 The Blacks travel to Virginia to visit Catherine s family. After dinner, Catherine s father asks Frank to talk with a friend of his: the friend has been diagnosed with terminal cancer and his son is behind bars for murdering his wife. The prison will allow the son to visit his father, but the father has disowned him. At the urging of the mother Frank takes a look at the details of the case, and sees the young man does not fit the killing s profile, leading him to believe that the murder was committed by someone else. At the same time, another man has just murdered a suburban housewife and is taking her body up to an Appalachian campground, talking to it all the while. Could he have been involved in the earlier murder? Also, a shadowy figure continually appears, attempting to steer the murderer toward Catherine Black. What are his plans?