All That Remains

All That Remains is Patricia Cornwells third installment
in her Kay Scarpetta series. Scarpetta is working a case
that involves the disappearance and murder of the daughter
of the so-called Drug Czar politician Pat Harvey. As
Scarpetta investigates the case with her police
counterpart and friend Pete Marino she comes up against
resistance from the FBI which is attempting to hide
information not only from the public but from Scarpetta
herself. However Scarpetta does not let this lack of
cooperation keep her from continuing to attempt to do the
right thing which is to find the killer for Mrs. Harvey.
All That Remains is a suspenseful novel that will keep the
reader glued to the page until the last bullet flies. Kay
Scarpetta is about to settle down to a relaxing afternoon
of gardening when she gets a call from police detective
Pete Marino. Another abandoned vehicle has been found in a
situation that resembles the previous disappearances of
three couples. Scarpetta goes to the scene where she
learns that the owner of the vehicle Deborah Harvey is the
daughter of politician Pat Harvey. Scarpetta watches as
the investigation begins. However little information is
gained from examining the vehicle so the investigators
must sit back and wait for Deborah and her boyfriend Fred
Cheney to be found. The next day Pat Harvey calls
Scarpetta to her home. Mrs. Harvey is aware of the past
cases the couple murders and wants to know if Scarpetta
believes this is what has happened to her daughter and her
boyfriend. Scarpetta tries not to commit to anything but
does believe that this is the case. Mrs. Harvey picks up
on what Scarpetta does not say and begins to take the
investigation in her own hands. Mrs. Harvey calls in a
psychic to help find her daughters body while gathering
information about the case through her political
connections. The following winter the bodies of Fred
Cheney and Deborah Harvey are found in a remote clearing
in the woods near the rest stop where the vehicle was
found. When Scarpetta arrives she finds that the bodies
have been moved something that is against the rules of
investigation. Later Scarpetta learns from a reporter
friend of hers that a jack of hearts playing card is
always found in the vehicles of these victims and this
information makes her believe that this is most likely why
the bodies were moved in order for FBI agent Benton Wesley
to look for the card before she arrived. Wesley later
confirms this assumption. Scarpetta performs autopsies on
the remains and cannot determine the manner of death on
either body. However Scarpetta finds a bullet lodged in
Deborah Harveys spine. This is unusual because this killer
has never used a gun with the other three couples. Shortly
after making this discovery Scarpetta decides to go back
to the clearing and search for the bullet casing.
Scarpetta finds the casing but it turns out that it was
planted by the police under orders from the FBI. The FBI
had been hoping to lure out the killer with the planted
evidence. However their plans change when Pat Harvey
throws a press conference. Mrs. Harvey openly accuses the
FBI the CIA and the coroners office of hiding information
and of knowing the identity of the killer and hiding that
as well. Scarpetta changes the direction of her
investigation into the case and begins searching through
her files for cases that might be connected. Scarpetta
finds two cases. One is the case of a dog shot three times
by bullets similar to the one found in Deborah Harvey. The
other is two women who were found murdered in a cemetery
in Williamsburg under similar circumstances. Scarpetta and
her friend reporter Abby Turnbull go to Williamsburg and
are approached by a suspicious man. Scarpetta writes down
the mans license plate and this leads to the identity of a
possible suspect. The suspect Steven Spurrier is placed
under police surveillance. When Spurrier attempts to steal
license plates from a car at the airport he is placed
under arrest and his house is searched. Although the
search does not find anything incriminating the police are
able to get a DNA sample to compare to blood found in the
Harrison-Mott murders. While waiting for these results
Mrs. Harvey comes to Scarpetta and asks if she believes
Spurrier is the man who killed her daughter. Scarpetta
does not commit herself to a response but Mrs. Harvey gets
the answer she wants anyway. The next day Scarpetta learns
that Spurrier has been released from jail that the DNA
proved to be negative and that Abby has gone to interview
Spurrier. Scarpetta rushes to Spurriers home to stop Abby
only to arrive too late. Abby is dead apparently shot by
Spurrier and Spurrier himself is also dead shot by Pat
Harvey. Mrs. Harvey comes into the room while Scarpetta is
attempting to revive Abby and turns the gun on herself.