"Chapter 22 was as I feared." "Tropic of capricorn." "It wasn't the happiest of endings." "It wasn't an ending at all." "After chapter 22, there was nothing" "But the question." "Did the number live to kill another day?" "The number had gone after Fingerling." "And now it was coming after me." "You." "It's all your fault." "If you hadn't made me late..." "All right, this suits me fine." "A place to rest in peace." "Yes!" "I got you, you son of a bitch." "It's okay, boy." "You'll get up in a couple of hours with a bad headache." "That's all." "Not so tough now, are you, nasty evil dog?" "Ned." "L, M, N... 14." "A, B, C, D, E..." "Shit." "Ned, Ned!" "I'm Father Sebastian." "I trust there's an explanation for this." "He's just sleeping, Father." "I'm an animal control officer." " Is this your dog?" " It belongs to Barnaby, my gardener." "Don't worry, Barnaby, he's all right." "He's just sleeping." " Why did you name him Ned?" " He didn't." "He... he took Ned in as a stray." "He likes graveyards." "He sits and watches the stones" "Like he was watching over them." "That's how he got his nickname... guardian of the dead." "Lately it's been this one." "Oh, no way." "What's wrong, son?" "She died on her 23rd birthday." "Well, we can only assume." " What?" " That she died." "They never found her body." "This is only a marker." " Where have you been?" " Library." "It's not just a book." "It's true, the number screws with your mind," "Makes you do..." "Terrible things." "Perhaps I should be going." "No, I want you to see this, all of you." "There was a college girl named Laura Tollins who was murdered." "They never found her body," "But her bed was soaked in so much blood." "This is the man who killed her, Kyle Flinch." "Police found a murder weapon, a butcher's knife," "With his prints all over it." "Well, Walter, this was nearly 15 years ago." "Ag, he wasn't just her psychology professor." "They were lovers." "Everything they did together sexually" "Was exactly like the characters in the book." "He said it was her idea to buy the knife." "She wanted to fake an attack." "Kyle Flinch is topsy kretts." "The book is his..." "Warped literary confession." "Agatha said a dog told you this." "Ned isn't just a dog." "He's the guardian of the dead." "But what about all these 23s" "In your name and everything?" " Is it all just a coincidence?" " I don't know." "But I know who can tell me." "Well, you're two days early." "You knew I would come?" "Reporters always come on the 10th." "The day you killed Laura Tollins." "The day she was taken from me." "I'm not a reporter." "My name is Walter Sparrow." "I was born February 3rd." "Happy belated birthday." "February 3rd." "2/3." " Yeah." " Don't pretend you don't know," "Topsy kretts." "I read your book." "Tell me about the number." "Is that why you killed her?" "I need to know." "You have to tell me." "What happened to you?" "I'm afraid it's happening to me." "What happened to me?" "You want to know the worst thing about being in prison?" "Your family, your sister, your parents," "They come to visit you." "Over time, though, the visits get less" "And your sister stops coming at all." "Then you start to notice your mother won't look you in the eye." "Pretty soon, she stops coming too." "Eventually, your..." "Your father tells you your sister had a breakdown..." "Unable to deal with having a murderer" "For a brother." "Now there's tears in his eyes when he says this," "But he's not sad." "He's angry." "That's the last time you ever see him." "I didn't kill Laura." "I loved her." "And I didn't write a book about a number." "You're lying." "I'm in prison for a crime I did not commit, mr." "Sparrow." "But somehow I think your problems are bigger than mine." "Fucking liar!" "No." "Yeah, no." "If I was to write a book," "I wouldn't use a ridiculous name like "top secrets."" "He was real convincing about his innocence." "Well, killers usually are." "His fingerprints were on the knife." "Her blood was on his hands when he dialed 911." "No, he's innocent." "All because his name doesn't add up to 23?" "The real killer, the author, he's still out there." "I have to find him." "Wait, I..." "I..." "I..." "I know how you can find him." "Last night when I was reading the book," "I found a P.O. box address in the back." " You sure you don't want anything in this?" " Just the snow." " When do you want it to get there?" " Tomorrow morning." " It'll have to go express." " Fine." "Is that all?" "No no, we want a..." "We want 23 of them." "I dreamt that I killed you, Ag." "Fingerling had the same dream about..." "I'm going with you today." "And all this is gonna come to an end." "You wouldn't hurt me, Walter." "You wouldn't hurt anyone ever." "How do you know?" "There's your boxes, kiddo." "Now we'll see if somebody shows up." "This may not be the author." "He may not even be a man." "Well, we'll know soon enough." " Walter, look." " Huh?" "Somebody's gone in." "That's him." "It's gotta be him." " You think?" " Yeah, I mean, look at him." "It's gotta be him." "Game's over, topsy kretts." "You sh..." "should be dead." "You should be dead!" " Walter, no!" " I'm calling the cops!" "Stop!" "Who are you?" "The number, what does it mean?" "I think you know." " Oh my god." "Get an ambulance!" " Watch out!" " Dear god." " Get an ambulance!" "Don't you die on me." "You hear me?" "Don't you die." "Walter, please." "He's the only person that can help us get back to normal." "Honey, you're not helping, okay?" "Now I want you to take Robin and go home." "This man needs a hospital." " I'll take care of it." " But he knows, hon." "Take Robin and go home." "I said I'll take care of it." "He knows." "Shit!" "Hard to get rid of..." " What?" " I was insane." "What was driving you insane?" "Hard..." "To get rid of..." "The institute." "Go there." "You'll see." "Oh my god." " Agatha." " Walter, he didn't make it." "I'm so sorry." "Well, did he say anything?" "No, I'm sorry." "Did you find out who he was?" "No." "I'll be home in a little while." "Oh, shit!" "You gotta be kidding me." "Robin!" "Every 23rd word" ""Visit casanova spark, dig beneath the steps to heaven."" " Who's casanova spark?" " It's not a person." ""I warn you, hell is waiting, Sparrow man."" "We need to go." "23!" "What was driving you insane?" "Wanna take bets that there's 23 of them?" "20, 21, 22..." "Are you sure you wanna do this?" "What if mom was right?" "What if... what if the man wasn't the author?" "What... what if he was just the guy's father or something?" "Sounds like a lot of what ifs." "Wouldn't that mean that the real killer's still out there?" "Did you hear something?" "You're starting to sound like me, kiddo." "Gimme the light." "Gimme the light." "Oh, my..." "Okay, we gotta go." "Go!" "Give me the light." "Let's get out of here." " There's one right there." " Where?" "You stay here!" "911." "What's your emergency?" "You need to send someone" "To casanova's park." "Is this your idea of a joke?" "It's empty." "What?" "It was right there." "We're not crazy." "We circled every 23rd word on every 23rd page" " And it told us to come down here." " Yeah." "And I sound completely crazy, don't I?" "Just get some sleep, okay?" "We're done here." "10-23, u." "T.L." "Mom." "Oh, honey." " Let's go home, okay?" " Yeah." "Skeletons can't just get up and walk away." "You were right." "That man wasn't the killer." "The real killer is still out there" "And he knows dad's onto him." "The book, it's got all these... these..." "These secret messages every 23rd page." " He's right, every 23rd page in the book." " Stop it!" " Yes." " Both of you, stop it!" "Now listen to me." "23 is a number, okay?" "There's no magical meaning." "Only people can give it that." "And I don't care how many lunatics are fantasizing about 23." "They're wrong!" "There's no curse." "There's no killer running around out there." "Jesus." "It's him." "That's Ned." "Nasty evil dead dog." " Dad!" " Walter!" "You." "It was you." "You moved the skeleton." "Please don't do this, Walter." "Then how did you know, unless..." "Your maiden name is pink." "Do you know what pink is?" "Red and white, 92 divided by 4." "Someday I'm gonna write a book and I'll do it to somebody else." " Walter." " Oh, god." "Whoever wrote it knows you very well," "And only they can give you your answers." "You wrote it." "Isaac knew all along, didn't he?" "Walter, just let it be, please." "You're topsy kretts." "He may not even be a man." " Don't make me do this." " Why, Ag?" "Why'd you do this?" " Who have I been living with?" " Walter." "What's this for, Ag?" "What were you gonna do with this?" "I..." "I took it to protect us" "From whoever we were gonna meet at the mailbox facility." "Intending to kill that poor old man who you got to publish your book" "And protect your little secret?" " I'll take care of it." " He was alive before you sent us away." " Robin will hear you." " Oh, we wouldn't want that, would we?" "Wouldn't want our son to know the horrible truth about his mother." "Mom, dad, what's going on?" "She's topsy kretts." "She wrote the book." "No, it's not true." "Now your father's gonna put down the knife." " Aren't you, Walter?" " Tell him the truth." " Walter." " Tell him how you took the skeleton." "Yes, Isaac and I took the skeleton." " You did?" " And I'd do it again." "But I did not write the book." "Don't lie." "13 years, Ag." "13 years of lies!" " No more." " Don't do this to us, Walter." " Mom, who wrote the book?" " Tell him who wrote it." "Tell him." "You wrote the book, Walter." "I found this with the old man's things." "You put my name on this." "No." "No no no no no." "You're lying." "She's lying." "I didn't..." "I didn't write that." "Then who did?" "You." "It was both of you all the way along, wasn't it?" " No." " What is this?" "What are you doing?" "Dad." "Dad, what's happening?" "Walter, we can get you help." "The woman in red." "And this is supposed to make me feel better how?" "Oh my god." "Shit!" "Walter." "No!" "Get out of here!" "Get your car." "Come on." " Let's go." " Come on, honey." "You can call me Fingerling, but my real name is Walter." "Walter Paul Sparrow." "What you have read so far is not the whole truth." "Much has been changed to protect the innocent" "And the guilty." "I once read that the only philosophical question that matters" "Is whether or not to commit suicide." "I guess that makes me a philosopher." "You could say it was my inheritance." "After my mother's death" "My father couldn't cope." "He didn't leave a note." "Just a number." "That number followed me from foster home to foster home," "Till college when I met her." "Laura Tollins." "Do it tight." "Pretend that you have a knife." "I got a knife." "Cut my shirt." " I'll cut you some more." " Are you?" "Yeah, I'll cut you." "Cut me." "Cut me." ""I loved her."" "One little-known..." ""And I thought she loved me."" "...esoteric procession of the number 23." "Does a thing itself have a mystical power?" " Does that equate?" " Yes, that... that's... that's the..." ""Until my father's number returned to haunt me."" "Are you insane?" ""That fucking number."" ""When I circled every 23rd letter of her note..." "It became clear."" ""The number had gone after me." "And now it wanted her."" "Laura, this room..." "you gotta get out." " It's coming for you." "I can't stop it." " What?" " What?" " The number." " No no no no no." " Leave me alone." "You think you have the guts to use it?" "Go ahead." "Kill me." "I love you." "I never loved you, ever." "How could I?" "How could anyone?" "You're pathetic." "Just like your father." "Get out!" "Laura." "Laura!" "Laura!" "Laura!" "Laura!" "Laura!" "Laura!" "Laura!" "Laura!" "Laura!" "Laura!" "Laura!" "I was right." "She was in danger." "I just didn't realize the danger was me."" "It's gonna be all right." "I just didn't realize the danger was me."" "Hey, Laura." "Laura?" ""What began as a suicide note" "Turned into something more..."" "Shh..." "get the..." ""..." "Much, much more."" "23." "That's a good one." "That's a good one." "23. 23." "23." "23, 23." "Fuck it, fuck it." "I can see it." "It's everywhere." "It's everywhere." "It's everywhere." "No more fun and games." "Laura." "Shit!" "This fucking..." "It's not true." "It's not true." "He does not..." "does not..." "I love you..." "More than any of..." "Period, exclamation." "Remember this?" ""They thought it was the fall..."" "He doesn't remember anything." "It's not uncommon in cases of such severe head injury." "He could recover his memory tomorrow or never." "Well, of course you have to factor in the history" "Of mental instability of the patient's family." "His own father attempted suicide." "He just managed to be a little more successful at it." ""..." "Because the trauma of Laura appeared to be fiction."" " And all that scribbling?" " Severe graphomania." "The rantings of a delirious mind." "Some sort of a survivor's guilt mixed up" "With a numerology obsession." "You have your hands full, doctor." "Mmm." "I'll do what I can." "Say, uh, may I have this book?" "Thank you." ""My novel," "My confession," " I never saw it again."" " My name is dr." "Nathaniel." ""Some injuries can be healed over time." "Some are just too hard to deal with." "So my brain just blocked out" "The terrible thing I had done" "And the reasons why."" " Take care." " I hope I never see you again." " I hope not." "I hope not." "Don't come back." " Okay." " Ooh!" "Oh my god." "I'm so sorry." " Oh!" "Oh, no." ""Agatha knew nothing about my past."" "Oh, you owe me a cake." ""That made two of us." "I was free for now," "But the number found a new victim." "The number left me alone for 13 years..." "Until the night she found my book," "Or the book found her."" "This is where I wrote it all." "It was me." "I'm a murderer." "I don't know what happened" "You weren't a bad person who got better;" "You were a sick person who became well." "I killed Laura Tollins." "There's an innocent man in prison because of me." "You're a wonderful husband, and you're the best father a son could ever have." "And what would Robin do without you?" "You know I can't let an innocent man go on suffering for my horrible sin." "We're all broken, Walter." "Remember, you told me your life started when you met me?" "Well, my life" " Began that day, too." " You didn't know who I was." "I didn't know who I was." " I want you to leave, Ag." " No." " You need to leave before..." " No." "Before what?" "Before you kill me?" "Damn it, Walter." "Look, this..." "This is who you were." "This is not who you are." " This is not who you are!" " I'm a killer!" "I have killed someone." "I killed someone." "I could do it again." "You think you could do it again?" "You think you're a killer?" "Here, then take this." "You go ahead and do it." "If you're a killer, then kill me!" "Look around at all the beautiful 23s." "You don't want to disappoint them, do you?" "Do it!" "I love you." "No, don't you say that." " I love you." " No, you can't!" "Nobody can." "Dad!" "There's no such thing as destiny." "There are only different choices." "It's just a number." "Some choices are easy;" "some aren't." "Those are the really important ones, the ones that define us as people." "The Lord is my shepherd." "There is nothing I lack." "In green pastures, you let me graze." "To safe waters, you lead me." "You restore my... 13 years ago I made the wrong choice..." "Guide me along the right path for the sake..." "I needed to put it right," "And not just for my sake." "To die there in the street would have been easy," "But it wouldn't have been justice," "At least not the justice fathers teach their sons about." "I'll be sentenced in a week or so." "My lawyer says the judge will look kindly upon me" "For turning myself in." "Maybe it's not the happiest of endings," "But it's the right one." "Someday I'll be up for parole" "And we can go on living our lives." "It's only a matter of time." "Of course, time's just a counting system..." "Numbers..." "With meaning attached to them." "Isn't it?"