Leaving behind her forensic pathology practice in South Carolina, Kay Scarpetta takes up an assignment in New York City, where the NYPD has asked her to examine an injured patient in a psychiatric ward.
The handcuffed & chained patient, Oscar Bane, has specifically asked for her, & when she literally has her gloved hands on him, he begins to talk
- & he story he has to tell turns out to be one of the most bizarre she has ever heard.
He says his injuries were sustained in the course of a murder... that he did not commit.