NOTE posing residence had a stone ont door that wouldn't have istle. And, like our neighbor's ram: raised brass letters that , the two women belonged to ul man who was also a registe for underage women. n-year-olds. But younger girls used dozens of young women, ttled potential lawsuits with ison time for his crimes. A bit in the world again. ing women. ries about Jeffrey Epstein for a ld not have been more differoth live, is small and tightly ne people. dlines in papers all over the d a scandal that continues to smell. ase in the media and talked I wondered why it had taken o catch up with Epstein. And, so little jail time. tions, but there were others: ey, possibly billions? No one AUTHOR'S NOTE seemed to know. And while the news media had some details about the underage girls, reporters seemed only to know what had happened at the moment of his arrest. Epstein definitely liked his massages. He got them from two, even three, young women a day, right in his mansion on the island. He'd been operating on an almost industrial scale. But who were these girls? Where had they come from? How did they find their way to his home on a secluded street in Palm Beach? Epstein had powerful friends. He'd flown Bill Clinton around in his private jet and rubbed shoulders with heads of state, Nobel Prize winners, any number of billionaires. Prince Andrew, the man sixth in line to the British throne, had been a close friend. Were any of these connections the reason that Epstein was now a free man? I wanted to know. After all, our homes were a half mile apart, and Epstein's actions had had an undeniable impact on the town where I lived. Stirred by that sighting of Epstein up in New York, Tim Malloy and I began to investigate. We partnered with John Connolly, a tough, no-nonsense journalist who had once been a cop with the NYPD and had been following the Epstein story for close to ten years. Working together, we interviewed Epstein's friends, going all the way back to his childhood; we met with Epstein's acquaintances, employees, neighbors, and business associates, and finally with the families of his victims. We interviewed law enforcement officers who'd worked on the investigation in Palm Beach and lawyers on all sides of the resulting court cases, some of which are still working their way through the court system. Combining our interview material with evidence obtained from court filings and other investigations, such as the one ix HOUSE_OVERSIGHT_009149 AUTHOR'S NOTE conducted by Connolly's Vanity Fair colleague Vicky Ward, we began to put the pieces together. In a few instances, we have re-created brief scenes and snatches of dialogue. These are based on interviews, police investigation documents, and court filings. We changed the names and identities of the girls, hoping to protect them from more embarrassment and harm. There never was any doubt that Jeffrey Epstein was guilty. He admitted as much in the non-prosecution agreement he agreed to sign in 2007. The question is, what exactly was he guilty of? This book attempts to answer that question and many others around the world are angry about and suspicious of the super rich and powerful. The story of Jeffrey Epstein is an object lesson about why we ought to be. To put it simply, some people think they can operate outside the law. And that's what they do. -James Patterson, Palm Beach, February 20, 2016 x HOUSE_OVERSIGHT_009150 NOTE air colleague Vicky Ward, we : re-created brief scenes and based on interviews, police urt filings. We changed the hoping to protect them from t Jeffrey Epstein was guilty. He secution agreement he agreed hat exactly was he guilty of? that question and many others s man. These days people all it and suspicious of the super frey Epstein is an object lesson t it simply, some people think And that's what they do. Palm Beach, February 20, 2016 PART I The Crime HOUSE_OVERSIGHT_009151 CHAPTER I Mary: February 2005 I t's a typically slow South Florida Sunday, and Mary's staring into the mirror, trying to wipe the morning cobwebs away from her dark, sleepy eyes. She's a pretty girl, tiny-just five feet three inches tall-but tanned and athletic, with curly black henna-streaked hair.* Her bedroom's a playland of pinks and pastels, stuffed animals, and boy-band posters. But Mary's a teenager now. Fourteen years old. She even has a boyfriend. He's cute and popular. Joe' is the heartthrob of her school, and Mary's feelings for him are new to her, powerful, hard to untangle. She's thinking of Joe as she presses the Play button on her iPod. The MP3 player's on shuffle. There's no telling what song will * Mary's name, some identifying details, and dialogue have been changed. ' Joe's name, some identifying details, and dialogue have been changed. 3 HOUSE_OVERSIGHT_009152 JAMES PATTERSON come up, and Mary's head drops dramatically in anticipation. Then a loud, sexy throb spills out of the earbuds: Britney Spears. The bass line takes over, and she starts to dance, moving her hips as she lip-synchs the lyrics: With a taste of a poison paradise... Mary's swept away by the song. She's twirling around and around, flinging her arms out to grab the clothes hanging up in her closet-it's like embracing ten thousand fans! Then she stops and pulls out the earbuds. Suddenly she's become fourteen again. Just a girl, jittery, nervous. What she's thinking about now is what she will wear to the big fancy house. Mary desperately wants to make an impression. This will be her first trip to the house. She does not want to look like a child on this outing. She picks out a pair of skinny white jeans, puts on a freshly washed halter top that leaves her flat stomach bare. The cross that Joe gave her last Christmas hangs from her neck. Think of the money, she thinks. For Mary, it's incredible money. Several weeks' wages at Mickey D's. And just for giving some old man a massage? She twists the earbuds back in, dives into the closet, sings along with Britney Spears: Don't you know that you're toxic? The tight white jeans fit Mary perfectly. She turns to check herself out in the mirror, cropping the scene with her fingers to block out the Barbies b in big, high-ceilinged b with natural smiles, per dolls are beautiful. They if Mom and Dad are w mothers and fathers are you get Barbies-passe sister to sister. They're ra of knowingness to the c American Girl dolls are Barbie's dangling her lo from women. Be like Barbie, Mary 1 She can't be nervous. What she tells hersel a deal. But, of course, it is a big fancy house will bec police investigation-ar the Palm Beach PD-ar the home's owner, Jeffrey 4 HOUSE_OVERSIGHT_009153