The Locksmith’s trophies, particularly the locks of hair Lionel collects from his victims, symbolize the continuing power of his crimes over Reverie and connect the novel’s past murders to its present-day mystery. As a child, Reverie discovers Lionel dismembering Georgia Farrell and learns that he keeps trophies from the women he has killed in a locked box. After threatening Reverie into silence, Lionel forces her to touch the victims’ hair, transforming the trophies into tangible evidence of the secret she must keep. The memory becomes inseparable from her guilt because she knows the lockbox contains proof that could expose her father while simultaneously believing that revealing what she knows will endanger both herself and Regina. The box itself also evokes Lionel’s identity as the Locksmith, linking his public moniker to the private collection through which Reverie encounters the reality of his crimes.

The trophies acquire renewed significance when objects associated with victims and potential victims begin appearing around Reverie after Lionel’s release. Mindy Sackler wears the same pink barrette later left in Reverie’s dorm, while locks of hair associated with Margaret Lever and Georgia Farrell connect the contemporary threats directly to the Locksmith’s established methods. Georgia’s hair is particularly significant because it provides physical confirmation of the murder Reverie witnessed as a child, validating a traumatic memory she has carried largely alone. As these objects accumulate, they also become clues in the mystery surrounding Lionel and the copycat killer. The trophies bridge Reverie’s childhood and the present investigation: Objects once used to frighten her into silence reappear as evidence that may finally help establish the truth about Lionel’s crimes.