Duma Key

One afternoon during his beach walk, Edgar meets Jerome Wireman, a caretaker for Elizabeth. Wireman, who used to be a lawyer, is around 40 and has a coin-shaped scar on his right temple. Wireman tells Edgar that Elizabeth has Alzheimer’s disease, and owns all the houses on Duma Key, including Big Pink. Her father, John Eastlake, was a millionaire. Elizabeth had five other sisters; two of them, twins Tessie and Laura, drowned. Her oldest sister Adie eloped and never returned to Duma Key. According to Wireman, the reason only the north tip of the island is inhabited is that the rest of the land is stuck in legal disputes, with Elizabeth’s nieces and nephews claiming their share. When Edgar refers to Elizabeth as “the Bride of the Godfather” (132) because of her resemblance to Marlon Brando in the last scene of The Godfather, Wireman bursts out laughing and Edgar knows he has made a lifelong friend.

Later that evening, Edgar’s missing arm begins to itch again. As he looks for a canvas to paint, he has a vision of Tom Riley standing at the bottom of the stairs, with his right eye shot out. Fearing this means Riley may be contemplating suicide, Edgar tries calling him but gets no reply.