The Silent Patient

Christian is “DR C WEST.” Theo confronts him with what he has learned from Alicia’s diary. Christian reveals that Gabriel was an old school friend of his and asked him to treat Alicia secretly—first after Vernon’s death and then again when Alicia complained of a stalker. Gabriel paid Christian under the table, in cash, and Christian never declared this income. If Theo reports the incident, with Alicia’s diary as proof, Christian will lose his job and his license. Theo demands Christian tell him everything he knows about Alicia. 

Christian describes Alicia as being “highly paranoid, delusional—psychotic, even” (249). When Theo brings up the stalker, Christian labels it “pure fantasy” and notes that Alicia had a history of delusions. She had previously accused an elderly man of spying on her and it had turned out the man was blind; she and Gabriel had to move as a result of the scandal. Christian also is skeptical regarding Alicia’s suicide attempt following Vernon’s death: “She took an overdose, more for show than anything else. She was ‘communicating’ her distress to Gabriel” (251). Theo concludes his conversation by saying he’s going to see Alicia to get answers.

Theo talks to Alicia. He reveals that he knows about Christian being Dr. West. He tells her that the diary raised questions. “Certain things don’t make sense, don’t fit with information I have from other sources. Now that you’ve allowed me to read it, I feel obliged to investigate further. I hope you understand that” (254). Alicia doesn’t reply, and he takes her silence as a yes. He gives her back the diary before leaving. 

The narrative jumps back to the subplot of Kathy’s affair. Theo notes that she is getting careless and more obvious about her clandestine meetings with her lover. She tells him she’s going for a walk. He follows her to a park, where she meets a man and has sex with him in a wooded area. Theo hides, listening to Kathy moaning as she has sex with her lover. 

Back in the present-day narrative, Theo confronts Jean-Felix with information he learned from Alicia’s diary—namely, that she was planning to leave his gallery. Theo also calls Max and tells him about the journal, informing him, “She said you had romantic feelings for her. I was wondering if—” (263). Max hangs up before Theo can go on. Theo then calls Paul, who agrees to meet him at a pub in Cambridge to talk. Theo plans to ask Paul about the night after Eva’s accident. Tanya had previously told Theo to ask Paul about this. 

Theo meets Paul and confronts him with the information he now has from Alicia’s diary. Previously, Paul told Theo the last time he saw Alicia was at Vernon’s funeral. Theo now knows this was a lie, and that Paul and Alicia had met a few weeks before Gabriel’s murder when Paul asked Alicia for help with his gambling debts. Theo then tells Paul what Tanya told him—that he should ask about the night after Eva’s accident. Paul responds, “It’s probably nothing, but—it might help you understand Alicia […]” (268). He tells Theo he will show him and invites him back to Lydia’s house. 

Paul takes Theo onto the roof of Lydia’s house. This is where he and Alicia used to hide as kids. On the night after Eva’s accident, they were sitting there when they witnessed Vernon having a meltdown. Paul was seven or eight at the time, and Alicia no more than 10. Vernon said, “Why did she have to die? Why didn’t Alicia die instead?” (271). Alicia looked at Paul and said, “He killed me. Dad just—killed me” (272). Theo is speechless: “This is what I’d been looking for. I’d found it, the missing piece of the jigsaw, at least—here on a roof in Cambridge” (272). He believes this traumatizing event explains what led Alicia to ultimately kill Gabriel.