A young girl is found dead in the forest, brutally raped and strangled, near the summer camp of a secretive religious sect. Van Veeteren and the other detectives on the case are angered and mystified by the sect's leader, Oscar Yellineck, a charismatic yet guarded messiah figure. Meanwhile, an unidentified woman offers to help. Her knowledge suggests she's more than a passing good Samaritan, and her tips become doubly perplexing as a string of horrifying new crimes occurs.
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