PROLOGUE

Riverside Drive, 4.30 am

Pendergast opened his eyes. The first seconds after he had been pulled out of his sleep he wasn´t even confident about what exactly had woken him up. But his mind cleared as he became aware of the presence of somebody in his bedroom… The last assurance of his doubt came a few seconds later:

"Ave, frater", spoken in a silky New Orleans accent. The phrase sent a chill down his spine. There was no time for questioning or concern. He had to react. Quickly. He jumped up from his bed and reached for his gun on the wooden nightstand. His hand reached into nothing. He turned around and froze. His brother had approached him from behind and was now standing face to face with Aloysius, staring down onto his shorter brother, a nasty smile on his lips. Pendergast tried to take the only opportunity he had and tempted to set Diogenes off with a punch into the solar plexus. But his brother had anticipated the movement, turned and sent his brother to the wooden floor with a kick into his knee throat, using his own momentum against him. Pendergast landed on his knees and fell over; before he was able to rise, he felt Diogenes holding him down on the floor by pressing his foot into Pendergast's back. Pendergast tried to push up with his arms, but as his stronger brother increased the amount of weight on his leg, he groaned and fell back.

"Don´t even try, frater", murmured the man above him. "You know why I am here. To end the affair that you started so many years ago".

"Diog- ", Pendergast began, but before he could continue, he felt Diogenes gripping his upper arm, turning him around and choking him with his left hand. He gasped; in that very instant he saw the silvery shimmer of a dirk and, in the next moment, felt a horrendous ache in his stomach region. Tears flashed into his eyes and he yelped in pain. He struggled to get free, but a heavy punch from Diogenes, aimed on his face, made him stay down.

"Pain, frater. You know how much pain you caused me? A stab with a knife is nothing against the things you did to me. Both mentally and physically". Pendergast tried to get up, but with that kind of injury and with that opponent, the situation was hopeless. A punch on his temple made his head fly back and his occiput violently hit the floor. He groaned.

A sound from downstairs. Someone ascended the stairway.

"Aloysius? Are you alright?". The worried voice of Constance Greene, alarmed from the sounds coming out of his room.

"Constance! – ". Diogenes quickly covered Pendergast´s mouth with his hand.

"A pity that this attempted warning now sounded much more like a cry for help, brother".

"Aloysius!".

Pendergast attempted to respond something, but Diogenes' grip was too strong. Everything that got out were soft moans. Again, Diogenes pulled up the knife in his fist, but this time, Pendergast reacted in time and turned sideways to avoid a severe injury.

Footsteps were to be heard outside Pendergast's bedroom now, followed by a knock on the door.

"Aloysius! Answer me! Are you alright?".

"Oh wow. That caring, brother. I am truly touched", Diogenes whispered into his older brother's ear and, without another word, rose and placed himself next to the doorway, knife still clutched tightly in his hand.

The door flew open and Constance hurried into the room, only to get slammed to the wall in an instant by Diogenes, who lightly pressed the tip of his knife into her throat. Constance cried out in surprise.

"Pleased to see me?". Diogenes smiled diabolically.

Constance didn't respond anything, but pulled up her hand, aiming her own stiletto knife at Diogenes' chest. The movement was immediately blocked by Diogenes, her arms got pinned over her head and Diogenes kept her pressed to the wall with the weight of his body, while pulling the knife out of her hand. "Good one", he whispered. He let it fall to the floor and placed his foot on the handle.

"Come on Aloysius, try to help your ward; do something to protect her!".

Pendergast slowly got up to his feet, moaned and stumbled. He caught up on a shelf, supporting with both hands and pushed himself upwards, shaking on the whole of his body.

"Diogenes, for heaven's sake, leave her out of this", Pendergast coughed. Blood splattered onto his white shirt.

"I am not intending to follow this whish, Aloysius". He turned fast, gripped Pendergast at the collar of his shirt and wrapped his right arm around his chest. Pendergast let out a sound of surprise. He got a feeling he was unable to assign immediately. Something had been stabbed into his neck… as he saw Constance's shocked face, he suddenly came to realize what it was. But it was already too late, he felt Diogenes pressing the plunger, felt the drug floating through his body, his body going limp, his mind getting foggy. The last thing he noticed was how Diogenes guided him down to the ground, how Constance screamed his name in desperation, how his brother moved over to his ward and pulled her out of the room, muttering into her ear:

"Don't take any efforts, my dear. It's deadly".

Hearing these words, Pendergast lost consciousness and he sank down into his own blood on the floor. And then the world around him dissolved into a pandemonium of shadows and obscurity.