Bones in the Cloaca

The story opens with NYPD divers searching the polluted Harlem River for a brick of heroin, only to find two headless, partially skeletonized corpses instead. Lieutenant D'Agosta, a seasoned detective, is called in, and the bodies are sent to the Medical Examiner. The setting is grim and atmospheric, establishing a New York where the city's filth and secrets are literally buried beneath the surface. The discovery of the bodies—one identified as missing socialite Pamela Wisher—sets off a chain of events that will draw in police, scientists, and the press, all seeking answers to a mystery that quickly grows more bizarre and terrifying.

The Headless Debutante

Pamela Wisher's identity shocks New York's elite, and her mother, Anette Wisher, becomes a public face of grief and outrage. The press, led by crime reporter Bill Smithback, sensationalizes the case, while the police struggle to find leads. The second skeleton remains unidentified, but its strange deformities puzzle the Medical Examiner. The city's anxiety grows as the case becomes a media circus, and the pressure mounts on the police to solve the murder of a beloved socialite whose death seems both random and ritualistic.

Old Wounds, New Fears

Margo Green, a biologist and survivor of the Museum Beast killings (from Relic), is drawn into the investigation, along with her former mentor Dr. Frock and the enigmatic FBI agent Pendergast. The team is haunted by memories of the previous supernatural horror, and the new case's echoes of the past—strange teeth marks, missing heads, and hints of something inhuman—rekindle old fears. The Museum's involvement is kept secret, but the city's collective trauma is palpable, and the investigators sense that the horror may not be over.

The Underground Kingdom

The investigation leads beneath the city, into the labyrinth of tunnels, sewers, and abandoned stations where the homeless—"mole people"—have formed their own societies. Smithback is led by a homeless guide to Mephisto, the charismatic leader of the Route 666 community, who warns of "Wrinklers"—cannibalistic, monstrous beings preying on the underground population. The police, aided by Sergeant Hayward, a former Transit cop and expert on the homeless, begin to connect the murders of the city's most vulnerable to the same pattern as the Wisher case. The city's underbelly is revealed as a place of both community and terror.

Teeth Marks and Theories

Forensic analysis reveals that the teeth marks on the bones are not from animals, but are disturbingly close to human—yet with inhuman strength and shape. The second skeleton is identified as Gregory Kawakita, a brilliant but troubled geneticist and former Museum colleague, whose own body shows grotesque mutations. The team theorizes that a drug or virus may be responsible for transforming people into something monstrous. The connection to the events of Relic becomes clearer: the same plant and virus that created the Museum Beast may be at work again, but now as a designer drug called "glaze."

The Press and the Mob

Smithback's reporting, combined with Anette Wisher's activism, ignites a citywide movement: Take Back Our City. Rallies and marches swell, fueled by fear and anger over the murders and the city's perceived lawlessness. The homeless, driven from the tunnels by police sweeps, clash with the marchers, and a riot erupts in Central Park. The city teeters on the edge of chaos, as the lines between victim and villain blur. The press, the police, and the public all become entangled in a drama that is as much about social order as it is about the murders themselves.

The Homeless Murders

Sergeant Hayward and D'Agosta uncover a string of unsolved murders among the homeless, all sharing the same grisly hallmarks: decapitation, mutilation, and evidence of cannibalism. The killings cluster around a mysterious, unmapped region beneath Central Park known as the Devil's Attic or Astor Tunnels. Theories abound—serial killer, cult, or something worse. The police plan a massive operation to flush out the tunnels, but the true nature of the threat remains elusive, and the investigators fear they are running out of time.

Descent into Darkness

Pendergast, D'Agosta, Hayward, and Margo, joined by Mephisto, descend into the tunnels to find the source of the killings. They discover a hidden world: the Crystal Pavilion, a decaying, once-opulent underground station now transformed into a temple of horror. Here, the Wrinklers—mutated, drug-addicted humans—gather in a cult-like ceremony led by a shrouded figure. The team sets explosives to seal the tunnels and prevent the spread of the monstrous plague, but are captured and brought before the cult's leader.

The Hut of Skulls

The leader of the Wrinklers is revealed to be Dr. Frock, Margo's former mentor, who has used the glaze drug to cure his paralysis and become the cult's messiah. Frock's obsession with evolutionary theory and his own restoration has driven him mad; he plans to flood the tunnels, spread the virus to the world, and create a new evolutionary order. The hut of skulls, built as a reliquary, is both a symbol of his power and a literal temple to the new species he has created. The team is to be sacrificed in a final, apocalyptic ceremony.

The Drug Called Glaze

Through forensic and genetic analysis, Margo and Pendergast piece together the origin and effects of glaze: a genetically engineered virus derived from the Mbwun plant, capable of transforming humans into powerful, aggressive, light-hating mutants. Kawakita, the original creator, tried to control the drug and its users, but was killed by Frock, who perfected the formula for his own purposes. The drug's side effects are irreversible, and its spread threatens not just the city, but the global ecosystem if it escapes into the water supply.

Frock's Secret

Frock's transformation is both physical and psychological: freed from his wheelchair, he is consumed by a god complex and a vision of evolutionary renewal. He manipulates the Wrinklers through ritual and myth, using the hut of skulls as a symbol of his power. Margo confronts him, appealing to his lost humanity, but Frock is beyond redemption. The team realizes that the only way to stop him is to destroy the cult and seal the tunnels forever, even at the cost of their own lives.

The Flood and the Fight

As the city above erupts in chaos, the police and National Guard flood the tunnels by draining the Central Park Reservoir, hoping to drown the Wrinklers and prevent the spread of the virus. Pendergast, Margo, D'Agosta, Smithback, and Snow (a police diver) fight their way through the collapsing tunnels, pursued by Wrinklers and the vengeful Frock. Margo uses vitamin D—deadly to the mutants—as a weapon, buying time for the team to escape. Explosives detonate, sealing the tunnels and trapping the cult as the floodwaters rush in.

The Last Escape

The survivors—battered, traumatized, but alive—emerge from the tunnels as dawn breaks over New York. The riot is quelled, the Reservoir is saved, and the threat of the Wrinklers is ended, though the cost is high. Frock and his cult are destroyed, but the scars remain for those who lived through the ordeal. The city returns to uneasy normalcy, but the story ends with a note of ambiguity: the possibility that the virus, or something like it, could return, and the reminder that the true monsters are not always those beneath the surface.

Characters

Margo Green

Margo is a biologist and survivor of the Museum Beast killings, still traumatized by past horrors. Intelligent, determined, and deeply empathetic, she is drawn back into the nightmare by her sense of responsibility and guilt—especially over her former colleague Kawakita. Margo's journey is both external and internal: she must confront her own fears, the betrayal of her mentor Frock, and the ethical dilemmas of science gone awry. Her expertise and courage are crucial to unraveling the mystery and ultimately defeating the Wrinklers.

Vincent D'Agosta

D'Agosta is the NYPD lieutenant at the center of the investigation. Practical, tough, and deeply ethical, he serves as the story's conscience and a bridge between the scientific and police worlds. His skepticism is balanced by an open mind, and his loyalty to his team is unwavering. D'Agosta's working-class sensibility grounds the narrative, and his partnership with Pendergast and Margo is essential to the group's survival.

Aloysius Pendergast

Pendergast is a Southern-born, almost otherworldly FBI agent with a taste for the arcane and a genius for deduction. He is both a detective and a philosopher, moving easily between the worlds of science, crime, and the supernatural. Pendergast's calm, analytical mind and willingness to risk everything make him the group's strategist and spiritual leader. His relationship with Margo is one of mutual respect and unspoken understanding.

Dr. Whitney Frock

Frock is a renowned evolutionary biologist and Margo's former mentor. Once a voice of reason, his obsession with evolutionary theory and his own disability drive him to madness. After using glaze to cure his paralysis, Frock becomes the messianic leader of the Wrinklers, orchestrating their rituals and planning to unleash the virus on the world. His transformation is both physical and psychological, and his betrayal is the story's emotional core.

Gregory Kawakita

Kawakita is a brilliant but unstable scientist who first engineers the glaze drug, hoping to control and perfect it. His own use of the drug leads to monstrous mutations, and he is ultimately killed by Frock and the Wrinklers. Kawakita's notebooks and experiments provide the key to understanding the threat, and his tragic arc is a warning about the dangers of unchecked ambition and scientific hubris.

Bill Smithback

Smithback is a crime reporter whose sensationalist articles help ignite the city's panic and the Take Back Our City movement. Though often self-serving and opportunistic, he is also brave and resourceful, risking his life to uncover the truth. Smithback's journey from cynicism to reluctant heroism mirrors the city's own struggle with fear and responsibility.

Anette Wisher

Pamela Wisher's mother channels her grief into activism, becoming the face of the city's outrage and the leader of a populist movement. Her speeches and actions galvanize the public, but also contribute to the city's descent into mob violence. Wisher is both a victim and a catalyst, her pain weaponized in the struggle for control of the city's soul.

Mephisto

Mephisto is the self-styled king of the mole people, a former soldier and philosopher who leads the Route 666 community. He is both a guide and a warning, showing the investigators the hidden world beneath the city and the cost of society's neglect. Mephisto's alliance with the team is uneasy, and his ultimate sacrifice is a testament to the complexity and humanity of the underground world.

Laura Hayward

Hayward is a former Transit Police sergeant and expert on the homeless, whose academic research and street smarts make her invaluable to the investigation. She bridges the gap between the police and the underground, and her courage and compassion are crucial in the city's darkest hour. Hayward's arc is one of self-discovery and empowerment, as she moves from outsider to leader.

Officer Snow

Snow is a young NYPD diver whose discovery of the first bodies sets the story in motion. Initially insecure and out of his depth, he proves his mettle in the final battle, helping the team escape the flooded tunnels. Snow's journey is one of redemption and growth, embodying the story's theme of ordinary people rising to extraordinary challenges.

Plot Devices

Dual Worlds: Surface and Subterranean

The novel's structure alternates between the world above—of police, press, and public panic—and the world below, where the homeless and the monstrous Wrinklers dwell. This duality is used to explore themes of social exclusion, fear of the unknown, and the thin line between civilization and savagery. The descent into the tunnels is both literal and metaphorical, forcing characters to confront their own darkness.

Scientific Horror and Evolutionary Paranoia

The central plot device is the glaze drug: a genetically engineered virus that transforms humans into monsters. The story uses real science—virology, genetics, anthropology—to ground its horror, but pushes it into the realm of myth, with the Wrinklers as a new evolutionary species. The hut of skulls, the rituals, and the cult-like society of the Wrinklers evoke ancient fears of transformation and loss of self.

Ritual, Symbolism, and the Reliquary

Frock's use of ritual—modeled on the Japanese tea ceremony and ancient shamanic practices—serves to control the Wrinklers and give meaning to their existence. The hut of skulls is both a reliquary (a container for sacred relics) and a symbol of Frock's godlike ambition. The story uses ritual as both a source of order and a mask for madness, blurring the line between religion and pathology.

Social Commentary and Mob Psychology

The novel uses the press, public rallies, and the Take Back Our City movement to explore how fear and anger can be manipulated, leading to mob violence and the scapegoating of the vulnerable. The riot in Central Park is both a climax of social tension and a mirror of the chaos below. The story critiques the failures of institutions—police, government, media—and the dangers of simplistic solutions to complex problems.

Foreshadowing and Red Herrings

The narrative is structured as a mystery, with clues (teeth marks, missing heads, strange plants) leading to multiple theories: serial killer, cult, supernatural monster. The true villain—Frock—is foreshadowed through subtle hints, but his revelation is a genuine shock. The use of red herrings and shifting perspectives keeps the reader off-balance and heightens the suspense.

Analysis

Reliquary is a masterful blend of horror, science fiction, and social thriller, using the literal and figurative depths of New York City to explore themes of transformation, exclusion, and the dangers of unchecked ambition. The novel's monsters are not just the Wrinklers, but the fears, obsessions, and failures of the society that created them. Through its dual settings—surface and subterranean—it examines the thin veneer of civilization and the ease with which order can collapse into chaos. The story warns of the perils of scientific hubris (Kawakita, Frock), the seductive power of ritual and myth, and the consequences of neglecting society's most vulnerable. At its heart, Reliquary is about the search for meaning and control in a world that is both wondrous and terrifying, and the courage required to face the monsters—both within and without.

Last updated: May 24, 2025