The Word is Murder

Hawthorne refuses to explain Meadows’s warning about the stairs. Anthony argues that he must have details about Hawthorne’s personal or inner life to make the book effective. Hawthorne is reluctant to answer. He gives only brief statements about where he lives and his separation from his wife. He becomes angry when Anthony asks if he is a parent and insists that they should only discuss the case. Anthony despairs of the project but continues, dogged by thoughts of the murder victim.

Hawthorne shows him Diana’s last text message to her son, Damian, a famous actor, which reads, “I have seen the boy who was lacerated and I am afraid” (47). Next, Hawthorne produces a case from 2001: When living in a seaside town near Kent, Diana was responsible for a car accident that caused serious harm to twin boys, killing one, Timothy Godwin, and leaving the other, Jeremy, with a brain injury, described as a “fractured skull and a severe laceration” (47). Diana was put on trial but ultimately exonerated, as the law at the time did not penalize driving without glasses. Anthony is intrigued when he realizes it has been a decade since the accident, suggesting vengeance as motive. Hawthorne says they will retrace Diana’s steps on the day of her death before focusing on the accident.