Introduction

Twenty years. Twenty years our lives had been haunted by the ghost of a distorted lullaby and an antique music box, the only clue left behind by the monster who murdered my wife Jennifer' s parents.

Just when a new murder-a replica of the old horror, right next door-offered a flicker of hope, I found myself slammed against a patrol car, my own badge glinting uselessly on the wet asphalt.

My wife, Jennifer, stood before me, not with relief, but with eyes full of a terrifying resolve, and cuffed me.

My partner, Andy, and Captain Clark, men I' d bled with, stood by silently, staring as the music box' s brass lid supposedly showed my reflection murdering the victim.

They believed it. My wife, my partner, my captain-they all believed it, accusing me, a veteran detective, of a preposterous crime based on a magic music box.

I stood there, handcuffed, watching the man I' d just tackled, the real running suspect, get set free, wondering if the entire world had gone mad, or if the cold case had finally shattered Jennifer' s mind... and mine.