One of the members of the chatroom, Christopher Scheer, is in prison for a series of murders in which he preserved the bodies of his victims, whence his nickname (and on-line username), "The Mortician". Because a similar crime has been committed in Toronto, the homicide detective assigned to the case, Nick Knight, goes to the prison to interview Scheer in the hope that he may have some insight into the psychology of killers who treat their victims' corpses in this way. To persuade Scheer to speak, he must offer an incentive. Scheer has been barred from using the Internet; and Knight offers to persuade the warden to reinstate his computer privileges. Meanwhile, in case someone on line might be copying Scheer's modus operandi, the police investigate his contacts, one of whom is the mysteriou