The Maidens

Mariana tells Zoe to stay away from the crime scene and hurries there with Fred, aware that the murders have tainted her private memories of Cambridge forever. Fred lingers on the periphery, claiming squeamishness regarding “bodies and things” (180). Mariana ducks under a cordon, and Ashcroft waves her over. Warning her that this murder was more brutal than the last, he lifts the tent covering the body. The torso has been “slashed beyond recognition” (182), but the face is untouched: It is Veronica, the US senator’s daughter.

Physically sick, Mariana walks away in tears. When Ashcroft catches up with her, he reveals that Conrad was in custody at the time of the murder. The pathologist on the scene confirms that the same person must have committed both murders since they were identically executed. Mariana is surprised to learn that the slashing was performed postmortem: The killer snuck up behind the victims, slit their throats and then turned them over to slash their torsos. The murders were not violent frenzies but calculated and ritualistic. Both bodies were found with pinecones, prompting Mariana to recall the marble relief of a pinecone that Edward showed during his talk.