Part 2, History's Ink Summary

Sulfuric acid burns through Grace's dress and into her flesh, almost to the bone and would have gone further had alkali not been administered directly after the assault. The assailant works with premeditation, timing precisely the two stages of his plan. No one notices Malcolm Sedak enter Varga, move leisurely through the crowded bar and approach within four feet of Grace at the chess table. Only after the fact is his long overcoat thought sinister. It conceals a sealed container, which Sedak opens and slings its contents with a movement as smooth and elegant as an orchestra conductor. Grace looks down to see her midsection soaked by what might be chowder, until her dress dissolves and she begins to scream in panic.

To Grace, the few seconds before Sedak hurls the antidote, ammonia, seem like a lifetime. Grace becomes...