Creepy newcomer, Jay Hix, doesn't take long to make his name in Argus. When a half-naked kid is found comatose in his van, townsfolk immediately judge him a pervert. *** Earlier that day, at an abandoned farm, Hix shoves a lumpy carpet under a rusted combine. He doesn't see a mentally ill man watching him from the dilapidated farmhouse, but when a car drives past, and the driver looks his way, Hix stuffs the rug back in his van and races toward Argus, a small town halfway between the boondocks and the backwoods. That evening, at Nate's house near Argus, teenage Nate and his buddies drink. His friend Rob goes outside and doesn't return. Soon afterward, rookie police detective Greg Margrave stops Hix's van and within finds Rob unconscious, head bloody, indecently exposed. Hix says he found Rob in a ditch and was rushing him to hospital. Margrave learns Hix just moved to Argus and does renovations. He lets Hix go because he's unsure a crime occurred. At the hospital, Margrave learns Rob is comatose. He interviews glum party-host Nate, and two other teenagers, Ruby and Alan. Nate tells Margrave they searched for Rob and got to the highway in time to see Hix drag Rob from the ditch and drive away. They've said nothing until now because Rob is a notorious joker. They believed this was an elaborate joke. Since Hix told Margrave a different version of events, and with no real evidence of a crime occurring, Margrave can only guess at the truth. And the truth is elusive. DNA evidence-usually the ultimate answer to crime questions-only tells Margrave that a sex act 'maybe' took place in the van, and that Hix's van once transported a carpet of some description. Hix offers no satisfactory answers to these questions when asked. Someone vandalizes Hix's home, and almost with the town's blessing, Rob and Nate's fathers assault Hix. Feeling the eyes of every Argus citizen on him, Margrave eventually exposes what nearly everyone involved in this case is hiding-a secret which has nothing to do with Rob being comatose, but everything to do with how the case is handled. Being a rookie, Margrave makes mistakes investigating Hix. This leads to a violent confrontation, but in the aftermath, Margrave finds he's no closer to the ultimate truth. A fascinating, compelling story for those weary of police novels that seem to have all the answers and end neatly wrapped.
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