Chapter One

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Dr. Helena Greenwood, a British citizen who had immigrated to the United States with her husband, Roger Franklin, was a molecular biologist engaged in research for a medical-diagnostics firm. Greenwood (she used her birth name in her work) and her husband eventually settled in the upscale town of Atherton in the San Francisco Bay Area of California.

On the night of April 7, 1984, her husband was out of town so Greenwood was alone in the house. Shortly after 10:20 she woke up to find a man in her bedroom. In the darkness Greenwood could see only the man's outline but did notice that his head and lace were covered by something like a ski mask. The intruder had a flashlight and what appeared to be a handgun. She was filled with terror, which was intensified when the man ordered her to take off her nightgown. After she removed it and sat on her bed, naked and trembling, he demanded that she give him all her money. After she complied, the man was furious when he found that she had only a small amount of change in her purse. He pointed the gun at her and forced her to perform oral sex. Then, to her vast relief, the assailant abruptly left. Greenwood immediately telephoned the police. Officers came to her home and took her report of what had happened. She described the traumatic attack in detail. The Atherton Police Department began an investigation into the crime and determined that the intruder had removed a kitchen window screen to gain entry to Greenwood's h