Late that night, after the party is over, a call from Hannah wakes Martha. Hannah, sounding disoriented, is trying to reach the police. Martha calls the police herself, then hurries back to Hannah's studio, where she finds a police investigation in progress. The maquette has been destroyed, the "beautiful young man" who is Hannah's assistant is lying dead on the floor, and Hannah, unconscious from a blow to the head, has been rushed to the hospital.

Martha begins her own investigation when a cancer patient who lives near Hannah consults her for advice about a mysterious sighting in the night. The investigation leads to a small-time art school in Philadelphia, into the sad past of a dead young woman, and finally to a perilous encounter on a crowded subway platform.