A Fourth Woman Is Murdered

In Richmond, Virginia, Dr. Kay Scarpetta, the state’s Chief Medical Examiner, is called out late on a rainy Friday night when another woman is found brutally murdered in her home. The victim, Lori Petersen, is a talented young surgeon, and her death is particularly alarming because she appears to be the fourth victim of the same serial killer already terrorizing the city.

The killer, whom the press has dubbed “Mr. Nobody,” targets women in their homes, sexually assaults them, binds them, and strangles them. Despite an enormous investigation, the police still have no idea who he is or how he chooses his victims.

At Lori’s house, Scarpetta works alongside Sergeant Pete Marino, a veteran homicide detective whose abrasive personality immediately puts them at odds. Marino is suspicious of Lori’s husband, Matt Petersen, a handsome literature student and actor who had been away at a dress rehearsal when his wife was killed. Matt appears genuinely devastated, but Marino sees several reasons to look more closely at him.

Matt had access to theatrical makeup through the production, potentially giving him a way to disguise himself. Police also discover his survival knife hidden in a dresser drawer. More troublingly, fingerprint examiner Neils Vander uses a new laser technique to examine Lori’s body and discovers Matt’s fingerprints on her shoulder.

Scarpetta is less convinced that this makes Matt a murderer. A husband’s fingerprints on his wife are hardly surprising, and she worries that Marino is forcing the evidence to fit his theory rather than following it wherever it leads.

There is another strange clue on Lori’s body. Under the laser, particles on her skin sparkle. Similar residue has appeared in the other murders, suggesting the substance came from the killer. Scarpetta eventually identifies it as a cheap borax-based soap powder—the kind commonly used in dispensers in public and government buildings.

It is a small clue, but potentially an important one. The killer may be carrying something from his workplace directly to the crime scenes.

Scarpetta Comes Under Attack

While Scarpetta is trying to identify the murderer, someone seems determined to undermine her professionally.

Her boss, Dr. Alvin Amburgey, the Commissioner of Health and Human Services, already has a strained relationship with her. Amburgey is controlling, politically minded, and eager to protect himself as public outrage over the murders grows. He begins scrutinizing Scarpetta’s office and restricts what she can say publicly about the investigation.

The situation becomes even worse because confidential information keeps reaching the press.

Reporter Abby Turnbull is aggressively pursuing the serial-killer story and repeatedly publishes details that should not be public. One particularly damaging revelation concerns Lori Petersen’s final moments: Lori apparently managed to call 911 during the attack, but the call was disconnected before she could ask for help.

Scarpetta cannot understand how Abby keeps obtaining protected information. The leaks make it look as though Scarpetta has lost control of her own office.

Her personal life offers little relief. Her ten-year-old niece, Lucy, is visiting from Miami. Lucy is exceptionally intelligent and already fascinated by computers, but she is also lonely and desperate for Scarpetta’s attention. Because the murders consume so much of Scarpetta’s time, Lucy is frequently left with Scarpetta’s dependable housekeeper, Bertha.

Scarpetta also has a complicated relationship with Bill Boltz, Richmond’s handsome Commonwealth’s Attorney. Their involvement is private and tentative, partly because both of their careers are connected to the murder investigation.

As the case becomes increasingly difficult, Scarpetta turns to FBI profiler Benton Wesley. Wesley helps build a psychological picture of the murderer, but even the FBI cannot yet explain the most important question: why these particular women?

The Killer Strikes Abby Turnbull’s Family

Then another woman is murdered.

The fifth victim is Henna Yarborough, and this killing suddenly connects the investigation to someone Scarpetta knows: Henna is Abby Turnbull’s sister.

Abby is no longer simply a reporter chasing the biggest story in Richmond. She has become part of it.

Her sister’s murder also leads Abby to reveal something she has kept secret. She tells Scarpetta that Bill Boltz once drugged and raped her.

The accusation horrifies Scarpetta. Her relationship with Boltz had already been uncertain, but Abby’s story forces her to see him differently. Marino becomes even more interested when forensic information provides another disturbing connection: Boltz is a nonsecretor, meaning his blood type cannot be determined from certain bodily fluids.

The killer is also believed to be a nonsecretor.

To Marino, Boltz suddenly looks like a serious suspect. He has access to information about the investigation, he has allegedly committed sexual violence before, and he shares an unusual biological characteristic with the murderer.

Scarpetta cannot simply dismiss the possibility, but the evidence still does not fully fit. The investigation has accumulated suspects and clues without producing a convincing explanation for how the killer finds his victims.

Someone Tries to Destroy Scarpetta

At the same time, the attacks on Scarpetta’s professional reputation escalate.

Her dedicated autopsy technician, Wingo, discovers what appears to be a serious mistake involving a physical evidence recovery kit, or PERK, stored in the morgue refrigerator. The kit has apparently been mislabeled in a way that makes Scarpetta look grossly negligent.

Scarpetta knows she would not have made such an error.

The mystery begins to unravel because of Wingo. He notices Amburgey secretly smoking in his car and manages to retrieve one of his discarded cigarette butts. Betty, the laboratory’s meticulous chief serologist, tests the saliva and discovers that Amburgey has type AB blood.

That matches the biological material associated with the suspicious PERK.

The supposed mistake was not Scarpetta’s at all. Amburgey planted the evidence to discredit her.

The strange activity involving Scarpetta’s office computer is connected to the sabotage as well. With help from programming analyst Margaret, Scarpetta realizes that someone has been accessing the system and manipulating information. A technical setting involving the computer’s “echo” helps expose what has been happening.

The threat inside Scarpetta’s office has therefore been separate from the serial murders. Amburgey has been exploiting the chaos surrounding the case in an attempt to damage Scarpetta’s career.

But exposing him still leaves the larger question unanswered.

Mr. Nobody is still out there.

The 911 Connection

Scarpetta and the investigators decide to turn the press coverage against the killer.

With Abby now cooperating, they arrange for a false story to appear suggesting that forensic evidence has revealed the murderer suffers from a rare genetic disorder called Maple Syrup Urine Disease, or MSUD. The claim is deliberately fabricated. They hope that convincing the killer that police can identify him biologically will frighten him into making a mistake.

As Scarpetta continues reviewing the victims, the answer to the mystery finally emerges.

The women did not know one another. They did not share the same job, neighborhood, social circle, or obvious routine.

But they had all called 911.

That explains something investigators have been unable to understand from the beginning: how the killer could select women who otherwise seemed completely unrelated.

He was finding them through the emergency communications system.

The killer is Roy McCorkle, a twenty-seven-year-old civilian communications officer working the evening shift as a 911 operator. His job gives him access to vulnerable women at exactly the moment they are frightened and seeking help. He can hear their voices and obtain information that allows him to locate their homes.

The clue involving the cheap soap powder also finally makes sense. McCorkle works in a public facility where that type of soap is used. The seemingly insignificant residue transferred from his environment to the women he murdered.

Once the false MSUD story appears, McCorkle becomes increasingly paranoid. Believing investigators are closing in on him, he decides to go after Scarpetta herself.

McCorkle Comes for Scarpetta

McCorkle breaks into Scarpetta’s home and confronts her with a knife.

For Scarpetta, the investigation suddenly becomes terrifyingly personal. The man whose victims she has examined is now standing inside her own house, and she realizes she may be about to die exactly as they did.

She manages to reach her .38 revolver, hoping she can defend herself.

Then she discovers that the gun is unloaded.

McCorkle moves in to kill her, but Scarpetta is not as alone as she thinks.

Despite their difficult relationship throughout the investigation, Marino has become increasingly concerned about her safety. Without telling her, he has been keeping watch outside her house.

As McCorkle attacks, Pete Marino bursts inside wearing a dark blue police jumpsuit and shoots him dead before he can kill Scarpetta.

Mr. Nobody is finally stopped.

The Aftermath

Solving the murders does not erase everything Scarpetta has learned along the way.

Bill Boltz, disgraced by Abby’s accusation and the suspicion surrounding him, conveniently leaves on “vacation.” Whatever possibility Scarpetta once saw for a relationship with him is effectively destroyed.

Amburgey’s campaign against Scarpetta also collapses. Abby now knows enough about his attempt to frame and sabotage Scarpetta to threaten his career, leaving him unable to continue wielding power over her as before.

Marino, meanwhile, has changed in Scarpetta’s eyes. Their relationship began with distrust and professional hostility, but he ultimately proves that beneath his crude behavior he is a capable detective who was willing to put himself in danger to protect her.

The investigation leaves Scarpetta physically and emotionally exhausted. She has spent weeks examining murdered women, defending her professional reputation, questioning people she trusted, and ultimately facing the killer herself.

Once it is over, she leaves Richmond for a while and takes Lucy with her to Florida.

After spending so much of Lucy’s visit distracted by death and work, Scarpetta can finally give her niece the attention she has been craving—and begin recovering from everything that happened.