"The Dark Prince returns." "Yes." "Tickets to the horror show." "Fetch the paper, Eedo." " Hey, man, run!" " What?" "Hey!" "Hi there, Frank!" "Saw you working up there." "Putting in a security light, eh?" "The days are getting shorter." "It'll be nice for Catherine if she works late." " Your wife got the job?" " Yeah." "Ah, terrific!" "What is the name of what she does again?" " She's a clinical social worker." " Right." " You got all the tools you need?" " I think I'm all squared away, Jack." " Frank?" " Yeah?" "Got a phone call." " Hi." " Hi." "Come on, Benny!" "Let's go outside!" " Hello?" " Peter Watts." "Yes, Peter." "I'm down in San Francisco." "I got what could be a multiple homicide here." " Do you want to send the details?" " The lack of detail has created concern." "We could use you here." "Right." "I'll make the arrangements." "Was that someone from the Group?" " Something to look at in San Francisco." " Soon?" "Right after I finish wiring up that light." "Well, we're set." " Peter." " Frank." " How was the trip?" " Good." "What've you got?" "Members of the gardening club noticed that ashes were being deposited in the park rose beds over the past few weeks." "One of them notified the detectives this morning when she found this." "It appears to be adult." "A good portion of the interior helix is still intact." "I think we can get a nice impression of the remaining auricle." "There's a lot of ashes that have been dumped here, Frank." "It might be illegal crematory dumping..." " No, he..." " He's what, Frank?" "The killer knows the victim." "He wants to watch him suffer." "I think there are multiple bodies here." "What's he using, a crematory oven?" "It's important to him that he burns them alive." " Why?" " I don't know." "OK, what's going on in here?" "Benny's giving me kisses!" "Well, there's way too much fun going on in here." "OK." "Ben, bedtime." "Downstairs, bedtime." "Thank you, thank you." "And you..." "Mommy, when is Daddy coming home?" "I don't know, honey." "Soon." "Maybe tomorrow." " Is he working?" " Yes." "Catching the bad man?" "If there's a bad man, I'm sure Daddy's going to catch him." "Now, I want you to close those eyes and count as high as you can, OK?" "OK." "One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten, eleven, twelve, thirteen, fourteen, fifteen, sixteen, seventeen, eighteen, nineteen, twenty-one, twenty-two, twenty-three," "twenty-four, twenty-five, twenty-six, twenty-seven, twenty-eight..." " Hello." " Hi, it's me." " What?" "What's wrong?" " Uh, nothing." "I, um..." "I got a little spooked by the security light." " What happened?" "Are you all right?" " I'm fine." "Itjust went on and..." " I'm sure it was just a cat." " It's nothing, honey." "Just an adjustment." "You guys all locked up?" "We're fine, Frank, really." "It's a perfectly safe neighbourhood." "Frank!" " I gotta go." "Want me to call you back?" " No." " Did you catch the bad man, Frank?" " No." "But we will." " I know." " I love you." "This is Jim Penseyres." "He worked at VICAP after you left." " I don't know if you met." " No." "Hi." "What'd you find?" "Excavation is incomplete, pending a problem with the parks department." "But we were able to separate out most of what there was in the plant beds." "39 pounds of carbonised human remains, roughly the equivalent of seven adults." "Dating is difficult, but a defined stratum would indicate more than one deposit." " What else?" " The remains are clean, uniform." "No large fragments, apart from the ear, which would indicate extreme heat." " What kind of heat?" " Bone carbonises at 1400 degrees." "But I'd put this at 2100, 2200." " What about the ear?" " I don't know how it survived." "But we pulled a mould and..." "something lucky." "The tissue contained traces of lysergic acid, LSD." "Also phosgene, a relatively uncommon gas found at accident sites, chemical plants using carbon tetrachloride." " Dry-cleaning fluid." " Yeah." "There was an accident at a dry-cleaning facility here seven years ago." "They've got a block of abandoned buildings near Pier 23." "Not much left of anything." "No." "Do we know who owns these buildings?" "The city." "They've been for sale for years." "No buyers." "I don't know, Frank." "What do you think they'd be doing in here?" "Maybe this is where the victims were subdued." "Peter." "On the number 16 molar, there's a crown that's been done recently." "Any indication how it was removed?" "From the scoring on the enamel, it looks like some kind of crude metal tool." "There's a cuspid filling that's state of the art." "These other fillings are substandard compound amalgam." " Which indicates something important." " They were done somewhere else." "Two root canals were done with a process known as N-2." "They look different in x-rays." "You find this work coming out of Eastern Europe, Russia." "The poor condition of the teeth suggests the latter." " Who's running this through the records?" " Penseyres is working with the PD." "Got a surprise for you guys." "Look who came down from the mountain!" "What are you doing here, Mike?" "Caught the same fish three days in a row." "Big brown, five pounds if he's an ounce." "Figured the fish and I both needed a day off." " Hey, Mike." " Frank." "Thanks for coming on short notice." " Some case." " Yeah." " We need a break on these dental records." " Do you have a second, Frank?" "I never told anyone about these." "But I want you to know I was very upset when I opened the package." " I can only imagine how you must have felt." " Right." "I appreciate you confiding in me." "You're the reason I was able to come back to work, that I'm a member of the Group." "Does Catherine have any idea these new photos were taken?" "I never keep anything from her, but we've barely settled in." " You're right not to." " Is that your threat assessment?" "There's a low-risk potential in the photographer escalating from stalking." "Three years since his first mailing, he's still keeping a safe distance." " He doesn't want to be discovered." " He has followed us." "I'd be more concerned if I thought this was about Catherine." " What do you mean?" " He sends the photos to you." "The envelope has your name on it." "What's the object of terrorism?" " Terror." " That's all he wants at this point." "Then he's a success." "You got anything else, Mike?" "The film was purchased in Washington state." "He's taken care not to contaminate the film or the package." "Did you come all the way here just to allay my fears?" "It would be the easiest thing in the world to go home, Frank." "But we need you here." "We need your abilities." "I have a bad feeling about this case." "It is not like any other case I've ever seen." "That would be my threat assessment." "Hi." "My name's Bob Smith, and I hope you have a moment, because I have a one-time offer on a new hair care product." "Would you like to try our product, absolutely free?" "Well, terrific." "I just need your name and address." "And a credit card number for future purchases." " No orders written?" " Not yet." "Hello?" "Is anybody there?" "Hi." "My name is Bob Smith." "I hope you have a moment." "The dental records matched a missing-person report from six months ago, filed by the kid's parents." "Mother and father were naturalised." "Immigrated from Chechnya in 1990 when the son was 15." "BE, minor assault, possession." "Parents' address is 13235 Liberty Avenue." " Mr Bolow?" " Yes?" "Frank Black, Peter Watts." "Very sorry about your son." "We're trying to find out how this happened." "Six months you couldn't find Eedo, and now you want me to help you?" "We're not from the police, Mr Bolow." "Your son might be one of several victims." "He wouldn't listen to us." "Eedo had his own ideas, put in his head by these friends of his." " What friends, Mr Bolow?" " Driving those German cars." "All he could talk about." "Then one day Eedo comes home driving one too." "Selling products nobody wants over the phone." " Do you know where he worked?" " He said he couldn't tell us." "He said he was going to be rich." " Had you heard from him recently?" " Six months ago, he sent us a letter." "A terrible letter." "That's when we called the police." "My wife was so ashamed, she wanted to burn it." "It's in Russian." "You want me to translate?" "We wouldn't want to put you through that." "Thank you for letting us read it." "It would be a big help if we could have a look at the envelope too." "Thank you." "The salutation is to his mother." "He's disowning her." ""I am cutting the ties that prevent my ascendance to a higher stage. "" ""My birthrights and all my former worldly possessions have been..." "burned in a sacrificial fire... of my new faith. "" "Cult indoctrination." "There's a reference to fidelity and duty, and burning in the fires of Gehenna." ""If I should dishonour myself or my brothers. "" ""Gehenna" is Hebrew for hell." ""I have seen the all-powerful one in the pouring red rain, and I fear nothing but his wrath and vengeance." "The end is coming. "" ""The numbers have been miscalculated." "24 times 15 are 360, adjustable by... 286.1." "There is a deliberate error in the Great Pyramid of Giza, that some prophets have cited as an error in our calculation of the calendar year." "Some believe it sets the apocalypse in 1998." "Plan your investment strategy accordingly!" "He says the weak and the indolent shall perish." "He is with his new family and must renounce his parents, just as he renounces his belief in anything but the power of the enterprise." "The power of the enterprise resides in the hearts of the faithful." " And in the ashes of the dead." " Somebody got into this kid's head." " I'm not sure he's writing out of faith." " He's writing out of fear." " Could have been forced." " Too many intransitive verbs." "The imagery - very powerful, very personal." "The use of "Gehenna" is strange - archaic and found only in Old Testament translations." " Maybe he went to Hebrew school." " Somebody powerful got a hold on this kid." "Or some thing." "Wake up, sweetie." "We're home." "You waiting for me?" "You want to go outside?" "Catherine?" " Catherine, it's Bob Bletcher." " Bob?" "Yeah." " Is everything OK?" " Yeah." " Actually, you scared me half to death." " Oh, I'm sorry." "I was, uh..." "Frank asked if I could stop by." "He was a little worried about you and Jordan." "Oh, I'm sorry." "Thank you." "We're fine." "Really." " You're sure?" " Yeah." "I just wasn't expecting anyone." " Would you like to come in?" " No, you got your girl to put to bed." "I'm going to put some coffee on, OK?" "So, how much has he told you?" "About his breakdown?" "Only a little bit more than I'd already heard." "He told me about the Polaroids that someone took of you, and that after he found them, he couldn't leave the house." " That he was afraid to leave you alone." " He was paralysed, Bob." "Not by fear." "By something much deeper." "By understanding." "Yeah, he talked about that." "About being able to see into the darkness." "That he'd developed a kind of..." "facility... to see what a killer sees." "As well as you know him, as long as you two worked together," "I don't think anyone can appreciate what that must be like." "No." "But I'm sure you know better than anyone." "I don't know how he was able to do it, how he ever went back to work." "He was approached by this Millennium Group." "Yes, but Frank went back to work because he had to." "It's who he is." "Sometimes I think of Frank as the Catcher in the rye, standing at the edge of the cliff, trying to save the world." "But he can't change anything." "All he can do is catch these horrible men before they kill again." "That's why I can never let him think that Jordan and I aren't perfectly safe in this perfect house and perfect world that he's tried to give us." "Because I know, if he ever thought differently, next time he'd never be able to leave." "It's all right." "I'm not gonna hurt you." "It's OK." "How long hav]e you been in San Francisco?" "I don't know anything." "Come on, what were you doing out there tonight?" "My name is Bob Smith." " Anything?" " Not yet." "Only given his name as Bob Smith." "He's saying they're talking to a dead man." "What were you doing out there, Frank?" "Went back to satisfy a curiosity about what happened out there that night." "And?" "I think I know what he's afraid of." "Then maybe you should talk to him." "You've seen it, haven't you?" "Seen the hideous face." "Just like Eedo did." "Seen the red rain falling and the face of the beast." "I've seen it too." "I know why you're afraid." "But you're safe from it now." "No one is safe from it." "You don't know what you're talking about." "How can it touch you here?" "What could it do to you here?" "You don't understand." "It knows." "It knows everything." "It knows the numbers." " What numbers?" " That's all there is." "Phone numbers, serial numbers, card numbers..." "You and everybody else." "The numbers are all we are." "It knows your numbers and it knows you." " What does it want?" " Obedience." "Obedience and control." "In return for what?" "To share in the power when the end comes." "When the everlasting fires rage in the year of destiny." "When the weak and the indolent perish." "They told me... we were going to be rich!" "That we were the chosen ones!" "That discipline was the way to salvation." "That prosperity was power." "And they said we could leave whenever we wanted." "It was a lie." "No one could leave, and it made us turn on each other." "Did it kill Eedo Bolow?" "Yes." "Because he was weak." "Because he'd lost his discipline." "Just like the others did." "Just like I did." "Once you've lost your faith and discipline, it will devour you." "Nothing can save you from it." "You can't save me from it." "Hey!" "God..." "Get a doctor!" "Go home, Frank." "I think you should go home, see your family and rest." "That kid died of fright, Mike." "He was so full of LSD, we'll never know what he died of." "He couldn't escape it, whatever it was." "What could be so powerful that you couldn't escape it?" "What you described in there last night, the face of the beast..." "I saw it, the day I arrived." "I've seen the face of evil, Frank." "I've looked into its eyes, seen it staring back at me." "But the face has always been a man's face, a human's face." "I've always believed that evil is born in a cold heart and a weak mind." "I have, too." "Hi there, Frank." "See you were gone for a few days." "Work?" "Hi, Jack." "Yeah." " That consultant group you mentioned?" " Yeah." "Yeah..." "Consulting - you always wonder exactly what that means, you know?" "We're given a problem, we try to solve it." "Oh, I see." "Yeah." "So, did you solve the problem you were working on?" "No." "No, I didn't." "Couldn't even make sense of it." " Want to say goodnight to Jordan?" " Yeah." "I hear it's a real potboiler." "Full of treachery, death, violence..." "Yeah." "Looking for moral guidance, or a little light bedtime reading?" "Just some answers, I guess." "Something happened down in San Francisco." "Anything you want to talk about?" "I'm confused about something I thought I understood about evil." " What it is, exactly." " You mean what causes it?" "It seems the biblical concept of the devil's influence has lost any currency." "I just think the language has changed." "Science and psychology have given us a clearer idea of why people commit evil acts." "I see it every day." "Abused kids become abusive adults." " So the true source of evil is us?" " You mean are we all capable of it?" "Or is there something out there, a force, waiting until it can create another murder, another rape, another Holocaust?" "I think it's something that everyone who looks deeply at life wonders." "What would you tell a child?" "What would I tell Jordan?" "Maybe you should just tell her good night." " Hello?" " Frank?" "It's Mike Atkins." " Sorry for calling so late." " I'm up working anyway." "So am I." " Where are you?" " Still in San Francisco." "We got our forensic data on the dead boy." "Found something we weren't expecting." "Traces of an insecticide used in the making of something called sarin." "Sarin gas." "Used in the terrorist attack on the subway in Japan." "The leader of the cult responsible is on trial for that as well as sev]eral other murders." "Do you know how they say he disposed of his v]ictims?" "An industrial-scale microwave." "He'd amassed a billion dollars." "Been trying to buy weapons from the Russians." "He may have even been trying to get the Ebola virus." " He wanted to bring on Armageddon." " Could it happen here, Frank?" "Frank?" "Mike, I found a business listing for Gehenna International." "An offshore holding company." " What does it hold?" " Industrial products, chemicals." "They list one of their plants in San Francisco." "I'm on it." " What?" " I don't know." "I just have a very bad feeling about something." "Hey!" "Hey!" "Hey!" "Let me out!" "Hey!" "Turn it off!" "Turn it off!" " Check his pulse." " Get an ambulance!" "Go!" "Law enforcement agencies worked in tense cooperation in the roundup of what is being referred to as a death cult, whose aim is believ]ed to be mass destruction." "The suspected leader is a former chemical engineer, Ricardo Clement." "He is being held under the suspicion of murder of at least one cult member." "Authorities confiscated a large cache of biological and other weapons." "How many boys died in there?" "How many kids did you send to their death?" "Ten?" "Twenty?" "What the hell are you?" "Nothing." "Absolutely nothing." " I think I know." " What?" "Who he is." "I gotta get out of here, Peter." "Frank, your wife's here." " You didn't have to come." " I wanted to be here." "I wanted to be here with you, Frank." "I know it's what you fear." "What?" "Losing control." "Having something like this happen to someone you care about." "He had serious internal cellular damage from the radiation, but the doctors say he'll pull through." "I know, and he will." "I know you know this." "How many other lives you may have saved?" "How many people could have been hurt by those weapons?" " I know." " You did what was important." "You did what you set out to do, Frank." "You caught the bad man." "I'm not so sure." "Not sure of what?" "Not sure..." "Not sure if the bad man can be caught."