Chapter 1

Nothing ever starts where we think it does. So of course this doesn’t begin with the vicious and cowardly murder of an FBI agent and good friend named Betsey Cavalierre. I only thought that it did. My mistake, and a really big and painful one.
I arrived at Betseys house in Woodbridge, Virginia, in the middle of the night. I’d never been there before, but I didn’t have any trouble rinding it. The FBI and EMS were already there. There were flashing red and yellow lights everywhere, seeming to paint the lawn and front porch with bright, dangerous streaks¹.I took a deep breath and walked inside. My sense of balance was off. I was reeling. I acknowledged a tall, blonde FBI agent I knew named Sandy Hammonds. I could see that Sandy had been crying. She was a friend of Betsey’s.
On a hallway table I saw Betsey’s service revolver. Beside it was a printed reminder² for her next shooting qualifier at the FBI range. The irony³ stung.
I forced myself to walk down a long hallway that led from the living room to the back of the house, which looked to be close to a hundred years old. It was filled with the kind of country clutter⁴ that she’d loved when she was alive. The master bedroom was situated⁵ at the end of the hall.
I knew instantly that the murder had happened in there. The FBI techs and the local police were swarming⁶ at the open door like angry wasps⁷ around a threatened hive. The house was strangely, eerily⁸ quiet. This was as bad as it gets, worse than anything else. Ever.
Another one of my partners was dead.
The second one brutally⁹ murdered in two years.
And Betsey had been much more than just a partner.
How could this have happened? What did it mean?  I saw Betsey’s small body sprawled¹⁰ on the hardwood floor and I went cold. My hand flew to my face, a reflex over which I had no control.
The killer¹¹ had stripped off her nightclothes. I didn’t see them anywhere in the bedroom. The lower body was coated with blood.  He’d used a knife. He’d punished Betsey with it. I desperately¹² wanted to cover her, but I knew I couldn’t.
Betsey’s brown eyes were staring up at me, but they saw nothing. I remembered kissing those eyes, and that sweet face. I remembered her laugh, high-pitched and musical. I stood there for a long time, mourning Betsey, missing her terribly. I wanted to turn away, but I didn’t. I just couldn’t leave her like this.
As I stood in the bedroom, trying to figure out something coherent about Betsey’s murder, the cell phone in my jacket pocket went off. I jumped. I grabbed it, but then hesitated. I didn’t want to answer.  ‘Alex Cross,’ I finally spoke¹⁴ into the receiver.  I heard a machine-filtered voice and it cut right through me. I shuddered¹⁵ against my will.
‘I know who this is and I even know where you are. At poor, dear, butchered Betsey’s. Do you feel a little bit like a puppet on a string, Detective?You should/said the Mastermind,’because that’s what you are. You’re my favorite puppet, in fact.’
‘Why did you kill her?’I asked the monster on the other end of the phone line. ‘You didn’t have to do this.’
He laughed a mechanical laugh and the hairs on the back of my neck stood up.’You ought to be able to figure that out, no? You’re the famous Detective Alex Cross. You have all those big, important cases notched¹⁶ on your belt. You caught Gary Soneji, Casanova. You solved Jack¹³ and Jill. Christ, you’re impressive.’
I spoke in a low voice. ‘Why don’t you come after me right now?
How about tonight? As you say, you know where I am.’
The Mastermind laughed again, quietly, almost under his breath.  ‘How about I kill your grandmother and your three kids tonight? I know where they are, too. You left your partner with them, didn’t you?You think he can stop me? John Sampson doesn’t have a chance against me.’
I hung up and sprinted¹⁷ out of the house in Woodbridge. I called Sampson in Washington and he picked up on the second ring.  ‘Everything okay there?’ I gasped¹⁸.
‘Everything’s fine, Alex. No problems here. You don’t sound too good, though. What’s up? What happened?’
‘He said he’s coming for you and Nana and the kids,’ I told John.
‘The Mastermind.’
‘Not going to happen, sugar. Nobody will get past me. I hope to hell he tries.’
‘Be careful, John. I’m on my way back to Washington right now.
Please be careful. He’s crazy. He didn’t just kill Betsey, he defiled¹⁹ her.’ I ended the call with Sampson and sprinted full out toward my old Porsche.
The cell phone rang again before I got to the car.  ‘Cross,’ I answered, still running as I spoke, trying to steady the receiver against my chin and ear.
It was him again. He was laughing maniacally²⁰. ‘You can relax, Dr Cross. I can hear your labored²¹ breathing. I’m not going to hurt them tonight. I was just rucking with you. Having some fun at your expense.
‘You’re running, aren’t you? Keep running, Dr Cross. But you won’t be fast enough. You can’t get away from me. It’s you I want. You’re next, Dr Cross.

1 streaks   

n.（与周围有所不同的）条纹( streak的名词复数 )；（通常指不好的）特征（倾向）；（不断经历成功或失败的）一段时期v.快速移动( streak的第三人称单数 )；使布满条纹

参考例句：

• streaks of grey in her hair 她头上的绺绺白发
• Bacon has streaks of fat and streaks of lean. 咸肉中有几层肥的和几层瘦的。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

2 reminder   

n.提醒物，纪念品；暗示，提示

参考例句：

• I have had another reminder from the library.我又收到图书馆的催还单。
• It always took a final reminder to get her to pay her share of the rent.总是得发给她一份最后催缴通知，她才付应该交的房租。

3 irony   

n.反语，冷嘲；具有讽刺意味的事，嘲弄

参考例句：

• She said to him with slight irony.她略带嘲讽地对他说。
• In her voice we could sense a certain tinge of irony.从她的声音里我们可以感到某种讥讽的意味。

4 clutter   

n.零乱，杂乱；vt.弄乱，把…弄得杂乱

参考例句：

• The garage is in such a clutter that we can't find anything.车库如此凌乱，我们什么也找不到。
• We'll have to clear up all this clutter.我们得把这一切凌乱的东西整理清楚。

5 situated   

adj.坐落在...的，处于某种境地的

参考例句：

• The village is situated at the margin of a forest.村子位于森林的边缘。
• She is awkwardly situated.她的处境困难。

6 swarming   

密集( swarm的现在分词 )； 云集； 成群地移动； 蜜蜂或其他飞行昆虫成群地飞来飞去

参考例句：

• The sacks of rice were swarming with bugs. 一袋袋的米里长满了虫子。
• The beach is swarming with bathers. 海滩满是海水浴的人。

7 wasps   

黄蜂( wasp的名词复数 )； 胡蜂； 易动怒的人； 刻毒的人

参考例句：

• There's a wasps' nest in that old tree. 那棵老树上有一个黄蜂巢。
• We live in dread not only of unpleasant insects like spiders or wasps, but of quite harmless ones like moths. 我们不仅生活在对象蜘蛛或黄蜂这样的小虫的惧怕中，而且生活在对诸如飞蛾这样无害昆虫的惧怕中

8 eerily   

adv.引起神秘感或害怕地

参考例句：

• It was nearly mid-night and eerily dark all around her. 夜深了，到处是一片黑黝黝的怪影。 来自汉英文学 - 散文英译
• The vast volcanic slope was eerily reminiscent of a lunar landscape. 开阔的火山坡让人心生怪异地联想起月球的地貌。 来自辞典例句

9 brutally   

adv.残忍地，野蛮地，冷酷无情地

参考例句：

• The uprising was brutally put down.起义被残酷地镇压下去了。
• A pro-democracy uprising was brutally suppressed.一场争取民主的起义被残酷镇压了。

10 sprawled   

v.伸开四肢坐[躺]( sprawl的过去式和过去分词)；蔓延；杂乱无序地拓展；四肢伸展坐着（或躺着）

参考例句：

• He was sprawled full-length across the bed. 他手脚摊开横躺在床上。
• He was lying sprawled in an armchair, watching TV. 他四肢伸开正懒散地靠在扶手椅上看电视。

11 killer   

n.杀人者，杀人犯，杀手，屠杀者

参考例句：

• Heart attacks have become Britain's No.1 killer disease.心脏病已成为英国的头号致命疾病。
• The bulk of the evidence points to him as her killer.大量证据证明是他杀死她的。

12 desperately   

adv.极度渴望地，绝望地，孤注一掷地

参考例句：

• He was desperately seeking a way to see her again.他正拼命想办法再见她一面。
• He longed desperately to be back at home.他非常渴望回家。

13 jack   

n.插座，千斤顶，男人；v.抬起，提醒，扛举；n.（Jake）杰克

参考例句：

• I am looking for the headphone jack.我正在找寻头戴式耳机插孔。
• He lifted the car with a jack to change the flat tyre.他用千斤顶把车顶起来换下瘪轮胎。

14 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

15 shuddered   

v.战栗( shudder的过去式和过去分词 )；发抖；（机器、车辆等）突然震动；颤动

参考例句：

• He slammed on the brakes and the car shuddered to a halt. 他猛踩刹车，车颤抖着停住了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• I shuddered at the sight of the dead body. 我一看见那尸体就战栗。 来自《简明英汉词典》

16 notched   

a.有凹口的，有缺口的

参考例句：

• Torino notched up a 2-1 win at Lazio. 都灵队以2 比1 赢了拉齐奧队。
• He notched up ten points in the first five minutes of the game. 他在比赛开始后的五分钟里得了十分。

17 sprinted   

v.短距离疾跑( sprint的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• He sprinted for the line. 他向终点线冲去。
• Sergeant Horne sprinted to the car. 霍恩中士全力冲向那辆汽车。 来自辞典例句

18 gasped   

v.喘气( gasp的过去式和过去分词 )；喘息；倒抽气；很想要

参考例句：

• She gasped at the wonderful view. 如此美景使她惊讶得屏住了呼吸。
• People gasped with admiration at the superb skill of the gymnasts. 体操运动员的高超技艺令人赞叹。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

19 defiled   

v.玷污( defile的过去式和过去分词 )；污染；弄脏；纵列行进

参考例句：

• Many victims of burglary feel their homes have been defiled. 许多家门被撬的人都感到自己的家被玷污了。
• I felt defiled by the filth. 我觉得这些脏话玷污了我。 来自《简明英汉词典》

20 maniacally   

参考例句：

• He was maniacally obsessed with jealousy. 强烈的嫉妒心令他疯狂。 来自互联网

21 labored   

adj.吃力的，谨慎的v.努力争取(for)( labor的过去式和过去分词 )；苦干；详细分析；（指引擎）缓慢而困难地运转

参考例句：

• I was close enough to the elk to hear its labored breathing. 我离那头麋鹿非常近，能听见它吃力的呼吸声。 来自辞典例句
• They have labored to complete the job. 他们努力完成这一工作。 来自辞典例句