Coda — David A. Crossman / D.A. Crossman

The year is 1986. It's been four years since Albert fell off the edge of the world; a world he wished would forget about him; forget he ever existed. He hadn't really existed though, had he? The School had sheltered him in an academic womb â€" its winner of a specially-created Nobel Prize, the Guggenheim Fellowship, seven Grammy Awards and two Pulitzers â€" hustled around the planet from concert stage to concert stage, seeing only fleeting glimpses of life from the back of stretch limousines and penthouse hotel rooms. Then murder entered his life. For six months after that, one hideous death led to another, like a string of blood-red pearls, trailing Albert to the edge of the abyss; forcing him out of the womb, naked and exposed. Finally, he'd fled to a place of safety, where even Death couldn't find him. But it did.