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When the body turns up in Joanna Bryce's apartment, police suspect the murder to be the inevitable conclusion to a deeply-troubled relationship between two brilliant female professors. As they pursue an investigation of their prime suspect, however, other possibilities begin to emerge: Peter Sullivan, a belligerent student enraged by the failing grade which would prevent his graduation; Maureen York, a young professor contemptuously cast aside by the deceased; even, Police Chief Thad Taylor muses, an unknown killer moved by motives beyond their understanding. Assisted by friends, and the woman to whom she is increasingly attracted, the professor initiates her own investigation in order to clear her name and pass through the nightmare of murder and loss. Then, as events speed towards their tragic end, the shadowy figure of the killer, increasingly mad, and compelled by the spider's song, strikes again.