Dresden Files Reread - Fool Moon Chapter 30

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Harry tries to retreat deeper into the trees, but Denton, who apparently has preternaturally good hearing on top of every damn thing else, immediately notices and orders the hexenwulfen to fan out and find him. Harry bolts, firing his gun into the air a couple times to startle and confuse them, then hides until they pass him in the dark and manages to get ahold of Denton.

He tells Denton to drop the gun, and then unclips his belt. At Harry's instruction, Denton orders his people back out of the woods. This, incidentally, is the point at which I remembered that Dresden's "ace in the hole" from two chapters ago is the wolf belt he took off Harris two chapters before that. 

When Benn, Wilson, and Harris have all confirmed that they're once again back in the open, Harry comes out as well, using Denton as a shield. He gives them the same instructions: guns down, belts off. Benn threatens Harry, "I'll rip your throat out", etc. Harris taunts her about this, for what reason I have no earthly idea, and then tells Harry that he won't really shoot them, that he doesn't have the guts. Denton tells both of them to shut up and comply, which Harry naturally finds suspicious. And shortly thereafter, those suspicions are confirmed when he tells Wilson and Harris to go back into the woods and bring something out. He notes that Harry can't shoot them without taking the gun off Denton. It doesn't seem to occur to either of them that he could shoot Denton and then Wilson and Harris - none of them are armed. I guess Benn might, were that to happen, try the whole "tear your throat out" thing, but it's hardly a foregone conclusion. But Harry isn't thinking the clearest right now, and if Denton realizes, he understandably keeps it to himself. Harry, instead, starts poking at Denton's motives, trying to get him to see reason. Denton lists the same basic motivations that Harris did, including "I had the power, and the responsibility to use it". Harry feels just as uncomfortable when Denton says this as when Harris did, and there's no acknowledgement that he's had almost this exact conversation before, leading me to suspect that either Dresden or Jim Butcher forgot the substance of the earlier interrogation, especially since he doesn't ask any of the things that Harris said only Denton knew, like where they got the belts. Might have found out about the Black Council like ten books earlier if Harry could have kept his head together. I really, really want to believe that Jim Butcher chose to have Harry miss this opportunity, but if he did, the amount that's repeated between the two conversations makes for very poor execution, which combined with earlier evidence that Fool Moon was not fully cleaned up after a fairly major rewrite, suggests that we are, in fact, standing on the corner of Shot Out of Order and Author Forgot. 

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At least Harry does get Denton to confirm that the idea was for the Streetwolves to take the fall for Marcone's murder in from of the mortal authorities, while MacFinn would do the same for the White Council. Solid plan, if a bit intricate, and I think it's the first time we see the "dual fall guy" technique in this series. The more Dresden pokes, the more Denton talks about "necessary sacrifices". He says it repeatedly, to an extent that makes me wonder if it wasn't put in his head by whoever gave him the belts. It's his response when Harry points out that the other members of Denton's team, especially Benn, are deteriorating, and asks if she was always like this. And he says it again when Harris and Wilson bring Murphy, bound and gagged, out of the woods where they were apparently keeping her. (As much as it didn't work, I do want to note  the validity of appealing to Denton's alpha instincts here, his demonstrated desire to protect and care for the rest of his team). 

Denton elbows Harry in the stomach, hits him in the threat, and then explains that if he doesn't come quietly, Murphy will die and Harry will be framed for the murder. Denton will huff, and puff, and blow Dresden's house in.