Present Scarpetta and Marino uncover troubling similarities between their murder victim and the 'accidental' death of a jogger six months earlier; while in the past, Scarpetta suspects that someone from within her own office is attempting to sabotage her, and she makes a huge discovery in the case.

Past Scarpetta and Benton devise a risky plan to bait the serial killer out of hiding. In the present, Scarpetta orders the exhumation of the dead jogger's body, convinced that there's a connection between the jogger's death and the murder victim. At home, Kay and Benton's mounting secrets and lies come to a boiling point.