The Word is Murder

Anthony arrives in Hammersmith, at a building that houses a separate annex facility for Cornwallis and Sons. He recalls learning in earlier interviews that this is where the bodies are prepared for burial, while some visitations are held in a chapel nearby.

He has coffee with Cornwallis, who is surprised and dismayed to learn about his book project and careful to ascertain that Hawthorne is not nearby. Anthony suggests that if Cornwallis really wants anonymity in the book, then he could refer to him as Dan Roberts. Cornwallis says that he has not used that name in years, that he does not discuss his past, and that he was under the impression that Hawthorne’s investigation was focusing on the Godwin connection. They briefly discuss the Hamlet production, and Cornwallis suggests they go to another room. To his shock and horror, Anthony discovers he cannot move. Cornwallis gags him and leaves, and Anthony reflects that he is too stunned to fully accept that he has “blithely walked into a place of death, and [his] own death [is] certain to be the result” (244).

Cornwallis takes the paralyzed Anthony to an autopsy bay, using a wheelchair to transport him. Anthony realizes that the pleasant man he previously met is gone, replaced by a homicidal person with no regard for others. Cornwallis resents having to kill Anthony and decides he must somehow justify himself. He monologues about his hatred for his family, their work, and his acting ambitions. During this speech, he stabs Anthony with a scalpel twice, first for trying to speak and then for failing to respond to a rhetorical question.

Cornwallis explains that Amanda kissed him, at Damian’s urging, to infect him with her mononucleosis and ensure the play would be recast, not because the two had actually broken up. He killed her in revenge, using his access to grave plots to conceal her body. He blames the loss of the role for destroying his career, as he never had much success after graduation, which forced him to return to the family business. He found it satisfying to seek vengeance on Amanda. His great regret was that Damian was too inaccessible to him. This all changes when Diana suddenly walks in to plan her funeral: Seeing her, he realizes he can kill her, thus luring Damian to London.

The monologue slows, and Anthony begs for his life, reminding Cornwallis of his innocence and that Hawthorne will find him. Cornwallis is unmoved, telling Anthony he should never have begun investigating. Hawthorne bursts in, and Cornwallis uses the scalpel to die by suicide rather than face arrest. Anthony, soon to faint from loss of blood, finds himself deeply grateful for Hawthorne and their work together.

Anthony reflects that his survival is regrettably unsurprising, as “it’s a convention that the first person narrator can’t be killed,” and he wishes “there had been some way to disguise the fact that [he] would make it through to this chapter” (254). He learns that he was drugged with Rohypnol and wonders if Cornwallis acquired it through his wife, whose fate he never learns. Anthony’s own wife scolds him for endangering his life and notes that he will only humiliate himself further by writing up the episode, since he failed to recognize the killer. At the time, Anthony reflects, he thought the killer was Grace’s father, as he was also visible in the cast photo. Hawthorne’s agent visits, informing him she has found a buyer for the new book. Hilda, to Anthony’s surprise, has entirely accepted Hawthorne’s stipulations. Hawthorne arrives, and Anthony admits to himself that his presence is welcome.

Hawthorne scolds Anthony for investigating without him, as he was ready to apprehend Cornwallis after visiting Weston in Canterbury. Anthony turns on his phone recorder, determined to find out how Hawthorne knew who the killer was. Hawthorne explains that he soon realized Diana had intended to die by suicide: She was lonely, a victim of Raymond Clunes’s production fraud, and Damian was not an active part of her life. The sleeping pills in her bathroom in large quantity revealed her chosen method, and the disappearance of her cat convinced her she had no further reason to live. Diana assumed Alan Godwin’s threatening letter referred to Mr. Tibbs’s death. She planned her funeral to avoid inconveniencing others; all of its chosen material focuses on loneliness and death, and some of the authors, like Plath, died by suicide.

Hawthorne notes that the case has been full of Hamlet quotations: The marble sculpture outside Cornwallis and Sons contains one. Hawthorne noticed Cornwallis was evasive about his past, hoping they would miss the connection. Anthony finally realizes why Cornwallis blamed Amanda, since her case of mononucleosis was contagious enough to ensure he would lose the main role.

Cornwallis used Anthony’s reference to the Godwins to distract from his own role by setting fire to Weston’s house and planting the music player at the funeral. Hawthorne explains that Diana’s death was more a crime of opportunity: Cornwallis stole her credit card while she used the bathroom and then came to her home to return it. Diana recognized him, but her phone autocorrected “Laertes” to “lacerated,” which explains why the Godwins became of interest (263).

Anthony privately wonders if Hawthorne investigated in Deal merely to increase his total salary. Hawthorne apologizes for his anger in Canterbury and confesses that Anthony was the only author he wanted. As he leaves, he tells Anthony he has spoken to Hilda about the project and that their book will be a success. Anthony privately agrees: “For perhaps the first time, there was a chance it might be” (266).

Anthony turns to his writing process for the new project. He finds it challenging since he doesn’t find any of the main cast particularly sympathetic, especially Damian and Diana. Additionally, he has to decide what is extraneous and who should be fictionalized or omitted. He comforts himself that he “hadn’t done too badly” with identifying the killer, as his notebook contains most of the key insights, and “it was just that [he] hadn’t quite realized their significance” (268). His main problem, as ever, is Hawthorne’s lack of presence in the text as a person with an internal life. Anthony decides to visit Hawthorne to get to know him better, using the address Meadows gave him and waiting for a resident to let him in. He is stunned Hawthorne can afford the area or the building.

Anthony rings the bell, and Hawthorne immediately deduces that Meadows is the reason Anthony knew where to find him. Hawthorne reluctantly lets him in, and Anthony takes in his vast collection of historical model-vehicle kits, which he painstakingly reconstructs. He admits that a family member has found him the apartment. Anthony suggests a new title for the book, taken from Hawthorne’s own comment that “[t]he word is murder” (273), based on his insistence that people read mysteries for the plot, not for the investigator. They reach a tentative truce and agree to have dinner.

As he turns to go, Anthony recognizes a photograph: the woman from the literary festival who goaded him into accepting Hawthorne’s original offer. She is Hawthorne’s estranged wife. He accuses Hawthorne of manipulating him, which he denies. Anthony is enraged and leaves, declaring he won’t carry on with the book.

As he walks, he realizes that he should remain the book’s author to have “control” over how he is portrayed, and he concludes, “By the time I reached the other side of the river, I knew exactly what I was going to do” (275).