Calhoun, a twenty-three-year-old writer, visits his two doting great-aunts at the start of the story and first comes across them admiring azaleas from the front porch.
Calhoun has made the trip home to write about the Azalea Festival (which his great-grandfather founded) in Partridge, and the murders that occurred ten days prior to his arrival.
Several days later, Singleton shot five festival organizers and one innocent bystander and was sent to the state mental hospital.
Calhoun and Mary are annoyed with each other but proceed to the festival, where they discover they are both secretly researching pieces that they are writing.
At this point, Singleton tries to assault Mary Elizabeth and tells her that he'll make her a queen on the festival float.