This is the story of three men under pressure-a bank teller, a salesman, and a handyman. They are neither psychopaths not professional criminals, yet together they plan to carry out the most immoral of crimes. You will detest what they do, but you will never lose interest in them as you watch them do it. And for one of these men you will feel a real sympathy, especially when he begins his moving attempt at redemption.

The knife was as familiar to his hand and as innocuous as a pencil, in spite of its razor edge. And yet earlier in the day he had closed his hand on the sharp edge and noticed with surprise that the steel had sliced painfully, if not seriously, into his palm. There had been a flow of blood, which he rinsed off at the sink, and afterward when he again picked up the knife to strip the mill, it felt different to him, almost like a personal possession, and he found himself gripping the wooden handle with a new and strangely pleasant familiarity. 1955 Edgar Award-winning tale of a serial killer,...