, Gladden took out a knife and stabbed Thorson in the neck killing him. Gladden had McEvoy and the store manager as hostages until the FBI threw a concussion bomb in the window. Gladden did not react in time to shield himself from the blast and once McEvoy regained himself he saw the gun lying on the floor and dove for it. In a battle for the weapon McEvoy ended up shooting Gladden twice. The shots fatally wounded Gladden.The small conversation Jack had with Gladden before the FBI threw the bomb in did not make sense to him. Gladden said “killing your brother was the only way to save him from becoming like me.” McEvoy concluded that from their conversation that Gladden probably was killing children and not adult detectives. McEvoy traced phone records to who he thought was The Poet, Rachel Walling. As he brought this knowledge to Bob Backus, the lead agent in charge of the investigation, he found out he was completely wrong. Backus took him to a house overlooking LA, and then he took control of him and hypnotized him. Just before Backus sexually gratified himself with McEvoy, Rachel busted in and took Backus down. She shot him and he took a long fall through a window down into some trees. The police never recovered his body and he is believed to still be on the run. I never even considered Backus as The Poet. He led a life completely split in two and as Rachel said “the wall between his two lives was as thick as a bank vault door.” The only clues that led to the understanding of Backus’ secret life led to a perfectionist father, who was also an influential FBI agent. A high school friend came forward and said Backus confided in him that when Bob would wet his bed as a child his father would handcuff him to a bathroom towel bar in the shower. Also, Backus’ former bride to be stated that he would make her shower immediately before and after making love. Another insight into how Backus ...
