Cruel y extraño

Ronnie Joe Waddell va a ser ejecutado por un horrible crimen y la doctora Scarpetta, que duda acerca de su culpabilidad, espera para realizar la autopsia. Pocas horas despues de la ejecucion, la policia encuentra en la calle un cadaver con heridas similares a las de la supuesta victima de Waddell. Scarpetta ve justificadas sus sospechas.

"Killing me won't kill the beast" are the last words of murderer Ronnie Waddell, written before his execution. They can't explain how Dr. Kay Scarpetta finds Waddell's fingerprints on another crime scene, after she performed his autopsy. If this is the game, Scarpetta will be the target. If the next victim is someone she knows, the punishment will be cruel and unusual.