In early September, Jodi Brett cooks dinner in her high-rise apartment in Chicago. The book’s omniscient narrator explains that, in spite of her sense of the permanence of her life, Jodi is about to experience a sharp “disintegration” that will make her capable of becoming a “killer.” At the moment, Jodi cannot imagine that kind of transformation, believing that murder and domestic violence are unimaginable events that happen to other people; her own partnership with Todd Gilbert is far from perfect, but certainly not intolerable.

As she prepares dinner, Jodi reflects on the car accident that led to her first date with Todd. She had been driving an unfamiliar moving van and hit his car; he blamed her and screamed but called a few days later to ask her to dinner. Jodi graciously forgave him for his behavior, understanding that a car accident could shake anyone up. After their date, he took her to the Gothic Revival house he was renovating. Jodi observed that he had sunk all of his money in the project but admired its ambition.

Todd arrives home and makes the martinis that are a part of their evening routine.