Four Blind Mice
| Company type | Novel |
|---|---|
| Industry | Literature |
| Founded | 2002 |
| Founder | James Patterson |
| Products | Alex Cross series novel |
Four Blind Mice represents the eighth installment in the series centered on Alex Cross, a forensic psychologist and homicide detective working in Washington, D.C., authored by James Patterson.
Plot
The story centers on homicide detectives Alex Cross and John Sampson of the Washington D.C. Metro Police as they delve into the case of US Army Sergeant Ellis Cooper, who was wrongfully convicted and executed. Their investigation exposes a recurring theme involving Army members being falsely accused of murdering civilians, with each victim's corpse marked by painted designs.
Cross and Sampson discover that three Army Rangers—Thomas Starkey, Brownley Harris, and Warren Griffin—known collectively as the "Three Blind Mice," carried out unauthorized killings of defenseless villagers during the Vietnam War, leaving the bodies adorned in red, white, and blue paint. The detectives locate these Rangers, who all perish during a shootout.
Further inquiry reveals that General Mark Hutchinson, the Commandant of West Point, masterminded these killings to implicate other military personnel connected to Vietnam War offenses. Colonel Handler, who uncovered this conspiracy, was eliminated to safeguard Hutchinson’s aspirations for a position on the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Hutchinson later captures Cross but is ultimately killed by a Vietnamese street gang avenging his involvement in wartime crimes.