Grenouille wishes to invent the best smelling perfume in the world. Trying to accomplish this he commits a series of murders. His first is when he catches a faint scent that smells incredible to him. He follows it and eventually ends up in a garden. There, is a girl peeling plums. The girl has red hair and us wearing a grey, sleeveless dress. This girl is the source of the marvellous smell. At first, Grenouille can't believe she's what is emitting the smell. This is because to him, humans smell repulsive. He sneaks up behind the girl and strangles her. He strips off her clothing and smells her.

This again displays Grenouille's hatred for humans. He shows total disregard for their lives. To him they are just another scent. Only the scent of young, adolescent girls have an appealing scent. He shows no guilt or remorse for killing them and kills them without question. His only goal is to create the ultimate scent and he'll stop at nothing to achieve that goal.