Lock Every Door: A Novel

Jules arrives at the Bartholomew, one of the oldest apartment buildings in Manhattan, after responding to an online ad seeking temporary tenants. She meets with a woman named Leslie Evelyn, who conducts her interview and tour. Jules immediately feels out of place. The Bartholomew is “one of [New York’s] most storied addresses” (6). Jules’s favorite book, Heart of a Dreamer by Greta Manville, is set here. Her sister, Jane, read it to her throughout her childhood.

Leslie lays out the Bartholomew’s ground rules. The people of the Bartholomew believe that an occupied building is most functional. The previous 12A tenant died, and they need someone to fill the space for three months. As a temporary tenant, Jules will be paid $1,000 a week to occupy apartment 12A. However, she can’t have guests, talk about the residents, or bother them. Jules is excited about the apartment and the opportunity.

Leslie asks Jules about her living, work, and relationship situations. Jules’s administrative job recently laid her off, and she has been staying on her friend Chloe’s couch since her ex-boyfriend Andrew cheated on her. Leslie also asks about Jules’s family and medical background, and Jules says that she’s an orphan and in good health. Leslie runs through a few more details about the Bartholomew’s reputation and residents and offers Jules the job.

Chloe is skeptical of Jules’s Bartholomew arrangement. She insists that she can give Jules money and housing until she finds a different setup. Jules declines Chloe’s offer, recalling her father’s beliefs about second chances and that she’s taken care of herself since her parents’ deaths.

Jules wakes in the hospital again. Her wrist is bandaged and she’s wearing a neck brace. She’s relieved to remember that she’s not at the Bartholomew.

Jules packs her bags, says goodbye to Chloe, and takes a cab into Manhattan. She recalls her breakup with Andrew on the way. He didn’t protest when she told him to get out of the apartment after finding him with another woman. The next day, she vacated their shared space and relocated to Chloe’s. She hasn’t talked to Andrew since.

At the Bartholomew, the door attendant, Charlie, greets Jules. Leslie gives her the keys to 12A and explains a few more temporary tenant rules. Jules must not open any mail for 12A, change the apartment, or post about the building online. She’ll be paid at the end of each week.

Jules meets another apartment sitter named Dylan on her way upstairs. Leslie informs her that as of right now, there is another sitter, Ingrid Gallagher. Jules is relieved and grateful when she enters 12A.

Jules settles into the apartment. She names the gargoyle outside her window George and props her copy of Heart of a Dreamer and a family photo on the nightstand. The picture was taken two years before Jane went missing and four years before Jules’s parents died. Jules runs her hand over the image of the Bartholomew on her book and thinks about her family.

Chloe is upset when Jules tells her she can’t visit. The friends argue, and Chloe is suspicious because the Bartholomew arrangement “seems too good to be true” (43). The friends agree to disagree. Jules starts looking for jobs, her money running low and her credit cards maxed out.

Jules continues to worry about money. She’s still waiting on her unemployment check and won’t be paid for apartment-sitting until the week ends. She cleans the apartment to feel like she’s working, then snoops around to discover who lived there before. Jules doesn’t find any family photos or clothes, but does come across another copy of Heart of a Dreamer and some magazines addressed to Marjorie Milton. Jules notices that the flowers on the wallpaper look like faces. She hears a sound coming from the other room and finds a dumbwaiter in the kitchen. Inside are a poem and a welcome note from Ingrid. Jules writes back and returns the dumbwaiter to 11A.

On the elevator, Jules encounters actor Marianne Duncan with her dog, Rufus, as well as a tenant named Mr. Leonard, who has heart trouble. In the lobby, Jules is shocked to see Greta Manville. Greta is displeased when Jules introduces herself and compliments her book. On the way to the grocery store, Jules notices a missing poster and thinks of Jane.

Jules buys a week’s worth of cheap groceries, recalling the knockoff brands her family ate growing up. Back in the Bartholomew’s lobby, Jules and Ingrid collide, scattering Jules’s groceries and cutting her arm. The tenant in 12B, Dr. Nick, rushes to Jules’s aid, taking her to his apartment and tending to her wound. When he notices Jules studying his ouroboros painting, depicting a snake swallowing its own tail, he explains its meaning. Jules asks Nick about his time at the Bartholomew while he checks her vitals. His apartment has been in his family for years, he tells her. He took it over after his parents died.

Jules receives an email from Chloe about the Bartholomew’s dark history. She ignores it and tries unpacking but accidentally tosses her keys down a heating grate. Charlie stops by to bring her replacement groceries and helps her retrieve the keys. He says it’s common to lose things in the grates. After he leaves, Ingrid invites Jules to meet in Central Park.

At the park, Ingrid apologizes for hurting Jules’s arm. The women sit on a bench and discuss their lives. Ingrid reminds Jules of Jane, and Jules tells Ingrid about her. After Jane’s disappearance, Jules’s parents tried to find her, but the longer she was gone, the more Jules thought she was dead. Now she isn’t sure, but Jane didn’t resurface for their parents’ funerals. The conversation turns to the Bartholomew. Both women accepted the arrangement because they need money. Ingrid also admits that she’s been lonely since the former 12A sitter, Erica Mitchell, left. Jules agrees that they should get together regularly.

Jules takes a bath, makes dinner, and drinks some wine. Time passes with nothing else to do. Jules strikes several matches and holds them close to her hand. A nearby sound interrupts her. Then she hears a scream that sounds like Ingrid. She races to 11A, and when Ingrid opens the door she insists she’s fine. Jules, however, believes she’s lying.

Dr. Wagner introduces himself to Jules. He examines Jules and asks to hear her story. Jules explains that she ran into oncoming traffic trying to escape the Bartholomew.