White Night (novel) - Plot Summary

Plot Summary

A year after the events in Proven Guilty, Dresden is called by Murphy to the scene of an apparent suicide, and senses the victim is a magical practitioner. After investigating another victim, Dresden realizes a serial killer of magical practitioners is loose in Chicago.

Acting on a tip, Dresden and Murphy show up at a meeting of female practitioners, the Ordo Lebes. After some initial hostility, their leader Anna Ash reveals that over 20 members of the Ordo and the local Wiccan community have vanished. Others appear to be victims of suicide. A few of the people who disappeared were last seen with a man in a grey cloak—like a warden's cloak. Others were seen with an extremely beautiful, dark-haired man, quite possibly Thomas Raith, Dresdens brother.

Dresden goes to Thomas' apartment, but he's gone. There are photos and notes on all the missing and murdered women. While examining the memory of these notes Lash tells him there was a veiled presence at the Ordo meeting, quite possibly a threat. He returns and discovers the veiled person is Elaine, his ex, hired as a bodyguard. After realizing the building is on fire, they escape and Dresden sees a grey-cloaked man and chases him, but "Grey Cloak," jumps in a car and escapes.

Eavesdropping by a spell, Dresden learns that a vampire of House Skavis killed the "suicide" women. Dresden's psychic thread follows Grey Cloak through Undertown to his lair, where he reports to his boss, Cowl—who didn’t die during Darkhallow (Dead Beat). Cowl detects Dresden and blasts his psychic thread. Dresden wakes up next to his melted model of Chicago, which absorbed most of the blast.

Dresden and Murphy return to Anna's to confront Helen for being the Skavis' informant. Helen convinces everyone that she's not a spy. Olivia is missing. A surveillance photo shows Thomas escorting Olivia from her house. Dresden and Elaine go to Thomas’ boat for answers. They find Olivia and some women and children in the hold. Thomas has been smuggling the targeted women and their children to a safe house.

Before Thomas can finish explaining, Madrigal Raith and his ghouls attack. Dresden creates an escape route. Elaine, Thomas and Dresden fight the ghouls, while the women and children escape. Wounded, Dresden falls into Lake Michigan and loses consciousness.

When Dresden regains consciousness, he and Elaine check up on her clients. Anna is dead in Elaine's hotel bathroom—an apparent suicide. They find Abby, Priscilla, and Mouse hiding at Abby’s apartment. Now, Helen is missing. Murphy arrives and informs Dresden that one of the suicide victims had been a prostitute at Marcone's Executive Priority Health. Dresden and Murphy go to the fitness club-brothel. Marcone lets them speak to his brothel madam, Ms. Demeter, a.k.a. Helen Beckitt.

With Helen's information, Dresden figures out that Priscilla is the Skavis. Dresden and Murphy speed back to Elaine's hotel. Dresden frees Elaine from the Skavis' mind control. Elaine blasts the Skavis and Mouse finishes the job. Elaine is hospitalized, so Dresden calls Carlos Ramirez to help him fight Grey Cloak and Madrigal.

Dresden, Ramirez, Molly and Mouse head to the Raith estate for the White Court conclave. Lara Raith escorts Dresden and Ramirez into the Deeps, a cavern, where they wait until the right moment to challenge Vittorio "Grey Cloak" Malvora and Madrigal to combat for violation of the Unseelie Accords. Vittorio and Madrigal accept the duel to the death. They all fight with a combination of physical and magical weaponry and defenses. Dresden kills Madrigal. Vittorio calls Cowl, who opens a gate from Nevernever, ushering in an army of ghouls. Vittorio orders the ghouls to kill everyone.

While the ghouls rampage, Dresden opens a gate. Thomas, Murphy, Marcone, and his mercenaries arrive with automatic weapons and high explosives. They escort Lord Raith, Lara, and their entourage to Dresden's gate. Vittorio casts a spell that crushes Dresden, Lara, Thomas, and Marcone to the floor. Inside a time warp bubble, Dresden and Lash discus free will and Lasciel's coin. Dresden refuses to accept the coin to defeat the vampires. Tortured by self-awareness, Lash sacrifices herself to protect Dresden's mind from Vittorio's spell. Suddenly free, Dresden blasts Vittorio with Marcone's shotgun, breaking the spell on the others. As Thomas hauls Marcone through the gate, Cowl closes it, stranding Lara and Dresden. Marcone's explosives go off and the cavern collapses. Dresden folds his shield into a bubble around Lara and himself. They ride the explosion of fire out of the tunnel to safety.

Dresden finds out Lara was behind the plot to kill the female practitioners. Dresden agrees not to kill her in exchange for weregild (financial restitution) to the families of the Skavis' victims, for her word that the genocide of magical practitioners will never happen again, and for the release of the imprisoned little faeries. Lara agrees.

At the hospital, Dresden learns that Ramirez will recover and Elaine is checking herself out. Elaine agrees to distribute the weregild to the victim's families. For those without dependents, like Anna, Dresden suggests the weregild could fund a safety network for minor practitioners. This paranormal network (Paranet) would provide self-defense classes, mutual support, and a hotline for supernatural problems. Elaine agrees that Anna would have wanted such a resource as her legacy.

Dresden brings Helen and Marcone up to speed. Helen is grateful that Anna was avenged. Dresden keeps his word and signs the contract making Marcone a freeholding baron under the Unseelie Accords. Later, Dresden digs up Lasciel's coin and gives it to Father Forthill. Then, Dresden devotes himself to solving the mystery of what Thomas does for a living. He follows Thomas to a trendy boutique-coffee shop, the "Coiffure Cup." Thomas explains he put himself through cosmetology school and opened this hair salon—nothing illegal or immoral is involved. They resolve their differences over coffee and part on excellent terms.