Monday morning November 12, 2001. It was cold, wet and rainy. Winter was starting to settle in.

Single and nearing forty, SFPD inspector Meg McCafferty longs for a loving, committed relationship, but lately only finds temporary comfort with her "euphemistic" boyfriends, Ernest and Julio Gallo. Unfortunately, up to now McCafferty has found little or no comfort in any relationships; personal or otherwise.

When the cell phone rings at 2:15 am she instinctively senses this isn't a social call; more to the point, business however macabre as usual -- another routine homicide that seems anything but.

San Francisco State University freshman Sarah Sinclair is found brutally murdered in her dorm room and a cold blooded predator eludes authorities. So far the evidence remains sketchy; a torn page from an old dictionary and the name of a respected educator scribbled on a tiny sheet of paper.

Short of a conviction, McCafferty hopes for a miracle. After all, it's still Monday.