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Part 1, The Body on the Escarpment
At 5:40 a.m., Chuck Bartlett calls Rex Striker to the Lookout on Pond Mills Road, where sunrise spills gold across the Thames River Valley. On the limestone ledge, half hidden in ivy, lies a woman in a dark green dress, one shoe missing, her hands deliberately folded. Whoever left her wanted her found in this exact spot, with the best view in London. There is no purse, no phone, and no identification. Chuck does produce one clue: a brass keychain fob stamped with an old Labatt’s crest, wreathed in hops and barley, a heritage design nobody has carried in decades. The fob hints at a link to the brewery that has shaped London since 1847. As forensics works, Rex makes his private vow to the victim, as he does for every one: he will find her killer before the sun sets on the city that watched her die.

In Chapter Two, "The Pure One," Nesuhui is fourteen when Ptahankh sponsors him as a wab, the lowest rank of the priesthood. He accepts the strict rules of ritual purity: a fully shaved body, natron to cleanse his mouth, four lake baths a day, and spotless linen only. Placed in the third phyle, he carries the god's barque on festival days and helps prepare offerings, learning that food given to the god is then shared with priests and the poor, so nothing is wasted.

Merykhet, also made wab, begins his quiet sabotage by smearing soot on Nesuhui's linen before inspection. Publicly shamed, Nesuhui is sentenced to a month of scrubbing the lake steps. Unable to prove who did it, he learns that accusation without evidence is itself a dishonor.

While scrubbing, he finds a floating papyrus fragment bearing part of a forbidden spell. He honestly hands it to Ptahankh, planting a mystery that returns later.

Detective Rex Striker has investigated enough murders to know that the dead rarely return. But when solicitor Daniel Mercer reveals that Arthur Vale, a wealthy developer officially dead for eleven years, has appeared alive and confessed to murdering missing detective Paul Hensley, Rex faces a mystery that threatens to expose a dangerous conspiracy buried deep within London, Ontario.

Vale vanishes before Rex can question him, leaving behind documents linking corrupt property deals, powerful financiers, and former police officials. Then an anonymous caller demands the evidence back, and a chilling photograph confirms that Vale is still alive.

But the real shock comes when Rex discovers that his trusted partner, Chuck Bartlett, has concealed a secret about the night Vale supposedly died. Chuck possesses a mysterious key marked for Locker 317 at Union Station.

With midnight approaching, a killer closing in, and Chuck's life threatened, Rex must uncover the truth before the past claims another victim.

**The dead man is alive. The evidence is missing. And Rex may be hiding a secret he cannot remember.**

When the Nile’s annual flood fails, eleven-year-old Nesuhui, whose name means “King-Striker,” leaves his impoverished village seeking survival at the great Temple of Ra in Iunu, ancient Heliopolis.

Arriving barefoot and hungry, he discovers his only relative at the temple has died. Assigned to sweeping courtyards and carrying water, Nesuhui endures humiliation from Merykhet, a wealthy, arrogant novice who despises his humble origins.

Yet beneath the temple’s towering pillars, Nesuhui discovers something extraordinary: the sacred morning hymns celebrating Ra’s triumph over darkness.

Secretly attending the ceremonies, he memorizes every verse, attracting the attention of Ptahankh, an elderly priest who recognizes his remarkable dedication and potential.

The priest offers him better quarters, food, and the possibility of advancement.

But as Nesuhui takes his first steps toward the priesthood, Merykhet watches with growing resentment.