Big Little Lies
by Liane Moriarty
Contents
Chapter 79
Overview
Jane is questioned in the hospital about Perry White’s death and tries to maintain the women’s cover story by blaming confusion, noise, and alcohol. The interrogation turns threatening when the policeman suggests Jane is lying, intensifying the risk that the truth about Perry, Bonnie, and the balcony fall may unravel.
Summary
In the hospital after trivia night, a young-looking policeman questions Jane beside her bed. Although his appearance seems mild, his manner is watchful and increasingly skeptical as he asks where Jane was standing when Perry White fell from the balcony.
Jane repeats the shared cover story: she says she was on the balcony but looking back inside because of the chaos, noise, and people throwing things. She claims everything is muddled because of the champagne cocktails and emphasizes that everyone was very drunk.
The policeman presses Jane about her exact position near Perry and asks about her relationship with Perry. Jane privately thinks of the moment Perry removed his wig and became Saxon Banks, the man who assaulted her and fathered Ziggy, and she reflects that Perry died before she could tell him about Ziggy or receive an apology.
Jane tells the policeman that she had only met Perry for the first time that night. The policeman abruptly changes tone, says he thinks Jane is lying, and directly asks whether she is lying, leaving Jane frightened and exposed under interrogation.
Who Appears
- Jane ChapmanHospitalized and questioned by police; hides her history with Perry while recalling he was Saxon.
- The policemanInterrogates Jane about Perry’s fall and becomes openly suspicious of her account.
- Perry White / Saxon BanksDead man at the center of the investigation; remembered by Jane as her assailant and Ziggy’s father.
- Celeste WhiteReferenced as the woman whose scream Jane claims to have heard before Perry’s fall.
- Ziggy ChapmanJane’s son, whom Perry never learned about before his death.