Tight-Lipped Moose To Tell All

The Maryland police chief who rose to fame during the Washington-area sniper attacks plans to write a book about the investigation.

Chief Charles Moose's New York literary agent has announced that Moose signed a deal yesterday to write a book called "Three Weeks in October: The Manhunt for the D-C Sniper."

It will be published this fall by Dutton Books.

The book will chronicle the sniper investigation and focus on Moose's autobiography and his rise through the ranks from patrolman to police chief.

Veteran journalist Charles Fleming, a former correspondent for Newsweek and contributor to Vanity Fair, will write the book with Moose.

During the investigation, Moose kept tight-lipped at news conferences, offering few details about the progress of the hunt for the Washington-area sniper.

There's no word yet on how Montgomery County, Maryland's chief will deal with ethics rules that prohibit public officials from using an office for personal gain and from disclosing confidential information.

County Executive Douglas Duncan has said he believes Moose should be given a special exemption. He has said he would ask the County Council to pass legislation authorizing the deal.

For 22 days, an unknown force held the Washington area in its grip. The city and its suburbs were peppered with fear and death, and Moose was faced with cracking the biggest case of his 24-year career.

In the end, the suspects, Lee Boyd Malvo, 17, and John Allen Muhammad, 42, were arrested and charged with murder. They are accused of killing 13 people and wounding six in Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, Maryland, Virginia and Washington, D.C. They are being tried first in Virginia because its laws allow the best opportunities for the death penalty.