Contents
Part Two — Chapter Sixteen
Overview
Theo wakes at Alicia’s childhood home to find he was struck by her cousin, Paul, who mistook him for a burglar. In the dilapidated house, Paul reveals key family history, including Alicia’s mother’s fatal accident and Vernon’s suicide, which he discovered. Paul doubts Alicia killed Gabriel. The scene ends with Paul’s ailing mother calling Theo upstairs, escalating tension and promising revelations.
Summary
Theo regains consciousness on the ground outside Alicia’s childhood home, his head throbbing. Paul Rose looms over him with a baseball bat, explaining he thought Theo was a burglar and checked his wallet to learn he was a therapist from the Grove. Unsteady, Theo follows Paul inside the house.
Inside, Theo notes the squalid, cat-filled, decaying interior. Paul offers tea laced with whiskey, and they cautiously talk. Paul asks after Alicia and admits he hasn’t visited her because he cares for his unwell mother. He recalls losing touch with Alicia after her marriage to Gabriel, describing Gabriel as possessive and noting Alicia stopped visiting, which hurt Paul’s mother.
At Theo’s prompting, Paul sketches their shared past: after Paul’s father died, he and his mother moved in with Alicia’s family; later, Alicia’s mother died in a car accident, and years after, Alicia’s father, Vernon, hanged himself in the attic—Paul found the body. Paul insists Alicia never seemed violent and says he never believed she killed Gabriel.
A sudden banging and a muffled female voice from upstairs interrupt them. Paul anxiously checks and returns to tell Theo that his mother wants to see him, directing Theo upstairs and setting up an imminent confrontation.
Who Appears
- Theo FaberNarrator and psychotherapist; knocked out by Paul, then probes Alicia’s past and observes the squalid home.
- Paul RoseAlicia’s cousin; strikes Theo by mistake, shares family history, doubts Alicia’s guilt, and tends to his ailing mother.
- Paul’s motherElderly, unwell woman upstairs; heard thumping and calls for Theo to come up.