Chapter summaries

August 28, 1988

Dr. Richard Greville, Deputy Psychiatric Adviser to the Metropolitan Police meets the Permanent Secretary of the Home Office, to discuss the Pangbourne Massacre.

The murders happened two months ago in June, and they are still unsolved. They have attracted a lot of attention from the public. The police could not find anything about the murderers or the motive for the crime.

Dr. Greville asks for permission to visit the Pangbourne estate, which is still sealed off to the public. He also asks to see the police video taken a few hours after the crime, which contains all the evidence and the placement of the bodies. 

The Police Video

Dr. Greville watches the police video, which reveals how the victims were murdered, as well as a timeline of when it happened. It shows people who were either shot, strangled, or electrocuted, within less than half an hour. 

The first person to die was a security guard caught and strangled by a device made of rope and bamboo sticks, in front of the house located at No. 3. Roger Garfield, who lived at No.3, was shot twice in the chest. Judging by the bloodstained footprints leading out of the house, the police reasoned that he was shot in the morning shower first, then for a second time in the driveway as he tried to escape. His chauffeur was shot immediately after. 

Inside the house, there are two more victims, the housekeeper and Mrs. Garfield. In the pool of blood from the bathroom, the police found the footprints of the Garfield’s only son, Alexander, who is still missing. 

Greville continues to watch the video and realizes that all the victims were surprised by their attackers, and they put up no fight. Also, the murders all happened almost at the same time. 

Pangbourne Village

Greville returns to his office at the Institute of Psychiatry and begins to research the area where the murders happened. He notes that the estate was recently built near the town of Pangbourne, for ease of access to the Heathrow Airport and central London, where many of the residents worked. The area of the estate was very well protected by high walls and steel-mesh fences with electrical alarms. There were security cameras everywhere. No one from the outside could gain entry without appointment.

Greville then compiles a list of the residents and looks into their backgrounds. He concludes that they have nothing in common that might connect the murders. They were all go...