Chapter 7 Summary

After sleeping through Sunday, Kay is called to Cutler Grove, where Cary Harper has been found brutally murdered, his throat cut like Beryl. The local ME and Detective Poteat have preserved the crime scene. Harper is lying in a pool of blood beside his old white Rolls-Royce by the mansion's back entry. His face and skull have been beaten in with a blunt object and his throat cut ear-to-ear. Bird shot has been scattered over his body. Kay carefully collects trace elements likely to be disturbed en route to the morgue, including a blob of Play-Doh. As Pete and Detective Poteat approach, a woman looks out with terrified eyes and ducks back inside. Sterling Harper has a friend coming to be with her. Pete had been driving home from questioning Harper at Culpeper's Tavern when he hears the dispatch and returns. After Pete...