The Man Made of Smoke

Driving up to the spot where the man on the phone directed him, Dan repeats the mantra that has kept him calm throughout his adult life: “You are detached […] You are calm” (333). Dan gets a call from Fleming saying that Johnson has been found butchered to death in his flat. Dan reflects that just as he had suspected, the killer has changed the rules of the game.

As Dan pulls into the service station where the man has directed him, he gets a text directing him to throw away his phone. Dan gets rid of his phone and notices a camper van eerily similar to that used by the Pied Piper in the parking lot. As Dan pulls up to the van, he can see a man in a white mask in the driving seat. The van begins to move, signaling that Dan should follow. He complies, following the van into a forest near the service station.

The narrative switches to John’s perspective. Aspinall has brought John to a farm-like space and chained him to a post in a pen. John now knows that Aspinall is James Palmer’s father, intent on punishing everyone who failed his son.