The Good Samaritan

“Nothing but the sound of their last breaths and the coastal wind howling through their phones as they fell five hundred and thirty feet into the water below. And as their bodies sank and their souls soared, I bit my bottom lip hard until I tasted blood.”

This passage establishes Laura’s violence and cruelty, juxtaposing the deaths she engineers with her own sensory reaction, which is almost euphoric. The introduction of the motif of last breaths reveals her primary obsession (with the supposed intimacy of death), while the imagery of “souls soared” showcases her delusion of being a merciful savior. Her self-inflicted pain—biting her lip—signals an ecstatic but also self-destructive culmination of her efforts, defining the compulsive nature of her actions.

“I liked being thought of as the maternal type. To them, I was helpful, inoffensive and indispensable, and that suited me down to the ground. Because when you’re not considered to be a threat, you can get away with much, much more.”

This internal monologue explicitly states the duplicity at the heart of Laura’s character, creating dramatic irony as the reader understands the falsity of her benevolent persona. She identifies her maternal reputation not as an aspect of her personality but as a calculated tool for avoiding suspicion. This admission highlights the theme of The Compulsive Nature of Manipulation and Control by framing her kindness as a strategic camouflage for her predatory behavior. It also foreshadows later revelations regarding Laura’s true nature as a mother, such as her responsibility for her son’s disability.