At first glance, what happens on the video appears to be a childish game: a teenage girl with dark, wavy hair smiles for the camera, a blue scarf tied around her neck. Then things turn dark and gruesome, and the girl ends up dead. When a snuff film is discovered on a cell phone belonging to the governor of Washington State’s grandsona boy with a troubled background who swears he doesn’t know the victimthe governor turns to an old friend, J. P. Beaumont, for help. Of the many horrors the Seattle private investigator has witnessed over the years, this one ranks near the topespecially since the crime’s multiple perpetrators might well be minors. But this case of an apparent juvenile prank gone hideously wrong has deeper, more startling implications, leading Beau and Mel Soameshis partner in life and workdown a twisted path of corruption and lies that must be exposed before more young lives are obliterated.