Chapters 1-2 Summary

Dr. Kay Scarpetta, Chief Medical Examiner of Virginia, takes another look at the savaged body of Beryl Madison, showing she puts up a fight before receiving nine stab wounds in the chest and being nearly decapitated. Picturing the attack, Kay knows that the terrified woman had just returned from Florida and wonders why she let someone into her house. Lt. Pete Marino picks Kay up for her first visit to the murder scene in well-to-do Windsor Farms. Pete is puzzled that Beryl does not log or tape threatening phone calls, but xeroxes two personal letters to "M." The yard is unkempt and the house, up for sale, is an expensive waste of space.

There are no signs of forced entry, but the living room is a shambles. They follow a trail of blood, speculating about the struggle upstairs on the way...