Antipas

Lucy Butler returns to torment Frank. This times she is a nanny for a powerful Wisconsin politician.

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FRANK DISCOVERS A CONNECTION BETWEEN THE MURDER OF A FEDERAL PROSECUTOR, A GUBERNATORIAL CANDIDATE WITH A FRAGILE DAUGHTER AND THE EVIL LUCY BUTLER.

John Saxum, a State Attorney General, resides in an old stately manor house in Madison, Wisconsin with his wife, Uma, and fragile daughter, Divina. Una tells her husband that, although he is under pressure to announce his candidacy, she doubts she is ready to become the governor’s wife. She believes their daughter’s health is of greater importance. The Saxums realize that Divina has disappeared into the gardens on their property. Believing Divina is playing a game of hide and seek, John and Uma search through a hedgerow maze. Unbeknownst to them, their daughter has been swallowed whole by a huge python snake slithering around the maze. The Saxums eventually find Divina, seemingly safe and sound, in the company of her nanny, Lucy Butler.

Meanwhile, Emma Hollis, standing in front of a slide screen, reviews a particularly troublesome case with her fellow agents. The victim was a federal prosecutor, who was stabbed to death in a Pittsburgh motel room. As Emma advances the slides, Frank takes interest in an image depicting a Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania phone book sitting on a nightstand. The word „saint” is jotted in ballpoint pen over the letters „PA.” Frank rearranges the letters in a series of anagrams until he hits upon „antipas.” After the meeting concludes, McClaren transfers Emma off the case and assigns it to Frank. Emma is shocked.

Back at the manor, Lucy lays the groundwork to drive a wedge between John and his wife, prompting Una to believe that Lucy is having an affair with her husband. An elderly gardener watches with suspicion as Lucy leads Divina into the hedgerow maze. He attempts to follow the pair only to be mauled by Doberman pinschers.

Frank uses his computer to access Lucy Butler’s file. Surprisingly, no current information is available. He then researches the word „antipas,” which leads him to a newspaper story on the dog attack of the gardener, which transpired in Antipas Gardens. An angry Emma interrupts Frank’s work. Frank tells her that Antipas is an allusion to Satan. He then shows her Lucy’s photograph. Emma counters that the suspect in the motel murder is a male. Later, Frank pays John Saxum a visit. He warns him about Lucy Butler, insisting she is responsible for the death of a Seattle police detective as well as her own child. John counters that Lucy has been a godsend, and credits her with his daughter’ miraculous turnaround. He threatens to have Frank investigated. As Frank leaves the manor, he encounters Lucy. He warns her to leave the Saxum family alone.

When Frank returns to his motel room, he uses his computer to research „antipas.” He finds crime scene photos of killings in which the victims were all connected to the legal processing of murders. Later that night, Frank awakens to find Lucy writhing atop him in a state of sexual ecstasy. As Frank recoils, Lucy transforms into a demon. When Frank wakes up, there is no one there. Suddenly, there is a pounding at the door. When Frank answers, he finds Emma standing outside. Emma reminds him that he called her about the murder of Una Saxum. Frank tells her he made no such phone call. Realizing what is happening, Frank scrambles to get dressed. He instructs Emma to have the police dispatched to Antipas manor. Meanwhile, Divina lures Una towards the pond in the gardens. Una sees her daughter’s image beneath the shallow water and is suddenly pulled downward. When Frank and Emma arrive at the scene, they discover Una’s body beneath the water, her face having been pecked away by geese.

Frank convinces Emma to arrest and detain Lucy for as long as possible. In the meantime, he performs research at the hospital where Divina was born. He discovers a perfect match exists between Divina’s footprint and that of Lucy Butler’s dead child. Meanwhile, Lucy’s attorney, Selwyn Wassenaar, demands the release of…