The second book of the trilogy. At the beginning of the 20th century, a wave of unmotivated brutal murders swept through the eastern states of the United States. An unknown criminal entered houses at night and, using an ax, killed all the residents. These crimes are now being linked to a serial killer who remains unexposed. The author, analyzing well-known crimes, tries, on the basis of modern criminological concepts, to understand whether they were really committed by one person, and if so, what motivated him.