Point of Origin (novel)
Encyclopedia
Point of Origin is a crime fiction
novel by Patricia Cornwell
. It is the ninth book in the Dr. Kay Scarpetta
series.
Chief Medical Examiner and consulting pathologist for the federal law enforcement agency ATF
, is called out to a farmhouse in Virginia
that has been destroyed by fire. In the ruins of the house she finds a body that tells a story of a violent and grisly murder.
The fire has come at the same time as Carrie Grethen, a killer who nearly destroyed the lives of Scarpetta and those closest to her, has escaped from a forensic psychiatric hospital. Her whereabouts is unknown, but her ultimate destination is not, for Carrie has begun to communicate with Scarpetta, conveying her deadly—if cryptic—plans for revenge.
Carrie has linked up with a new companion, willing to end his life of sadistic slayings for her pursuit of Scarpetta.
Crime fiction
Crime fiction is the literary genre that fictionalizes crimes, their detection, criminals and their motives. It is usually distinguished from mainstream fiction and other genres such as science fiction or historical fiction, but boundaries can be, and indeed are, blurred...
novel by Patricia Cornwell
Patricia Cornwell
Patricia Cornwell is a contemporary American crime writer. She is widely known for writing a popular series of novels featuring the heroine Dr. Kay Scarpetta, a medical examiner.-Early life:...
. It is the ninth book in the Dr. Kay Scarpetta
Kay Scarpetta
Kay Scarpetta is a fictional character and protagonist in a series of crime novels written by Patricia Cornwell. The character is based on former Virginia Chief Medical Examiner Marcella Fierro, MD. The series is noted for the use of recent forensic technology in Scarpetta's investigations.-...
series.
Plot summary
Dr Kay Scarpetta, VirginiaVirginia
The Commonwealth of Virginia , is a U.S. state on the Atlantic Coast of the Southern United States. Virginia is nicknamed the "Old Dominion" and sometimes the "Mother of Presidents" after the eight U.S. presidents born there...
Chief Medical Examiner and consulting pathologist for the federal law enforcement agency ATF
Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives
The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives is a federal law enforcement organization within the United States Department of Justice...
, is called out to a farmhouse in Virginia
Virginia
The Commonwealth of Virginia , is a U.S. state on the Atlantic Coast of the Southern United States. Virginia is nicknamed the "Old Dominion" and sometimes the "Mother of Presidents" after the eight U.S. presidents born there...
that has been destroyed by fire. In the ruins of the house she finds a body that tells a story of a violent and grisly murder.
The fire has come at the same time as Carrie Grethen, a killer who nearly destroyed the lives of Scarpetta and those closest to her, has escaped from a forensic psychiatric hospital. Her whereabouts is unknown, but her ultimate destination is not, for Carrie has begun to communicate with Scarpetta, conveying her deadly—if cryptic—plans for revenge.
Carrie has linked up with a new companion, willing to end his life of sadistic slayings for her pursuit of Scarpetta.
Characters in Point of Origin
- Kay Scarpetta - Chief Medical Examiner. Consulting pathologist for ATF.
- Benton Wesley - FBI Profiler.
- Lucy Farinelli - Kay's niece, she was an FBI agent, but left due to her implications of her sexual orientation. She had a romantic relationship with Carrie Grethen. She went to ATF thereafter. It was revealed for the first time that she had slept with men - two.
- Pete Marino - Captain in the RichmondRichmond, VirginiaRichmond is the capital of the Commonwealth of Virginia, in the United States. It is an independent city and not part of any county. Richmond is the center of the Richmond Metropolitan Statistical Area and the Greater Richmond area...
Police Department. - T.N. McGovern - Being known as Teun to people around her, she was Lucy's mentor, and the team leader of ATF's National Response Team (NRT) for the incident at Warrenton, VirginiaWarrenton, VirginiaWarrenton is a town in Fauquier County, Virginia, United States. The population was 6,670 at the 2000 census, and 14,634 at the 2010 estimate. It is the county seat of Fauquier County. Public schools in the town include Fauquier High School, Warrenton Middle School, Taylor Middle School and two...
. She's around Kay's age and is based in the Philadelphia field office. Also known to have a strong animosity towards reporters. - Kenneth Sparkes - Media mogul. Owner of the ranch in Warrenton, Virginia that was burnt down. He was a strikingly handsome man, tall and lean, with thick gray hair. His eyes were amber, his features aristocratic, with a straight Jeffersonian nose and skin dark and as smooth as a man half his age. Known to be a collector of bourbon, World War IIWorld War IIWorld War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
weapons and fine horses. He was not too fond of Kay, as there was more than one occasion when they disagreed about case details he thought should be released to the media. At the time of the fire, he claimed to be at Beaverdam, VirginiaBeaverdam, VirginiaBeaverdam is a small unincorporated community in Hanover County in the central region of the U.S. state of Virginia. It was located on the Virginia Central Railroad, which later became part of the Chesapeake and Ohio Railroad....
, with his horse trainer, Betty Foster. 19 of his horses were killed in the fire. - Betty Foster - Kenneth Sparkes horse trainer, based in Beaverdam.
Victims
- 2 unnamed victims in EnglandEnglandEngland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
- First victim was in LondonLondonLondon is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
, 1981, followed by one in LiverpoolLiverpoolLiverpool is a city and metropolitan borough of Merseyside, England, along the eastern side of the Mersey Estuary. It was founded as a borough in 1207 and was granted city status in 1880...
, 1983. - 11 unnamed victims in IrelandIrelandIreland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
- From 1984 to 1987, starting in BelfastBelfastBelfast is the capital of and largest city in Northern Ireland. By population, it is the 14th biggest city in the United Kingdom and second biggest on the island of Ireland . It is the seat of the devolved government and legislative Northern Ireland Assembly...
, he then continued into the country in GalwayGalwayGalway or City of Galway is a city in County Galway, Republic of Ireland. It is the sixth largest and the fastest-growing city in Ireland. It is also the third largest city within the Republic and the only city in the Province of Connacht. Located on the west coast of Ireland, it sits on the...
, followed by nine murders in Dublin in neighbourhoods such as MalahideMalahideMalahide is a coastal suburban town, near Dublin city, located in the administrative county of Fingal, within the traditional County Dublin, Ireland. It has a village-like centre and extensive residential areas to the south, west and northwest.-Name:...
, SantrySantrySantry is a suburb on the Northside of Dublin, Ireland, bordering Coolock, Glasnevin and Ballymun. Today it straddles the boundary of Dublin City and Fingal County Council area....
and HowthHowthHowth is an area in Fingal County near Dublin city in Ireland. Originally just a small fishing village, Howth with its surrounding rural district is now a busy suburb of Dublin, with a mix of dense residential development and wild hillside, all on the peninsula of Howth Head. The only...
. - 9 unnamed victims in United StatesUnited StatesThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
- Mainly out west, in remote areas of UtahUtahUtah is a state in the Western United States. It was the 45th state to join the Union, on January 4, 1896. Approximately 80% of Utah's 2,763,885 people live along the Wasatch Front, centering on Salt Lake City. This leaves vast expanses of the state nearly uninhabited, making the population the...
, NevadaNevadaNevada is a state in the western, mountain west, and southwestern regions of the United States. With an area of and a population of about 2.7 million, it is the 7th-largest and 35th-most populous state. Over two-thirds of Nevada's people live in the Las Vegas metropolitan area, which contains its...
, MontanaMontanaMontana is a state in the Western United States. The western third of Montana contains numerous mountain ranges. Smaller, "island ranges" are found in the central third of the state, for a total of 77 named ranges of the Rocky Mountains. This geographical fact is reflected in the state's name,...
and Washington, and once in MississippiMississippiMississippi is a U.S. state located in the Southern United States. Jackson is the state capital and largest city. The name of the state derives from the Mississippi River, which flows along its western boundary, whose name comes from the Ojibwe word misi-ziibi...
. Those bodies in United States never found. Then four were found in Virginia. The first, in 1995, near Virginia Beach, the next in NorfolkNorfolk, VirginiaNorfolk is an independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. With a population of 242,803 as of the 2010 Census, it is Virginia's second-largest city behind neighboring Virginia Beach....
. Then in 1996, one in LynchburgLynchburg, VirginiaLynchburg is an independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia. The population was 75,568 as of 2010. Located in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains along the banks of the James River, Lynchburg is known as the "City of Seven Hills" or "The Hill City." Lynchburg was the only major city in...
, the other in BlacksburgBlacksburg, VirginiaBlacksburg is an incorporated town located in Montgomery County, Virginia, United States, with a population of 42,620 at the 2010 census. Blacksburg, Christiansburg, and Radford are the three principal jurisdictions of the Blacksburg-Christiansburg-Radford Metropolitan Statistical Area which...
. - Marlene Farber - Died October 1997, before the events of the book. Twenty-three-year-old actress whose career consisted mainly of small parts on soap operas and sitcoms. She was found in her home, which was burning heavily, reduced to white, calcinated fragments. Identification was by a comparison of antemortem and postmortem X-rays of her remains was made to a routine chest film taken two years before. No accelerants for the fire were detected, and the point of origin of the fire was in the bathroom of the master bathroom.
- Austin Hart - Died March 1998, before the events of the book. Twenty-five-year-old, fourth year medical student at Johns Hopkins UniversityJohns Hopkins UniversityThe Johns Hopkins University, commonly referred to as Johns Hopkins, JHU, or simply Hopkins, is a private research university based in Baltimore, Maryland, United States...
. He was found at home, so badly burnt that he could be identified by similarities of tooth rootRoot canalA root canal is the space within the root of a tooth. It is part of a naturally occurring space within a tooth that consists of the pulp chamber , the main canal, and more intricate anatomical branches that may connect the root canals to each other or to the surface of the root.-Root canal anatomy:...
and trabecularTrabeculaA trabecula is a small, often microscopic, tissue element in the form of a small beam, strut or rod, generally having a mechanical function, and usually composed of dense collagenous tissue They can be composed of other materials; in the heart, for example, muscles such as trabeculae carneae...
alveolar bone points in antemortem and postmortem radiographs. Fire started in the bathroom. - 19 horses at Kenneth Sparkes' ranch - They were killed in the fire. Witnesses claimed that they screamed and wailed like people while they were being burnt.
- Claire Rawley - Blond, struggling model, she was a undergrad who met Kenneth Sparkes at Wrightsville Beach. Found dead in the master bedroom bath at Kenneth Sparks's house in Warrenton, body burnt, with a glass door on top of her. Her arms had disintegrated due to the intense heat of the fire. There was hemorrhaging at her neck, and blood in her airway, which is uncharacteristic for a death due to fire. She also had no traces of carbon in her oesophagus, which led Kay to believe her death was a homicideHomicideHomicide refers to the act of a human killing another human. Murder, for example, is a type of homicide. It can also describe a person who has committed such an act, though this use is rare in modern English...
. Fire started in the master bathroom. - Kellie Shephard - Thirty-two-year-old black female who worked as a nurse in Lehigh County, PennsylvaniaLehigh County, Pennsylvania-Climate:Most of the county's climate is considered to fall in the humid continental climate zone. Summers are typically hot and muggy, fall and spring are generally mild, and winter is cold. Precipitation is almost uniformly distributed throughout the year....
. She was found lying face down, with her right hand under her chest, and left hand outstretched. She had multiple stab wounds all over her body and one on her neck, which indicated that her throat had been cut. Her place had been torched, but the fire was not sufficient to eliminate evidence of her cause of death. Fire started in the bathroom. - Benton Wesley - Found in a grocery shop downtown. Face charred beyond recognition, but was identified by Kay from the BreitlingBreitlingBreitling is a luxury brand of Swiss watches produced by Breitling SA, a private company headquartered in Grenchen, Canton of Solothurn . The company exclusively offered Certified Chronometers in all models since 2000...
watch she gave him. Hands and ankles were burnt to the point of detachment, and handcuffs were found nearby, double locked, suggesting he was probably cuffed and burnt to death.
Other deaths
- Newton Joyce - Murderer of the above named victims. Known to be pretty well off in finances. He was working as a psychiatrist at the time of the book, for Carrie Grethen. He committed the murders alone, up until 1997 when he first met Carrie Grethen. After which, he decided to change his Modus OperandiModus operandiModus operandi is a Latin phrase, approximately translated as "mode of operation". The term is used to describe someone's habits or manner of working, their method of operating or functioning...
, from dismemberments, to arson. His face was heavily scarred by acneAcneAcne is a general term used for acneiform eruptions. It is usually used as a synonym for acne vulgaris, but may also refer to:*Acne aestivalis*Acne conglobata*Acne cosmetica*Acne fulminans*Acne keloidalis nuchae*Acne mechanica...
, and this was the reason he carved out his victim's faces, to deprive them of the beauty he never had. They were placed on manikinManikinA manikin is a life-sized anatomical human model used in education. The most famous of these, the Transparent Anatomical Manikin is a three-dimensional, transparent model of a human being, created for medical instructional purposes. The first TAM was created by designer Richard Rush in 1968...
heads, wrapped up in layers of plastic, and stored in his refrigerator. He also aided in Carrie Grethen's escape by means of his personal helicopter. For reasons unclear he decides to help Carrie in her plan against Scarpetta, and willingly exposes his history of murders ending in a suicidal attack, along with Carrie, on Scarpetta and her niece in which his helicopter crashes killing them both. - Carrie Grethen - Archnemesis of Kay Scarpetta and former accomplice to the late serial killer Temple Brooks Gault in Cruel and UnusualCruel and Unusual (novel)Cruel and Unusual is a crime fiction novel by Patricia Cornwell. It is the fourth book in the Dr. Kay Scarpetta series.-Plot summary:Virginia Chief Medical Examiner Kay Scarpetta is called in to autopsy the body of convicted murderer Ronnie Waddell after his execution...
, The Body FarmThe Body Farm (novel)The Body Farm is a crime fiction novel by Patricia Cornwell. It is the fifth book in the Dr. Kay Scarpetta series.-Plot summary:Kay Scarpetta is called in to assist in the investigation of the brutal murder of eleven-year-old Emily Steiner in rural North Carolina, whose murder is reminiscent of the...
, and From Potter's FieldFrom Potter's Field (novel)From Potter's Field is a crime fiction novel by Patricia Cornwell. It is the sixth book in the Dr. Kay Scarpetta series.-Plot summary:The story begins as a rotten Christmas for Scarpetta: Temple Gault has struck again, leaving a naked, apparently homeless girl shot in Central Park on Christmas Eve;...
. She was Lucy's lover while they were both at the QuanticoFBI AcademyThe FBI Academy, located in Quantico, Virginia, is the training site for new Special Agents of the United States Federal Bureau of Investigation. It was first opened for use in 1972 on 385 acres of woodland. It is a relatively small government academy, housing three dormitory buildings and...
, until it was revealed that she had used Lucy. She was interned at Kirby Forensic Psychiatric Center at Wards Island, New YorkNew YorkNew York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
, but she escaped soon after. She also sent a letter to the press, exposing the allegations against her as a cover up by Kay Scarpetta and Benton Wesley for their mistakes, and "to make the FBI look good." She was described as tall and striking, with blazing eyes and a condescending smile.