The Guilty
Sean Slater is the pseudonym for Vancouver Police Officer Sean Sommerville. As a police officer, Sommerville works in Canada’s poorest slum, the Downtown East Side – an area rife with poverty, mental illness, drug use, prostitution, and gang warfare. He has investigated everything from frauds and extortions to homicides. Sommerville has written numerous columns for editorials for the city newspaper. His work has been nominated for the Rupert Hughes Prose Award, and he was the grand-prize winner of the Sunday Serial Thriller contest. His debut novel, The Survivor, was shortlisted for the Arthur Ellis Award.
Also by Sean Slater
The Survivor
Snakes & Ladders
First published in Great Britain by Simon & Schuster UK Ltd, 2013
A CBS company
Copyright © Sean Slater, 2013
This book is copyright under the Berne Convention.
No reproduction without permission.
® and © 1997 Simon & Schuster Inc. All rights reserved.
The right of Sean Slater to be identified as author of this work has been asserted by him in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act, 1988.
Simon & Schuster UK Ltd
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222 Gray’s Inn Road
London WC1X 8HB
www.simonandschuster.co.uk
Simon & Schuster Australia, Sydney
Simon & Schuster India, New Delhi
A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
Trade Paperback ISBN: 978-1-47110-136-6
Ebook ISBN: 978-1-47110-138-0
This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are either a product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual people living or dead, events or locales is entirely coincidental.
Typeset by Hewer Text UK Ltd, Edinburgh
Printed and bound in Great Britain by CPI Group (UK) Ltd, Croydon, CR0 4YY
This book is dedicated to two people who shared my childhood and helped make it such a magical time.
To Billy,
who I gave an airplane ride into a tree.
I am sorry for that (not really).
And to Cindy,
whose Barbie dolls I drowned in the bathtub too many times to count.
I’m sorry for that, too (again, not really).
Contents
Part 1: Fuse
Wednesday: One
Two
Three
Four
Five
Six
Seven
Eight
Nine
Ten
Eleven
Twelve
Thirteen
Fourteen
Fifteen
Sixteen
Seventeen
Eighteen
Nineteen
Twenty
Twenty-One
Twenty-Two
Twenty-Three
Twenty-Four
Twenty-Five
Twenty-Six
Twenty-Seven
Twenty-Eight
Twenty-Nine
Thirty
Thirty-One
Thirty-Two
Thirty-Three
Thirty-Four
Thirty-Five
Thirty-Six
Thirty-Seven
Thirty-Eight
Thirty-Nine
Forty
Forty-One
Part 2: Spark
Thursday: Forty-Two
Forty-Three
Forty-Four
Forty-Five
Forty-Six
Forty-Seven
Forty-Eight
Forty-Nine
Fifty
Fifty-One
Fifty-Two
Fifty-Three
Fifty-Four
Fifty-Five
Fifty-Six
Fifty-Seven
Fifty-Eight
Fifty-Nine
Sixty
Sixty-One
Sixty-Two
Sixty-Three
Sixty-Four
Sixty-Five
Sixty-Six
Sixty-Seven
Sixty-Eight
Sixty-Nine
Seventy
Seventy-One
Seventy-Two
Seventy-Three
Seventy-Four
Seventy-Five
Seventy-Six
Seventy-Seven
Seventy-Eight
Seventy-Nine
Eighty
Eighty-One
Eighty-Two
Eighty-Three
Eighty-Four
Eighty-Five
Eighty-Six
Eighty-Seven
Eighty-Eight
Eighty-Nine
Ninety
Ninety-One
Ninety-Two
Part 3: Detonation
Friday: Ninety-Three
Ninety-Four
Ninety-Five
Ninety-Six
Ninety-Seven
Ninety-Eight
Ninety-Nine
One Hundred
One Hundred and One
One Hundred and Two
One Hundred and Three
One Hundred and Four
One Hundred and Five
One Hundred and Six
One Hundred and Seven
One Hundred and Eight
One Hundred and Nine
One Hundred and Ten
One Hundred and Eleven
One Hundred and Twelve
One Hundred and Thirteen
One Hundred and Fourteen
One Hundred and Fifteen
One Hundred and Sixteen
One Hundred and Seventeen
One Hundred and Eighteen
One Hundred and Nineteen
One Hundred and Twenty
One Hundred and Twenty-One
One Hundred and Twenty-Two
One Hundred and Twenty-Three
One Hundred and Twenty-Four
One Hundred and Twenty-Five
One Hundred and Twenty-Six
One Hundred and Twenty-Seven
Part 4: Shockwave
Saturday: One Hundred and Twenty-Eight
One Hundred and Twenty-Nine
One Hundred and Thirty
One Hundred and Thirty-One
One Hundred and Thirty-Two
One Hundred and Thirty-Three
One Hundred and Thirty-Four
One Hundred and Thirty-Five
One Hundred and Thirty-Six
One Hundred and Thirty-Seven
One Hundred and Thirty-Eight
One Hundred and Thirty-Nine
One Hundred and Forty
One Hundred and Forty-One
One Hundred and Forty-Two
One Hundred and Forty-Three
One Hundred and Forty-Four
One Hundred and Forty-Five
One Hundred and Forty-Six
One Hundred and Forty-Seven
One Hundred and Forty-Eight
One Hundred and Forty-Nine
One Hundred and Fifty
One Hundred and Fifty-One
EPILOGUE: One
Two
Three
Acknowledgement Section
Part 1:
Fuse