The Widow's Husband's Secret Lie

The prologue’s narrator asserts that, despite the reader’s belief that they have guessed the novel’s killer from its very first word, this is impossible. “I have used red herring after red herring, woven in false identities and unreliable narrators, and fabricated evidence,” the narrator claims (1). There is simply no way to guess that the killer is “Steve” (1). The narrator immediately expresses regret for this disclosure and takes comfort in the fact that “nobody reads the prologue anyway” (1).

Alice Lockwood peruses shampoos at the drugstore, paralyzed with indecision. She has the strange sensation that someone is watching her, but whenever she looks, no one is there. She shares that part of her motive for choosing this errand is that, many years ago, this is what she was doing when she met her husband, Grant. Grant was handsome, charming, and rich, and immediately swept her off her feet.

Alice gives up and chooses the same shampoo she always chooses. On her way to the cashier, she stops at a stand of sunglasses. Pretending to be interested in a specific pair, she uses the small mirror on the stand to look behind her. She sees a man watching her.