Now freelancing from South Florida, Scarpetta returns to the city that turned its back on her five years ago. She travels to Richmond, Virginia, at the odd behest of the recently appointed Chief Medical Examiner, who claims that he needs her help. When she arrives, however, she finds that nothing is as she expected: her former lab seems neither as organized nor as well run as it once was; the inept current chief is driven by an agenda he will not reveal; her former assistant chief has developed personal problems he won't discuss; and a glamorous FBI agent whom Marino instantly dislikes begins meddling in the case.Deprived of assistance from colleagues Benton and Lucy because they are embroiled in what at first appears to be an unrelated attack by a stalker, Scarpetta is faced with solving the death of a fourteen-year-old girl despite the smallest pieces of evidence - traces that only the most thorough hunters can identify. It's up to Scarpetta to follow the twisting leads and track the strange details in order to make the dead speak - and reveal the sad truth that may be more than she can bear.
