Dead Beat (novel) - Plot Summary

Plot Summary

It's three days before Halloween and nearly a year after the events in Blood Rites. Mavra, from the previous novel, forces Dresden to locate The Word of Kemmler for her within 3 days, or Murphy will be setup for the murder of one of Mavra's minions last year.

Dresden has not heard of The Word, so he consults his spirit assistant Bob who used to belong to Kemmler, the most powerful necromancer in a thousand years who was killed (for the seventh time) by the white council in 1961. In an attempt to access the information that Kemmler stored inside Bob, Harry forces the spirit to open the darkest recesses of it´s mind. That part of Bob does know The Word but by talking in riddles he nearly tricks Harry into killing himself thru an improvised ritual, as a punishment for trying to steal "the Masters" secrets.

According to the safer section of Bob`s mind, Kemmler wrote down much of his dark lore in three books: the Blood, the Mind and the Heart of Kemmler. It stands to reason that the Word would be an unknown fourth book and that the few surviving disciples of Kemmler will be looking for it. Dresden consults Dr. Butters, the Chicago assistant coroner, about any peculiar recent deaths that could be linked to necromancy. They are attacked by zombies under the necromancer Grevane. Harry and Butters escape to Dresden's warded apartment. Dresden leaves Butters with Mouse to follow a lead, the book Die Lied der Erlking which Grevane had in his hand during the attack.

Dresden searches for Die Lied der Erlking at an arcane book store near the University of Chicago. He meets Sheila, a recently hired employee of the bookstore, who assists him in finding a copy. Outside the bookstore, Dresden is attacked by two wizards, Cowl and a his attendant Kumori, for possession of the book. Fighting them to a standstill and utterly exhausted, Harry is saved by the Alphas, who are students at the University. With police sirens getting closer, Kumori and Cowl flee, and the Alphas get Harry home to rest.

Dresden visits his old associate, the medium Mortimer Lindquist, for some answers. Mortimer points out six areas of Black Magic which the local spirits are avoiding and where recent murders occurred. Dresden and Butters examine one of the Black Magic area victims and accidentally find flash drive in a corpse.

Dresden gets a message from Sheila, asking him to come by the bookstore. While there, Capiocorpus (from Latin capio, "I take" and corpus, "body") and Li Xian begin interrogating the bookstore owner about the Erlking book. Dresden attempts to fight them off but is injured and overpowered by the duo who take his copy of the book. He is rescued by Ms. Gard - under orders from Johnny Marcone. He gives Dresden some information about one of the significant murders and drops him off at the hospital emergency room. Thomas agrees to guard Butters, while Dresden summons his fairy godmother, Leanansidhe. Instead, Queen Mab of the Winte court answers his call since she has imprisoned Lea until she "acknowledges who rules Winter". Mab tells Dresden that the Erlking is a powerful fairy lord able to summon the spirits of dead hunters for the Wild Hunt. Kemmler devised a way to devour the energy of the dead to increase his own power. Commbined with the Erlkings spirits Kemmlers spell can turn a human into a demigod. Queen Mab will tell Dresden everything he wants to know, if he becomes her Winter Knight. As her Knight Dresden would have more than enough power to defeat these necromancers, but he would also be forever bound to her will. Dresden declines the tempting offer and Mab vanishes.

Dresden assumes the Darkhallow ritual will cause the Erlking to appear and summon the spirits of past hunters for the Wild Hunt. Then, the necromancer devours the energy of those spirits and turns into a demi-god. He guesses that the ritual only creates one demi-god, hence the competition among Kemmler's students. Back at his apartment, Dresden brings Thomas up to speed. Suddenly, Grevane besieges the apartment. Then, Capiocorpus arrives and attacks Grevane. While they are fighting, Dresden, Thomas, Mouse, and Butters escape, and hide in Murphy's house. That night the fallen angel Lasciel's image appears in his dream and makes a similar offer to empower Harry in return for him acting as host for her true self. Dresden declines her tempting offer and Lasciel's image vanishes.

The next day is Halloween. Dresden has until sunset to figure out where The Word is hidden and prevent the Darkhallow ritual. Overwhelmed, Dresden calls on the White Council. The Wardens will come in force to deal with Kemmler's apprentices. Since Capiocorpus and Li took the Elrking book from him, Dresden must rely on Sheila's eidetic memory. As she recites the book, he identifies the summoning ritual by its rhythm and phrasing patterns. Leaving her apartment, Dresden is accosted by Kumori. She promises if he leaves town now, he won't be killed, but Dresden refuses.

Dresden arrives early at McAnally's, so he can have a peaceful dinner before his meeting with the Wardens. With so many Wardens killed in the war with the Red Court, Captain Luccio deputizes him as a Warden and a regional commander, much to the dismay of Warden Morgan who has never trusted Harry.

After planning, Dresden summons and traps the Erlking, so no one else can summon him for the Darkhallow. The Erlking assaults the containment circle and it holds until Cowl attacks Dresden forcing him to lose concentration; the circle collapses. The Erlking summons the Wild Hunt. Cowl distracts Dresden, while Kumori kidnaps Bob. Dresden and Butters go to Sheila's for help from the Erlking book. Butters tells Dresden that he is talking to himself in an empty room, and Dresden realizes Sheila is imaginary and the working of Lasciel. She again offers to help Dresden, but Harry realizes accepting help from Lasciel is a path down a slippery slope to total dependence upon her. He mentally binds her. With his mind clear, Dresden realizes the flash drive data are GPS coordinates.

After stealing a GPS unit, Butters locates 'The Word' in the Field Museum - next to Sue the Tyrannosaurus Rex. Grevane and his associate close in on them. Harry tells Butters and Mouse to flee to safety. Dresden quickly flips through 'The Word', so Lasciel can read it. Grevane captures Dresden and takes 'The Word'. He gives the manacled Dresden to his associate, Quintus Cassius, the former host for Saluriel who Dresden previously brutally assaulted and humiliated. Cassius begins torturing Dresden, but Butters returns with Mouse, who attacks and kills Cassius. Forewarned, Cassius gives Dresden his death curse as he dies "DIE ALONE." The powerful curse knocks Dresden unconscious. He dreams that he makes a truce with Lasciel and she translates the German text of 'The Word' for him.

To be able to go near the Darkhallow, one must surround oneself with traces of necromancer-magic (by performing it). With Butters as his drummer, Dresden raises Sue the Tyrannosaurus Rex from the dead, and they head to the gathering maelstrom over a local college. The five wardens are already on campus, fighting a group of zombies. Dresden runs Sue into the zombies and splatters them. The zombies sideline Warden Yoshimo. Sue eats Li.

A wave of specters appear from underneath the Earth and attack the Wardens. Warden Kowalski dies during the battle. Captain Luccio is attacked by Capiocorpus and Luccio impales Capiocorpus but Capriocorpus switches bodies with Luccio and when Harry enters the alley, he is greeted by Capriocorpus in Luccio's body.

Dresden recognizes Capriocorpus within Luccio's body and shoots her dead. Warden Morgan witnesses the shooting and it reinforces his belief that Harry is a traitor. Morgan viciously attacks Dresden and is about to kill him, but is shot by Warden Ramirez, who soulgazed Capiocorpus and confirmed that Captain Luccio is now trapped inside the necromancer's body.

Dresden and Ramirez ride off on Sue to face Grevane, Kumori, and Cowl. They face Grevane and his zombies first. Sue mows down the zombies, while Dresden slugs it out with Grevane. After Ramirez cuts Grevanes throat, they are ambushed by Kumori and Cowl. Ramirez is sidelined. Dresden attacks Cowl, but Kumori comes from behind and ends up holding Dresden at knifepoint. Bob, forced to reveal the contents of the 'Word of Kemmler' to Cowl, signals to Harry that he is still allied with him. Harry releases Bob and his spirit enters Sue and disables Kumori. Quickly, Dresden smashes his staff into Cowl's face, disrupting the spell. The backlash from the botched Darkhallow spell apparently kills Cowl and knocks Dresden unconscious.

When Dresden awakes, the Erlking confronts him about Dresden trying to ensnare him, but is pleased with Dresden's summoning of an ancient hunter like Sue as well as his nerve. With a laugh he declares that he will hunt Dresden some other night. Dresden pockets 'The Word' for his deal with Mavra. Then, Dresden and Butters evacuate everyone to Harry's apartment. Listens-to-Wind and his fellow healers arrive and moved the wounded to a more secure location.

Dresden hurries to his meeting with Mavra, and they swap the Word for the photos and Dresden warns Mavra that if she threaten his friends again he will use the power of a fallen angel and the Winter Knight to kill her. He also somewhat cryptically states that he read from the 'Word of Kemmler' and learned how to turn necromancy against the Black Court. Mavra stops smiling and accepts his conditions, before she disappears into the night. Later, Morgan almost says he is sorry that he misjudged Dresden, but also states that he still regards Harry as an arrogant fool. The story closes as Butters gives Dresden a guitar as therapy for his burned hand.