not get involved with Joe Bones any further.

Later, Charlie and Rachel have dinner together and later share a kiss before parting.

The next day, Louis and Angel go to Baton Rogue to talk to Stacey Byron, and Rachel joins Charlie to attend the burial of David Fontenot in Metairie.

During the funeral, a group of Joe Bones' men, disguised as policemen, arrive and start shooting the mourners. Charlie and Rachel hide between two vaults and Charlie takes out one of Joe Bones' men. Rachel, in shock, shoots another man in self defense with a dead man's gun. Charlie leaves Rachel inside a vault with one of the guns and heads back out. He is ambushed by one of Joe Bones' men, but before he can kill Charlie, Lionel Fontenot shoots him.

Charlie heads back to Rachel and finds her trying to save an injured woman from bleeding out. They leave before the cops arrive and Rachel, traumatized by the experience, cries out in Charlie's arms. When they come back to the Flaisance, they make love and Rachel falls asleep in Charlie's bed.

Afterwards Charlie spends some time trying to figure out more about The Traveling Man, before Louis and Angel return. They were able to talk to Stacey Byron by pretending to be officers, and learn that Stacey hasn't seen her husband in several months. She also told them that Edward Byron had interest in medical affairs, and one time while they were arguing he threatened to tear her face off.

Louis and Charlie go for dinner together and discuss Woolrich. Louis doesn't trust Woolrich and is dubious as to why he's helping them, believing him to have his own agenda. Charlie agrees. They both also agree that they should talk to Lionel Fontenot.

The next morning, Charlie heads over to Morphy's house to have dinner with him and his wife, Angie. After dinner, he tells Morphy about Raymond Aguillard's sighting of the dead girl in Honey Island. Morphy is free the next day and agrees to join Charlie in searching for the body. Charlie stays the night at Morphy's place and early the next morning they head out to Honey Island.

They find the spot Raymond Aguillard indicated, and Morphy starts diving. Eventually, he locates a metal box as well as some oil drums. They haul in the box, which contains stolen firearms. They also haul in two of the oil drums, but find nothing but rocks and sump inside. After a break, Charlie agrees to take over diving. Before they're able to haul in any more of the drums, an alligator appears, forcing Charlie to get out of the water. Soon after, Angel and Louis join them. Louis shoots at the alligator's tail, making it leave, and Charlie keeps diving, the four men continuing to haul in the oil drums and opening them.

Towards the evening, Charlie finds a drum that's heavier than the others, and knows it's the girl. It has also been treated with something and is less rusted than the other drums. They haul it in and open it, finding the decayed remains of the girl. Angel and Louis depart before the police arrive. Late that evening, Charlie returns to the Flaisance and spends the night with Rachel.

The next morning, he is present for the girl's autopsy. The ME determines that the girl was about 22 and her face was removed before death. Through dental records, she is identified as Lutice Fontenot, the half-sister of Lionel and David Fontenot.

Louis and Charlie head over to the Fontenot compound to speak to Lionel. According to Lionel, Lutice left them several months back, after the Fontenots had an altercation with Joe Bones. They tried to trace her without any luck. David, who was especially close to Lutice, started having dreams about her underwater some months back. One day, he got a call that lured him out to Honey Island, where he was killed.

Charlie lets him know about Remarr and that he'd really like to ask Joe Bones about it. Lionel is planning a hit against Joe Bones, and agrees to bring Charlie and Louis along when he does.

When they get back to the Flaisance, Rachel and Angel meets them and tells them that Woolrich and some other feds came by and searched all their rooms, taking anything they could find related to The Traveling Man investigation. Rachel and Angel managed to hide some of the materials, and Rachel shows Charlie an illustration, *Pietá* by Charles Estienne, which closely resembles the way Susan and Jennifer's bodies were mutilated and arranged.

Rachel theorizes that The Traveling Man is creating memento mori, trying to send a message about the inevitability of death through displaying what he views as art. According to her, the killer probably felt that his killing and display of Susan and Jennifer was "flawed", and killed Lutice Fontenot as "practice", hiding her body before starting killing and displaying his victims again.

Charlie arranges to meet Woolrich. He notes that seizing the material without any notice was very out of character for Woolrich. Woolrich appears tired and hostile. He tells Charlie that he's tired of him messing with the case, and that he knows Charlie was at the Fontenot funeral. Before they part on bad terms, he reveals that Stacey Byron was an art major and her thesis work concerned Renaissance depictions of the human body, hinting that Edward Byron might have picked up ideas from her. Charlie meets back up with Rachel, Angel and Louis.

The next day, Charlie and Rachel return to the Flaisance to find one of Lionel Fontenot's men waiting for them. He tells Charlie that he and Louis should meet them at ten that night to go see Joe Bones. Rachel is not happy about it, knowing that there will be more killing. Regardless, she joins Charlie and heads to Baton Rogue to try to talk to Stacey Byron. When they arrive, Stacey Byron is on her way to the store, followed by one of the cops on duty to guard her.

Charlie and Rachel follow, and Charlie pays a store worker to borrow his work uniform. He manages to approach Stacey Byron but doesn't get much information out of her. She seems genuinely confused when asked about Renaissance art but she seems to recognize the name "The Traveling Man" and looks frightened at the mention of it.

They head back to the Flaisance and Charlie and Louis prepare to meet Fontenot's men. Rachel tells Charlie that she's planning to leave in a day or two, as she can't be part of this any longer. Charlie and Louis leave, Angel staying behind to look after Rachel.

Charlie and Louis meet up with the Fontenots and they all head towards Joe Bones' place. While they're descending on his house, Joe Bones is alerted and his men return fire. The Fontenots manage to get to the house with Charlie and Louis covering them. Louis is injured when a bullet tears across the back of his right hand, Charlie wraps up his hand and they head into the house.

Joe Bones is cornered in his bedroom after his men are disposed of. Charlie questions him about Remarr, but Joe Bones refuses to give him any information. Charlie leaves to let Lionel kill him. They all drive away and the getaway vehicles are set on fire and any evidence disposed of. Lionel tells Charlie that he too suspects Edward Byron for the killing, and his men are looking for him out in the Bayou.

Charlie and Louis return to the hotel, where Angel tries to stitch up Louis' hand with the help of a first-aid kit, but the wound is too serious, so he takes him to a private doctor supplied to them by Lionel Fontenot. Charlie and Rachel talk and their relationship further deteriorates.

The next day, Charlie heads out, to get away from things for a while. Angel and Louis are both rather anxious to return to New York, not wanting to get involved with the police aftermath of the Joe Bones killing, but agree to stay until Charlie returns and keep Rachel company.

Charlie calls Morphy, but can't reach him, and is told that he's taking the day off to work on his house. Charlie drives to Morphy's place. Morphy shows him that day's newspaper, which has a very in detail article on The Traveling Man investigation. Morphy and Charlie both think the information must have been leaked by someone involved in the investigation.

Charlie stays at Morphy's for the rest of the day, helping him work on the house, and then returns to the Flaisance. Angel and Louis leave for the airport and Charlie goes to sleep. Early the next morning, Charlie and Rachel are apprehended by the NOPD and taken in for questioning. Something seems to have happened to Morphy and Angie, and since Charlie was at his house yesterday helping him, his fingerprints are all over. A police file Charlie has no recollection of was also found in his room. Charlie is questioned for several hours, including by Woolrich and other feds, before he and Rachel are permitted to leave.

Rachel is driven back to the Flaisance by a couple patrolmen, but Touissant, Morphy's former partner, takes Charlie for coffee and tells him what happened. That morning, Morphy was due for an early shift and Touissant had gone to his place to pick him up. When Morphy failed to appear, Touissant entered the house to search for him, and found him and Angie in the bedroom, where they had both been skinned, blinded and arranged by The Traveling Man.

Touissant tells Charlie that the NOPD will arrange so that Charlie and Rachel are flown back to New York on a flight that evening, then drives him back to the hotel. Charlie tries to sleep but experiences a vision, in which Jennifer, Susan, and other victims of The Traveling Man visit and call out to him. Charlie suddenly gets the feeling that the girl Tante Marie saw might not have been Lutice Fontenot, but someone else. The dead tell him that The Traveling Man's world is unraveling.

When he comes to, Touissant is there, stating that he volunteered to drive him and Rachel to the airport to spare the NOPD the trouble. On the way to the airport, Touissant instead drives them to Upper Grand River, where a dredging operation uncovered an oil drum, the same kind that Lutice's body was found in. The crew, having read about the discovery of her body in the newspaper, opened the drum, revealing the remains of another girl.

The St Martin Sheriff, James Dupree, talks to Charlie and wants him to stay and help the department with the investigation. Charlie asks him to hold the feds off until the body can be identified, as he believes someone within the FBI might be the one to leak info to the press, and he doesn't want The Traveling Man to be alerted. Dupree agrees to try to hold them off, but states that he can't promise any more than 24 hours. Touissant also reveals that the feds believe they have found Edward Byron and are planning to move in on him.

They talk to the dredging crew and ask them to keep silent, before the girl's body is brought to a private clinic for autopsy. Rachel checks in at a motel in the area where she leaves her and Charlie's luggage, before they both join to be present for the autopsy. Due to the development of adipocere on the body, the ME believes the body must have been in the water for a little over six months. The autopsy also reveals that the girl was blinded and had her face removed before death, and also that her right leg was broken about two years ago.

The broken leg leads Charlie to guess the girl's identity. Woolrich's daughter Lisa got a similar fracture in a rollerblade accident two years ago. She's been missing for a time, allegedly running away to join a religious group in Mexico.

At the same time, a group of feds, led partly by Woolrich, are closing in on the abandoned house where Edward Byron is hiding. Byron manages to escape from the house by shooting and fatally injuring a few of the deputies, and runs off into the bayou, chased by tracker dogs.

At the police station, Charlie and a few deputies are trying to get a hold of Lisa's dentist for dental records. Rachel joins them for a while but then returns to the motel to sleep. Eventually, they get a hold of him, and wait for him to send the records over.

Meanwhile Edward Byron seems to manage to outrun the cops, but is found and killed by Lionel Fontenot and his men.

Charlie and the others are still waiting for the dental records at the station, when Dupree hears about Byron and tells Charlie. Apparently, sample jar of the same kind as the one containing Jennifer's face were found on his property, as well as scalpels with tissue remains. The dental records come through, confirming the dead girl is Woolrich's daughter.

Charlie calls Woolrich and asks him to meet him, intending to tell him about his daughter's death. When asked why he's still in Louisiana, Charlie lies and tells him that he and Rachel missed their flight. He meets Woolrich at a bar. Woolrich apologizes for his actions in the past few days, stating that he, like Charlie, just wanted to bring things to an end. When Charlie asks what he's going to do now, Woolrich replies that he wants to take some time off and maybe go searching for Lisa in Mexico.

Before Charlie can tell him about Lisa, Woolrich says that she's been asking after Charlie, and that he last heard from her two or three months ago, which Charlie knows to be a lie, as Lisa had been dead for over six months.

Charlie is overcome with nausea and pain as he suddenly connects the dots and realizes that Woolrich is The Traveling Man. He excuses himself to go to the bathroom, splashes his face with water to clear his head, and then reaches for his phone to call Dupree, but realizes he forgot the phone on the table. When he returns, Woolrich is gone.

Charlie manages to get a hold of Dupree and soon after, the police joined by the FBI go to search Woolrich's apartment, where they find sample jars, a voice synthesizer and a mask. Charlie is brought back to the police station, where he attempts to call Rachel at the motel. He eventually reaches the desk clerk, who gives him a message from Woolrich, that reveals Woolrich has taken Rachel. The message also says that Charlie "knows where to find them" and to come alone.

Charlie and Dupree spend some time trying to figure out where Woolrich might be but all the obvious places are already being searched. Charlie, trying to clear his mind, goes for a drive. He recalls that Woolrich's ex-girlfriend Judy had a house in St Martinville. He manages to find Judy's address and heads to St Martinville.

He arrives at the house and upon entering it, finds Rachel, suspended upside down from the roof and drugged with ketamine. Woolrich is hiding behind Rachel's body and, threatening to kill her, makes Charlie drop his gun.

Woolrich taunts Charlie and Charlie tries to keep him talking to buy time. Woolrich reveals that he set Edward Byron up from the very start by cutting up the body in the hospital and framing him for it, as well as planting the evidence that the FBI found. Woolrich intends to recreate the Pietá with Rachel and Charlie. He then shoots him in the shoulder with a needle containing ketamine, before closing in on him. Charlie is already feeling the effects of the shot, but manages to grab his gun. Woolrich turns off the lights, but Charlie is able to hit and injure him with a shot.

Charlie is hallucinating from the drug, but keeps moving, eventually making it to a room lined with shelves, each shelf filled with jars all containing cut off faces. Charlie collapses, and Woolrich appears in the doorway, taunting him before firing a second syringe into his chest. Charlie is able to lift his gun and shoot Woolrich fatally. Before he loses consciousness, he can feel the dead crowding around him, and faintly hear sirens in the distance.

### EPILOGUE

Charlie, having moved from New York, is currently residing in Scarborough, staying at a motel while he's fixing up his grandfather's old house. He has not heard from Rachel since she was released from the hospital.

## Covers

2012 cover by Hodder & StoughtonOriginal 1999 cover by Hodder & Stoughton2000 cover by Atria Books1999 cover by Simon & Schuster2015 cover by Atria/Emily Bestler Books2011 Indonesian cover by Gramedia Pustaka Utama