Quiz Identity Unknown Patricia Cornwell

Identity Unknown Quiz: Kay Scarpetta Book 28

Quiz: Identity Unknown

Test your knowledge of Patricia Cornwell’s 28th Kay Scarpetta thriller with this 20-question quiz covering plot, character motivation, themes, and synthesis. Questions include multiple-choice and short-answer formats. An answer key with brief explanations follows.

Questions

Plot & Sequence (Questions 1–8)

  1. (Multiple Choice) What suspicious delivery was made to Sal’s home on the morning he disappeared?
    A) A basket of apples
    B) Five dozen white roses from “First Family Florists”
    C) A blue-and-white capsule with a smiley face
    D) A package of lunar simulant

  2. (Short Answer) Describe the crop circle found around Sal’s body and what it revealed about the means of his death.

  3. (Multiple Choice) Where was Sal Giordano’s body discovered?
    A) Inside Green Bank Observatory
    B) At the bottom of a ravine with his truck
    C) In the Haunted Forest of the Oz theme park
    D) On an apple orchard near Weyers Cave

  4. (Short Answer) What key piece of evidence from Luna Briley’s autopsy initially contradicted the parents’ story of an accidental shooting?

  5. (Multiple Choice) What role did the pest control worker play in the larger conspiracy?
    A) He was an FBI plant to gather evidence
    B) He accidentally contaminated the building with the simulant
    C) He was an impostor hired by Carrie Grethen to plant surveillance devices
    D) He was a witness to the Briley harassment

  6. (Short Answer) How did Kay and Marino eventually find the secret facility where Sal was held hostage?

  7. (Multiple Choice) What was Sal’s secret project at True North Industries/Bando Solutions?
    A) Developing a stealth drone
    B) Manufacturing fake moon dust for a lunar concrete to build a radio telescope on the Moon
    C) Designing a silent helicopter
    D) Testing a new biometric security system

  8. (Short Answer) How did Kay defeat Norm Duffy and rescue Marino at the hangar cavern?

Character Motivation (Questions 9–13)

  1. (Short Answer) Why did Kay insist on personally witnessing Sal’s cremation?

  2. (Multiple Choice) What was Carrie Grethen’s primary motive for targeting both Sal and the Briley family?
    A) Financial ransom
    B) Revenge against Kay and a warped sense of justice for abused children
    C) Political blackmail
    D) To steal the lunar concrete patent

  3. (Short Answer) Why did Fabian become so emotionally volatile during Luna’s autopsy?

  4. (Multiple Choice) Marino finally confronted Kay about her past romance with Sal. What personal hurt drove that confrontation?
    A) He was jealous of her professional success
    B) He felt that she had left for Italy without a farewell, and that she returned changed because of Sal
    C) He wanted her to admit she didn’t love Benton
    D) He blamed her for Luna’s death

  5. (Short Answer) What prompted Benton to voluntarily reveal Kay’s history with Sal during the federal autopsy observation?

Theme & Symbolism (Questions 14–17)

  1. (Short Answer) How does the Fellini epigraph “There is no end. There is no beginning” echo through the novel’s resolution?

  2. (Multiple Choice) The cheetah at the Oz theme park primarily symbolizes:
    A) The danger of the wilderness
    B) Carrie Grethen’s stalking presence and Sal’s compassion for animals
    C) The park’s former glory
    D) A paranormal entity

  3. (Short Answer) Discuss the symbolic function of the “Oz” setting as it relates to power and deception.

  4. (Multiple Choice) Sal’s phrase “Keep looking up” is best interpreted as:
    A) A literal command to scan the skies for UAPs
    B) A coded reference to the NSA’s Sugar Grove facility
    C) A message of hope, cosmic wonder, and perseverance beyond grief
    D) A warning about falling debris

Synthesis (Questions 18–20)

  1. (Short Answer) Explain how the cobalt-blue fluorescent lunar regolith simulant connected the death of Luna Briley to the murder of Sal Giordano, and what this link ultimately revealed about the perpetrator.

  2. (Multiple Choice) Which method did Carrie Grethen NOT use to terrorize and infiltrate Kay’s world?
    A) Hacking Lucy’s AI avatar and building security systems
    B) Posing as the crop-duster pilot Zofia Puda
    C) Sending a pipe bomb disguised as a floral gift
    D) Volunteering at the OCME as a forensic technician

  3. (Short Answer) In what way does Kay reconcile her professional duty with her personal grief by the novel’s end?

Answer Key

  1. B – Sal received five dozen white roses from a fake florist “First Family Florists”; the vase later contained a pipe bomb meant to kill investigators (Chapter 9/23).
  2. A clockwise vortex of apple blossom petals encircled the body, caused by a UAP’s downward rotation; Lucy proved it wasn’t her helicopter because her blades spin counterclockwise (Chapter 12).
  3. C – His nude body was found staged on the Yellow Brick Road inside the Haunted Forest of the abandoned Oz theme park (Chapter 1/12).
  4. Blood-spatter analysis showed Luna was sitting, not standing, when shot; her gastric contents contained candy despite parents’ claim of diabetes; old bruises and healed fractures indicated chronic abuse (Chapters 5/25).
  5. C – The “exterminator” was an impostor planted by Carrie Grethen to install bugs and other surveillance tools inside the OCME (Chapter 32).
  6. The microfilm capsule in Sal’s stomach bore the code TN-5L-7R-9L, which led them to True North Industries in Weyers Cave, specifically to Bando Solutions, a lunar simulant maker (Chapters 20/35–36).
  7. B – Sal had been purchasing lunar regolith simulant in cash to experiment with lunar concrete for a radio telescope on the Moon, and he feared the government would steal his patents (Chapter 36).
  8. In a dark underground cavern, Kay impaled Norm Duffy with a stalactite she broke from the ceiling, then dragged a concussed Marino outside to rescue (Chapter 37).
  9. Out of love and duty, she wanted to ensure no one could desecrate his remains or tamper with evidence; it was her final act of care and control (Chapter 21).
  10. B – Carrie’s monologue to Kay reveals a vendetta against Kay and a twisted justification for punishing child abusers, using the Briley case to torment the authorities (Chapter 34).
  11. Fabian held occult beliefs and believed Luna’s abuse was a manifestation of evil; his anger at the perpetrators spilled into unprofessional remarks, though Kay counseled him to stay professional (Chapter 2).
  12. B – He overheard her confess missing Sal years earlier, and he felt abandoned and hurt that her departure for Rome was abrupt and that she returned changed (Chapter 15).
  13. To preempt the information from being used against her and to maintain transparency with the observing agencies, even though it caused marital strain (Chapter 20).
  14. The epigraph suggests cyclical, unresolved conflict; while Sal’s killers are caught, Carrie Grethen survives and the UAP remains mysterious, implying the struggle is never truly finished, just as the book starts and ends with open questions.
  15. B – Later revealed the cheetah had followed Carrie and served as a living symbol of her predation and of Sal’s kindness to animals, which Kay recalled (Chapters 13, 40).
  16. The Oz park’s glittering but decayed fantasy mirrors how outward power (the Brileys, secret agencies) masks corruption, hidden surveillance, and manipulation—the “man behind the curtain” is exposed as fraud and violence.
  17. C – Sal’s legacy urging Kay to seek truth and comfort in the cosmos; it becomes a shared personal credo and a way through grief, especially at his burial (Chapter 40).
  18. Trace examiner Lee Fishburne found identical cobalt-blue fluorescent particles on Luna’s pajama top and on Sal’s body. This common trace proved both victims had contact with the same source (the simulant from Bando Solutions), directly tying Carrie Grethen, who worked there under the alias Zofia Puda, to both crimes.
  19. D – Carrie never volunteered at the OCME. She did hack systems, pose as a crop-duster, and send a disguised bomb, but direct employment at the morgue is not in the outline.
  20. Kay compartmentalizes enough to perform Sal’s autopsy and secure justice, then later holds a private burial where she openly mourns, embraces his “keep looking up” philosophy, and allows herself to grieve with Benton and her team, thus integrating duty with humanity.

Explore more: Book Summary | Questions & Answers | Ending Explained