The Immersion Vat

The cold open

Beneath the hum of the city's printing district, the steam in the basement atelier hung heavy with the reek of damp cellulose and lime. Barnaby Hoyt was found face down inside the six-foot cypress maceration tank, his lungs flooded with pulp-clouded water and his linen cuffs soaked. Above him, rows of antique handmade rag sheets hung motionless on wire lines, drying in the midnight draft.

The victim

Barnaby Hoyt, 54, master paper conservator and private archival lender

The lineup

• Douglas Mallow
• Sabine Callier
• Rayner Knox
• Willa Braddock