Chapter 9 Summary

Attending Cary Harper's autopsy, Pete reports that Price has no record but is clearly a professional. Cary dies of seven blows to the head before his throat is slit as overkill. Pete describes approaching Cary, sitting alone drinking his "usual," pressing him for information about Beryl, and learning only that his sister was out of town that night, destroying his alibi. When Kay describes Cary's personal effects, she omits a gold chain that Pete noticed in the tavern.

Kay's day is ruined by a newspaper headlining her "losing" a manuscript and claiming she "incapacitates" an intruder. Reporters clamor to talk to her. Pete has checked out Beryl's floppy disks but found no memoir or recent letters. Sterling's autopsy is pending but suggest problems with her immune system. The melted plastic in the fireplace could be from prescription drugs. Cary is hit with a...