The silence of the estate was usually the first thing that greeted Ethan Sterling. It was a heavy, expensive silence—the kind that…

  I. The Gilded Cage Austin, Texas. The late afternoon sun poured its gold over the limestone hills as if it had forgotten…

Part I: The Discordant Note The Santa Ana winds were howling through the concrete canyons of Downtown Los Angeles, the kind of dry,…

  I. The Whisper The doctor had barely closed the heavy door to Exam Room 4 when he leaned toward me. I felt…

  I. The Deadline The windshield wipers on Mason Reid’s aging Honda Civic beat an urgent, squeaking rhythm against a curtain of October…

  I. The Splash The sound was sickening. It wasn’t a splash; it was a violent, drowning thud. It was the sound of…

  I. The Invisible City The morning smog hung low over Sunset Boulevard, turning the rising California sun into a hazy, bruised peach.…

  I. The Invisible Stain The Sterling Estate in Greenwich was a masterpiece of Georgian architecture. It sat on four acres of manicured…

  I. The Glass Mausoleum The iron gates of the estate in Scarsdale swung open silently, triggered by the transponder in the armored…

  I. The Drag The squeak of rubber against linoleum is a sound I associate with hospital corridors—the sound of urgency, of gurneys…