Every conspiracy begins with one lie.
In 1992, federal investigator Thomas Hayes discovered a hidden network connecting police departments, prosecutors, government agencies, and private contractors. Before he could expose it, he was murdered on a quiet street in Arlington, Virginia.
The evidence disappeared. Witness statements were altered. The investigation was buried.
His murder became Case One.
Thirty-four years later, Detective Rebecca "Becca" Hayes has uncovered forty-three cold cases corrupted by the same machinery that concealed her uncle's death. Her search for the truth leads her to Washington, D.C.-and to Judith Kane, an original investigator who removed the murder weapon from Thomas Hayes's evidence file before vanishing without a trace.
Judith may be the only person alive who knows what truly happened.
But Becca is not the only one looking for her.
As suppressed testimony resurfaces and powerful officials close ranks, Becca discovers that the conspiracy has no single leader and no headquarters. It has survived through favors, fear, altered records, and generations of people who found it safer to protect the original lie than expose it.
Revealing the truth could overturn convictions, destroy careers, disgrace federal agencies, and send respected officials to prison. Those who built their lives upon the cover-up will do anything to keep Case One sealed-including adding Becca's name to the list of victims.
To solve forty-three buried murders, she must return to the crime that started them all.
CASE ONE is the explosive final installment in The American Cold Case Trilogy-a gripping crime investigation thriller about institutional corruption, vanished evidence, deadly secrets, and one detective's fight to uncover the truth behind America's most carefully protected cold cases.
