Summary

Chapter 1 is narrated by Joyce Meadowcraft, a resident of Coopers Chase Retirement Village, as she writes an entry in her diary. She recounts that Elizabeth, another resident, asked how long it might take a girl who had been stabbed with a knife to bleed to death. Joyce, who had worked as a nurse, estimated she would have bled to death in about 45 minutes if she had no medical attention. If she had medical attention, she would have lived. Elizabeth asked Joyce if she was free on Thursdays.

Chapter 2 is narrated by a third-person narrator. PC Donna De Freitas wants to be catching serial killers. Instead, she is being sent to Coopers Chase to talk to the residents there about safety. She imagined talking to residents in wheelchairs with their knees covered with lap blankets so she is surprised when one of the residents...