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“There was light coming in the window,” Geneva said. “When I was at the Deadwater Lake house, it was nighttime. I know that much.”

The horror of it washed over me anew. By the time I went to Geneva’s house yesterday, she was probably already tied up in that barn. I was so close to her but didn’t know it.

“Then my brother walked into the barn. I was so relieved. I started crying. I got a little hysterical. But Landon didn’t do anything. He just stood there looking at me. He just ... changed.”

She burst into tears. It was hard for her to get the next part out. Landon left Geneva tied up in the pole barn and went back to the house to help get Kevin started on his afternoon routine. But I showed up and started to ask questions. It would haunt me forever. If I hadn’t chosen to ignore Dan Holland’s warnings not to go to the Bell house, would Geneva be dead? The thought that she was tied up in that barn during my confrontation with Landon chilled me.

“He started talking to me. It was gibberish at first. But then he started talking about that night at Deadwater Lake. He knew things I’d never told him. He said Derrek Sidney was his soul father,” Geneva continued. “That he had chosen him to carry on his legacy. He said Derrek loved him. He … he put that awful mask on. The one that looks like Sidney.”

Later, a search of Landon’s belongings would uncover his copy of The Traveler’s Guide to Oblivion. It was marked identically to the one in Derrek Sidney’s possession. Landon had sent it to him as a gift. Derrek’s letters in reply to Landon were found in a shoebox under a floorboard in the basement at the Bell house.

It was Derrek who came up with the idea to use the book as a cipher. Landon had sent it to him, believing the messages it contained were written by God.

They communicated over a span of eighteen months. Derrek had made a plan to escape but needed help from someone on the outside once he was on the run. Landon had been only too eager to volunteer.

“He was going to kill me,” Geneva said. “He said he promised Derrek. It was going to be an initiation. A way for him to prove his loyalty to Derrek. He thought Derrek would take him with him and that they’d carry out all these killings together. I don’t know why he didn’t do it right away. Why he kept me tied up for so long and brought me back to the barn.”

“It’s hard to say,” Maven said. “He might have had second thoughts.”

“Just like he did twelve years ago,” I said.

“He was probably trying to work up the courage,” Mac said. “Maybe he thought it was safer to wait until your father was down for the night before coming back to you. Who knows?”

Geneva broke down then. She grabbed me, and I held her against my chest while she cried. The social worker Dr. Moran sent tried to get her to stop. To rest. But Geneva refused.

“I can do this once,” she said. “I think. While everything is fresh in my mind.”

“I won’t leave,” I said. “I promise.”

Geneva nodded.

“Derrek Sidney’s DNA was found at the Deadwater Lake house,” Detective Holland said. “Do you have any idea how? You’re sure Landon said he committed those crimes alone?”

“He said he did,” Geneva said. “He said he picked Derrek up at some rest stop on the Ohio and Michigan border.”

“That tracks with a reported sighting we had,” Holland said. “We were never able to confirm it.”

“Landon drove him up to Helene. I think there was a plan for Derrek to figure out how to get to Canada eventually. He was heading to the U.P. Landon thought they were going to go together. He said Derrek betrayed him. Told him he’d send for Landon later. That it was too dangerous for them to travel together. It made Landon really angry. He took some things from Derrek. The knit cap. A belt. These were all things Landon left for him in some locker at a laundromat. A disguise. They were laying discarded in the back seat of the car Landon left for him. Landon stole them back.”

“The belt. He used that on Maisy Adams,” Karen Maven muttered.

“Derrek wouldn’t go with Landon to Deadwater Lake. He didn’t want anything to do with it. Landon thought they were going to kill all of us together. He kept calling it their duet. Landon’s got it all mixed up in his head. He wanted to impress Derrek. Derrek refused. He got angry with Landon. I had no idea my brother was so lost. So messed up. He worshiped that monster. I had no clue. I just tried to keep him talking. For a while, I pretended I was angry with Derrek too. How could he not see how special Landon is? God. I told him that I was proud of him. I was just throwing anything I could think of to try to get into his head.”

“That was smart,” Karen said. “Geneva, that was really smart. You were so brave.”

She sniffled and looked at the ceiling. “Derrek wouldn’t come. I think he was just using Landon to get where he wanted. I don’t think Sidney had any intention of killing anyone while he passed through this area.”

“We could never understand it,” Karen said. “Derrek was brilliant in how he moved. How he evaded being caught for so long. Killing here while he was so close to possibly vanishing forever. And it was sloppy. We always just assumed it was because this was the one killing he didn’t have enough time to plan.”

“He rejected Landon,” Geneva said. “Landon can’t see that. Oh God. He kept going on and on about how Deadwater Lake was a masterpiece. That he did it for Derrek. It was this gift. This act of service in his mind.”

“That fits with the letters Landon kept sending to Derrek after he was recaptured,” I said. “The flavor of them is Landon trying to get Derrek’s approval. He makes a reference about how he knows the job was unfinished.”

“Me,” Geneva hiccupped. “Because Landon couldn’t kill me. I understand that part of it now. I wasn’t just lucky. It’s the reason he came to me last that night after killing everyone else. He said ... he said he loved me. Then Atrō te benedicto. It’s sick. He kept telling me that he was honoring me, blessing me in killing me.”

“Why that book though?” Mac asked.

I explained as best I could what Pollack and Derby told me about its cult status among certain gamer groups.