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This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. What does Scarpetta's mother call to say?

2. What does Marino ask Scarpetta that makes her angry in chapter twelve?

3. What does Scarpetta's mother get on to her for in chapter nine?

4. What does Scarpetta say when Lucy says her mother sleeps with her boyfriends in the house all the time?

5. Lucy keeps telling Scarpetta that it will be nice when what happens in chapter ten?

Short Essay Questions

1. What does Scarpetta tell Abby about her sister's death in chapter thirteen?

2. What does Scarpetta tell Abby is the real reason that she has asked Abby to come to talk to her at the ME's office in chapter thirteen?

3. When Scarpetta is talking to Wingo in chapter sixteen what does Wingo explain that he has discover?

4. What is Abby able to tell Scarpetta and Marino about Henna in chapter eleven?

5. Explain what is discovered about the killer by the end of the book.

6. What happens in chapter fourteen when Scarpetta arrives for work?

7. What is Scarpetta told when her mother calls in chapter nine?

8. In chapter twelve what does Marino and Scarpetta talk about while they are out driving to where Henna was killed?

9. In chapter eleven what does Abby recall about telling her sister to be careful?

10. What happens in chapter nine after Lucy goes to bed?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Part 1) What did the borax represent in the story?

Part 2) The gun was viewed different for Scarpetta compared to Lucy. Explain why these two characters seemed to view the gun so differently.

Essay Topic 2

Part 1) Explain the impact that it has on the reader to learn that the killer is picking women by the voices rather than by seeing them or meeting them. Is it significant that these women are picked to be murdered after calling 911?

Part 2) What is the point of giving the killer an odd body odor?

Part 3) Which of the pieces of evidence seemed to give the greatest help to the investigators in the story? Explain your answer. Could this piece have been enough without the others?

Essay Topic 3

Part 1) Explain the relationship that Lucy and Scarpetta have.

Part 2) What does Lucy represent for Scarpetta? What does Scarpetta represent for Lucy?

Part 3) What is significant in Lucy's statement at the end of the story that Scarpetta is sounding just like Scarpetta's mother?

(see the answer keys)

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