THE KEY
A Jason Saunders Mystery
All cops are superstitious. Coincidences drive them nuts. Holy shit cases—seven deadly sins scrawled in blood, for example—make them even crazier.
After the murder investigation of an Orthodox Jewish girl went cold, D.C. Detective Adam Lennox decided he liked the taste of gunmetal. He gave no warning, left no note. His death still haunts his partner, Jason Saunders. Plagued by guilt, Jason still wonders what warning signs he missed.
Now, a year later, Jason’s called to the scene of a murder not far from where Adam killed himself. The victim, a two-week old baby boy, has a cryptic tattoo on his chest and, under his tongue, a bit of burlap scrawled with a Star of David, Hebrew, and crude drawings that turn out to be a Kabbalist formula. Most formulas like this are protective and call on the angels.
Not this one, though. This spell summons a demon, bent on murder.
A dead baby. A weird tattoo. A cloth with an ancient Hebraic spell. Same time of year Adam killed himself, and the same location, too.
Not a coincidence.
Like the man said, holy shit.