The narrator, Joe Goldberg, buys violets for a woman named Amy Adam. Joe is in Rhode Island, which makes him remember when his previous girlfriend—Guinevere Beck—was threatened by her friend, Peach Salinger. Both are deceased. Joe remembers his mistake last winter when he killed Peach Salinger in her home; he hid in the Salinger closet for so long that he had to urinate in a mug, which he then left behind.

He recalls when Amy came to Mooney’s Rare and Used, the bookstore where Joe works, for the first time. She had worn gloves to protect the rare books from her hands. Five months earlier, she’d begged him to buy a signed edition of The Easter Parade.

Together, they are amassing copies of Portnoy’s Complaint, their favorite novel. Amy is mad when Joe returns to New York with the flowers. She didn’t have the keys to open the case so that she could sell a first-edition Yates book. She says she should have keys if they’re going to work together. Joe gives her a key. That night, he tells her she has two hours to pack because is going to take her somewhere.