Chapter 7-8 Summary

Dr. Cross' 22-year-old niece Naomi, also known as Scootchie, has turned up missing. Naomi is a law student at Duke University and has been missing for four days. She is the pride of the entire family. Sampson knows the situation as he spoke to a Detective Ruskin in North Carolina earlier who explained the circumstances. Naomi's law school friend Mary Ellen Klouk reported her missing. They wonder why it took four days for the police to call when they would normally start looking for a missing person after two days. The detective told Sampson that there were extenuating circumstances that he could not talk about on the phone. Dr. Cross thinks perhaps the FBI is involved in the investigation. Cross is forced to explain to his children that something terrible has happened to their aunt Naomi. They suspect as much, despite...