Contents
Chapter Thirty
Overview
Theo visits Barbie at her cluttered Hampstead home and hears a pivotal claim: weeks before the murder, Alicia believed a man was watching her. Barbie shows a blurry photo and says Alicia was terrified, though Gabriel and police dismissed it. Theo departs with a new investigative lead and growing unease.
Summary
Theo arrives at Barbie’s lavish, cluttered Hampstead house, noting its chaotic excess. Barbie chatters, pours wine, and postures intimacy with Alicia. Theo asks about doctors and the day of the murder; Barbie digresses but confirms she saw Alicia hours before the killing and thought Alicia only had a headache.
When Theo questions Alicia’s guilt, Barbie insists Alicia wasn’t a killer and claims she has her own evidence. Barbie reveals Alicia told her, weeks before the murder, that a man was watching her. Barbie produces a blurry phone photo of a figure behind a tree, which she had also shown police.
Barbie says Alicia initially didn’t tell Gabriel, then later decided—after speaking with him—that she was imagining it, and asked Barbie to delete the photo. Barbie kept it, felt Alicia was genuinely frightened, and believes the police ignored an alternative narrative once the gun was found.
Seeing no more to gain, Theo declines more wine and leaves. Outside Alicia’s former house, he reflects that Alicia must have been desperate to confide in Barbie at all, connecting it to his own childhood fear and isolation. As Theo departs, he feels watched and spins around to find the street empty, leaving him unsettled but armed with a new lead.
Who Appears
- Theo FaberTherapist-investigator; visits Barbie, extracts the stalker revelation, and leaves with a new lead, feeling uneasy.
- Barbie HellmannGarrulous neighbor; hosts Theo, claims Alicia was watched, shows a blurry photo, insists police ignored her.
- Alicia BerensonSubject of discussion; allegedly reported a watcher, was frightened, later dismissed it after talking to Gabriel.
- Gabriel BerensonDiscussed; Alicia didn’t initially tell him about the watcher, later convinced her she was imagining it.