Close to Death

Hawthorne, Dudley, Khan, and Goodwin go to Adam and Teri’s house. Adam is relaxed and denies killing Giles and Roderick. When he reminds them that his chess set was destroyed, Hawthorne points out that the chess set itself isn’t that valuable and theorizes that Adam only represented it as such because he planned to destroy it.

Hawthorne posits that although the first meeting put all the pieces in play, the second meeting was where Adam really began his plan. Although Andrew thought the meeting was his idea, he told Hawthorne that it came to him during a conversation with Adam. Hawthorne also believes that Adam hired two people to buy Murder on the Orient Express so that Phyllis would have it on her mind. He also finds it odd that Adam had colorful kids’ drinking straws on hand and also made sure that there was plenty to drink but not enough food. Finally, Adam was the one to hold the straws and held them behind his back, making it possible to hold the shortest one back for Roderick. Hawthorne theorizes that Adam had already stolen the crossbow, too. Adam created the perfect setup—after Giles was killed, everyone was terrified by their culpability in the crime and didn’t tell the police anything.

On the night of Roderick’s death, Adam drugged Roderick’s whiskey. Although he pretended to leave Roderick’s house so that Andrew would see him, he returned. He unlocked the garage, climbed onto the roof, and removed the skylight screws. Earlier, he arranged Marsha Clark’s attack so that Kylie would leave the neighborhood—as Hawthorne discovered, she was the only person with a direct view of the Brown’s garage roof. Adam then returned to the house and brought Roderick into the garage. He arranged the crime and then locked the garage and climbed out through the skylight. He glued the screw in place so that they seemed to be rusted. However, Hawthorne discovered that they are stainless steel screws and cannot rust. As a side note, Hawthorne theorizes that the hooded person who pushed Adam down the stairs at the Richmond station was Teri.

Khan asks why Adam would do all this—what’s his motive? Hawthorne explains that if the swimming pool was approved, the Kenworthys would have cut down the magnolia tree and dug up the surrounding area—and, in the process, discovered the remains of Adam’s first wife, Wendy.

Adam asks Teri to get the correspondence they receive from Wendy in Hong Kong. She offers two postcards and a Chinese New Year card that appear to be legitimate. When Hawthorne still doesn’t believe Adam, he video-calls Wendy. She answers and confirms that she is Wendy Yeung (her unmarried name) and that she lives in Hong Kong. Teri confirms that it is her cousin. Khan has seen enough—he closes the interview and the case.

Horowitz wonders if this anticlimactic ending was what Hawthorne meant when he said that “he wasn’t happy about the way it had turned out” (391). However, when thinking about it further, he realizes that Adam Strauss’s death several months later might not have been an accident—Hawthorne might have killed him. He is basing this theory on his knowledge of why Hawthorne was kicked off the police force—he allegedly pushed a suspected pedophile and child pornographer down the stairs. Horowitz’s phone rings—it is DS Khan, wanting to meet with him. Horowitz agrees.

Khan looks just as Horowitz imagined. He is up for a promotion and threatens to have lawyers look over the upcoming book. Horowitz asks if they ever dug up the Kenworthys’ garden, and Khan says no. He reaffirms that the case is closed and then threatens Horowitz with jail for “wasting police time” (396).

Horowitz surprises Khan by asking about Adam Strauss’s death. Khan asks if Horowitz suspects Hawthorne and admits that he himself did. They questioned him and he had no alibi, but the death was determined to be accidental. All the same, he implies that if Horowitz leaves him out of the novel, he will leave Hawthorne alone.

Horowitz asks about Dudley. Khan tells him that the man was a bright young detective until his fiancée was killed in a hit-and-run. The driver was drunk but wealthy, and his lawyers got him off. As the driver was leaving the courtroom with his friends, laughing, Dudley attacked the man, putting him in the hospital. Dudley began misusing alcohol, and within a year, he was kicked off the force. Before they part, Khan gives Horowitz Dudley’s address.

Horowitz goes to Dudley’s apartment; it is in the same building as Hawthorne’s. He rings Dudley’s bell and introduces himself. Dudley’s apartment is full of boxes, and he tells Hawthorne that the security firm is moving him to the Cayman Islands, the result of Horowitz’s investigation of him.

Dudley admits that he and Hawthorne don’t speak anymore. They’ve known each other since they were eight years old, and although he knows what happened to Hawthorne’s parents, he won’t reveal what. He does say that Hawthorne “speaks very highly” of Horowitz (406), which is why Dudley agreed to see him. Dudley also says that he thinks Hawthorne’s partnership with Horowitz is good for him.

Dudley firmly believes that Adam Strauss killed Roderick Browne—it all happened just the way Hawthorne said. Adam even set up a fake Wendy in Hong Kong and arranged for the correspondence. Horowitz asks Dudley what he thought when he found out about Adam’s death. He says that although he “can’t celebrate anyone’s death” (411), the world is a better place without Adam. He says that Adam’s death is what drove them apart.

After talking to Dudley, Horowitz thinks about going upstairs to Hawthorne’s apartment. He wants to apologize for going to Fenchurch—he is afraid that he has permanently damaged their relationship. He goes outside to a nearby bench to think. Dudley was more important to the novel than he had realized. He wasn’t just a sidekick—when he was talking about Adam’s death, Horowitz realized something important. He knows that he’s not as sharp as Hawthorne, but it was clear, even to him, that Hawthorne didn’t kill Adam Strauss—Dudley did. It was the reason why Hawthorne cut Dudley off, instead of the other way around.

While he is sitting there, a taxi pulls up to the building, and Hawthorne gets out. Instead of calling to him, Horowitz watches the other man enter the building and walks away.