One law student's brief names the killers of two Supreme Court justices.
Who drives the story
A 24-year-old Tulane law student whose speculative brief correctly names the conspiracy behind the justices' murders. Hunted across the country, she survives every attempt on her life and ends up on a Caribbean island with the reporter who believed her.
An investigative reporter for The Washington Post who cultivates the frightened informant 'Garcia' and partners with Darby. He turns her theory and Morgan's tape into the story that ends a presidency.
Darby's law professor and lover, impressed enough by her brief to share it with his FBI friend. The car bomb meant to stop the brief kills him instead.
An FBI lawyer and Callahan's friend who agrees to meet Darby. Khamel murders him at his hotel and wears his identity to get close to her.
The world's most wanted assassin, hired to kill two justices and then the woman who figured out why. He dies shot by an unknown assailant just as he is about to kill Darby.
The reclusive, increasingly insane Louisiana oil tycoon who orders the justices' murders to secure a court that will let him drill. Exposed, he disappears.
The FBI director ordered to stand down, who keeps a tape of the President's order as insurance. He protects Darby, exposes the interference, and helps her disappear.
Also in the story
The President's chief of staff, orchestrating the cover-up of the White House's links to Mattiece to protect re-election.
The CIA director the President trusts more than his own FBI chief, handed the investigation to keep it friendly.
The White & Blazevich employee behind the alias 'Garcia,' who secretly recorded testimony after seeing firm correspondence about the murders. Killed in an apparent mugging, his tape convicts the conspiracy anyway.
How they are connected
An investigative reporter for The Washington Post who cultivates the frightened informant 'Garcia' and partners with Darby.
He turns her theory and Morgan's tape into the story that ends a presidency.
Darby's law professor and lover, impressed enough by her brief to share it with his FBI friend.
An FBI lawyer and Callahan's friend who agrees to meet Darby.
An FBI lawyer and Callahan's friend who agrees to meet Darby.
Khamel murders him at his hotel and wears his identity to get close to her.
He dies shot by an unknown assailant just as he is about to kill Darby.
He protects Darby, exposes the interference, and helps her disappear.
The President's chief of staff, orchestrating the cover-up of the White House's links to Mattiece to protect re-election.
Go deeper
One document can be a weapon · Institutions bend to the man at the top · Greed dressed as environmentalism's enemy · The truth needs a witness and a platform
Themes explainedThe full story act by act, the ending explained and a quick quiz.
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