Don't mistake dramatics for a conscience. - Louise Penny

The near enemy. It’s a psychological concept. Two emotions that look the same but are actually opposites. The one parades as the other, is mistaken for the other, but one is healthy and the other’s sick, twisted.

Ring the bells that still can ring, Forget your perfect offering, There’s a crack in everything, That’s how the light gets in.

He'd seen it in others, the consequences of failing to choose companions wisely. One slightly immoral person was a problem. Two together was a catastrophe. All it took was a fateful meeting. A person who told you your meanest desires, your basest thoughts, weren't so bad. In fact, he shared them. Then the unthinkable was thought. And planned for. And put into action.