Officer Jack Ballinger receives a phone call from the chief of police in the early morning hours regarding a dead body at an apartment building in a quiet neighborhood in the small upstate New York town of Black Falls. A female student lies in a pentagram outlined in her own blood, clutching a rosary. Ballinger and his former partner Officer Cory Ryan interview tenants in the building about the girl’s death, but are met with more questions than answers.<br><br>When another body is found in the same apartment building a few hours later, Jack knows something is wrong. As he ciphers through a patchwork of unexplainable clues, the investigation detours when Ryan disappears from the case and cannot be found.<br><br>With his future as an officer in question, will Ballinger be able to deal with the truth of these crimes once he dscovers everything he thought he knew was a lie?

Past Sins

“You told me Ms. Findings’ death was accidental.”


“It’s strange, isn’t it?” I say, shaking my head.


An empty stillness settles over the room.


Then Barton says, “What’s so strange about it?”


“A few things.” I shift back and forth, trying to find my footing. “Mrs. Jackson, Cora’s neighbor, told me a different story this morning about her friend.”


He stares at me, walking further into the room and fiddling with his tie, looping it slowly through one finger, then another. “What did she say?”


“She heard noises, loud voices between the victim and another person. A man, according to her statement.” I look at the police chief. He waits patiently for me to continue. “Raised voices, muffled, coming from behind the vic’s apartment door.”


“Did she see who her friend was talking to?”


Chapter 29