The short-tempered Norman has recently been accused of raping a Black woman named Wendy Yarrow, and the subsequent lawsuit and internal affairs investigation has made him even more volatile.

Taking his credit card, Rosie departs on a bus to an unfamiliar city in the Midwest, with no clear plan of action.

She quickly makes new friends, including the owner of the shelter, Anna Stevenson, who helps Rosie find a small apartment and a job as a hotel maid.

On the street, Rosie is stopped by a man named Rob Lefferts, a customer at the pawnshop, who asks her to read an excerpt from a book.

Rose Madder asks Rosie to rescue her baby from an underground labyrinth guarded by the blind, one-eyed bull Erinyes, who orients by smell.

He tracks down the city she is residing in and gradually loses his self-control; he begins killing people who have some connection to Rosie, including Peter and Anna.

When Norman catches Rosie returning from a date with Bill, she flees from him into her apartment and lures him into the painting, where Rose Madder kills him.