Sarah Gordon is a well-known painter who lives in a restored school in the village of Grantchester, which is not far from Cambridge. Gordon is also Anthony Weaver's former lover and the murderer of Weaver's daughter, Elena. Sarah Gordon, like many artists, sees her creativity as an extension of who she is as a person. After Weaver destroys the painting of Elena that Sarah Gordon gave him, Sarah Gordon is unable to paint for many months, believing that Weaver killed her creative instincts. She kills Elena Weaver in order to inflict as much suffering on Anthony Weaver as he inflicted on her.