The provided text is comprised of excerpts from the novel "Disciple of the Dog" by R. Scott Bakker, introducing a cynical private investigator named Disciple Manning. The main plot revolves around Disciple being hired by Jonathan and Amanda Bonjour to find their missing daughter, Jennifer, who belonged to a cult-like group called the Framers, led by the charismatic Xenophon Baars. Disciple, who suffers from hyperthymestic syndrome (the ability to remember everything), narrates his investigation, which includes interviewing the distraught parents, dealing with local police Chief Caleb Nolen, and interacting with a local journalist, Molly Modano, while simultaneously investigating a rival extremist Christian sect. The narrative is characterized by Disciple's irreverent, highly self-aware, and often morally ambiguous internal monologue as he uncovers layers of deceit surrounding the disappearance, which escalates into a homicide investigation after severed body parts are found.

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“What did the council decide on item 42?” — answered with the speaker and the moment.