An aspiring writer moves into a new apartment and discovers that her landlady has murdered her husband. Years later, the writer's stepson reflects upon his stepmother and the strange stories she used to tell him. Meanwhile, a surgeon's lover vows to kill him if he does not leave his wife. 『博士の愛した数式』（新潮社刊）も英訳出版されている著者小川洋子の11作品を所収した短編小説アンソロジー。