Standing in the Shadows — Michelle Spring

The shocking murder lingered in the tabloids for weeks. A sweet elderly lady viciously killed in a quiet corner of Cambridge, her skull crushed with a concrete block by her eleven-year-old foster child, Daryll Flatt. Hideous as the crime was, the case was closed when the boy, curled up in the crack of a willow tree, confessed to the murder. Now, two years later, the boy's older brother, Howard, hires private investigator Laura Principal to revisit the case - and to answer the baffling question: Why? On the surface, Daryll fit the mold of a child murderer perfectly - a hopeless boy abused and cast off by a wretched family. Yet as Laura Principal probes deeper, several curious facts reveal themselves. Perhaps the most alarming piece of evidence never addressed in court - Daryll was particularly agitated the day before the murder. When confronted by his teacher, he confessed: It's a secret. And I'm the only one who knows. For Laura, each question raises another, and each version of events offers conflicting views of the 'heartless' boy and his 'saintly' foster parent. And with each step closer to the truth, Laura Principal senses someone, a threatening presence...standing in the shadows...watching her every move.