Chapter 1 Summary

Gwen Gellman is a private investigator who has psychic abilities. She is investigating the disappearance of a girl named Lauren Simpson. At Lauren's mother's request, Gellman visits her roommate (Rachel York) at the college apartments. Rachel tells her that Lauren was to make an appearance at an art gallery event and then meet her friends at the movies. She never showed up at the movie theater. Upon Rachel's return home from the theater, she gets a call from the gallery stating that Lauren had left her purse behind. This startles Rachel, so she calls Lauren's mother.

Gellman asks Rachel for some personal articles of Lauren's and Rachel retrieves them right away. Rachel thinks they are for DNA purposes, and Gellman doesn't tell her otherwise. The truth is that Gellman wants to touch them and try to use her psychic abilities to tell her...