Kevin Pirbright was an ex-member of the Universal Humanitarian Church who was working to expose it as a dangerous cult. The Prologue includes a letter from the UHC’s law firm to Kevin claiming his blog ‘Exposing the Universal Cult’ contains several false and highly defamatory claims against the UHC. Sir Colin was in touch with Kevin, and wanted his son Will to meet with him, but Will refused, stating that Kevin was ‘a very dangerous man who has done harm to many innocent people.’ Sir Colin and Kevin argued and then lost touch because Sir Colin expressed his disappointment about Kevin’s behaviour at a book reading by Giles Harmon, a well known novelist and Church principal (Prologue).

At their initial meeting, Sir Colin informs Strike and Robin that Kevin was killed in what the police think was a drug related killing.  Sir Colin provides the agency with copies of emails he received from Kevin, from which we learn that Kevin’s mother Louise joined the UHC when Kevin and his sisters, Becca and Emily, were young children. Kevin began to doubt the church after hearing Deirdre Doherty had written in her journal that she was raped by Jonathan Wace and that Wace had had her expelled. He started planning to leave the Church when he was nearly twenty-three but it took him a year to actually go. He wanted Louise to go with him but she was too indoctrinated (Ch 4).

Strike asks Wardle about Kevin Pirbright’s shooting and Wardle gives him some photos of Kevin’s room which is small and squalid with words such as ‘Becca, straw, plot and pigs’ scribbled over the walls (Ch 8 & 9).

The only photograph that Strike was able to find of Kevin shows him to have been ‘a pale, apologetic looking young man whose skin was pitted with acne scars’ (Ch 55).