A large shark swims close to the shore on a moonless night. A drunken couple frolics on the beach. As the man sleeps on the sand, the woman enters the sea. The shark senses “a change in the sea's rhythm” and swims toward her (10). The shark attacks and the woman is struck by “pain and panic” (11). The shark kills and eats the woman, whose screams go unheard. The man wakes just before dawn. He cannot find the woman and, worried about “the possibility of an accident” (12), wakes the host of the house where he and the woman were staying. The host's name is Jack Foote, the man's name is Tom Cassidy. As Foote wakes, Cassidy warns him that the woman, whose name is Chrissie (Christine Watkins), is missing. He is worried that she has “drowned” (13). Foote decides to contact the local police.

Patrolman Leonard “Len” Hendricks reads while manning the desk of the Amity Police Department. He receives a telephone call from Jack Foote to report Chrissie as a “missing person” (14). After noting down Chrissie's description, Hendricks promises to contact Jack if the police find any sign of Chrissie.