In the last lazy days of summer, the merciless two-week heat wave is the biggest story in Washington, D.C. But the weather is finally knocked off the front pages when a young woman is found strangled to death-a priest's white silk amice pulled taut around her throat. Pinned near the scarf is a note that simply reads her sins are forgiven her. It is a chilling crime, made even more terrifying when it is followed by a second murder... and then a third....