Book 2: Death in a White Coat, Chapters 1-5 Summary

Brenda Pridmore and Inspector Blakelock arrive at Hoggartt's Lab an hour before any other personnel. Brenda asks questions of Blakelock about procedures and policy. Brenda is surprised Mrs. Bidwell, the cleaning woman, has not yet arrived. A phone call interrupts their routine; it is Dr. Lorrimer's father, who states that his son did not come home the previous night. Brenda and Blakelock discuss the security of the lab and Blakelock says that Lorrimer could still be up in his lab office, though all the doors had been properly locked. Brenda volunteers to go check Lorrimer's office.

Brenda arrives back down to the reception area, unable to speak. Blakelock runs upstairs as Brenda collapses in a chair, unable to function for the moment. Within minutes, many of the staff are...