The Woman in Suite 11

Carrie explains that she can return to the UK on the Eurostar train if Lo lets her use her second passport. Carrie says Lo owes her because she saved Lo’s life. Lo says Carrie was saving herself, and Carrie argues that she got Lo out of the cabin. Lo is worried about increased checks post-Brexit. Carrie argues that Lo can say her spare passport was stolen. Lo reluctantly agrees to consider the plan and give Carrie an answer the next day.

Carrie promises to treat Lo to a stay in a nice UK hotel and reveals that she’s the one who upgraded Lo’s flight. Lo argues that this is a traceable connection, but Carrie claims that going through the press office, as she did, hides their connection. When they’re at an impasse, Marcus returns to the suite. Carrie pushes Lo into the adjoining room, which connects to the hall.

In Marcus’s bedroom, Lo sees a camera set up near the bed and thinks it’s part of the problematic things he makes Carrie do. This makes her want to help Carrie escape. Lo quietly leaves and goes to her room.

Back in her room, Lo can’t sleep. She internally debates helping Carrie, deciding that she must help a woman in need. When Lo falls asleep, she dreams of being imprisoned in the cabin on the Aurora, but hears knocking. Once awake, she realizes that the knocking is real. Ben is at her door because she missed breakfast, and the others are getting ready to hunt or forage. She asks him to buy her some time while she quickly showers.

Lo barely makes it to the Land Rover before it takes the group. Ben and Cole are inside, as well as a food Instagrammer named Kelly. Cole helps Lo buckle up. They travel into the Swiss forest and meet their guide, Gottfried. He leads them around while instructing them on which mushrooms to harvest. They eventually stop for an upscale picnic lunch.

Marcus arrives and introduces himself to Lo. He says he can do a 30-minute interview for the Financial Times right away. Lo internally regrets not bringing her pen, notebook, or Dictaphone. She didn’t prepare any questions. However, she can record on her phone, so she agrees, thinking this will be better than nothing. Marcus compliments Lo’s book; she’s shocked that he read it. She thanks him for his kind words, as well as the invitation to the hotel.

Lo improvises a question about Marcus’s reluctance to give interviews. Marcus says he’s old-fashioned and likes to keep his personal life private. Lo asks if that’s difficult in a family business, one that includes his grandparents and his son. Marcus says the succession of the company is undecided. Lo thought giving Pieter the Journeys by Leidmann subdivision was a sign that he would eventually run the whole company. Marcus says he reluctantly tolerates exposure and thinks Lo probably dislikes how her book exposed her personal feelings to the world.

Lo internally thinks he’s correct, but asks about his motivation in life. Marcus says he used to be motivated by ambition and upholding the family’s reputation. However, after he became more honest with himself, he admits that he’s driven by power. Being in control is intoxicating. Next, Lo asks, as a mother, whether Marcus’s former wife supported his career. Marcus shocks Lo again when he reveals that he knows the names of her kids. He says his wife, Elke, was only interested in raising Pieter and was a good mother, but was otherwise limited.

When Lo asks how Elke died, Marcus looks upset. Adeline intervenes, saying that Marcus is needed elsewhere. He apologizes and asks his bodyguard, Heinrich, to get the car. Adeline apologizes, and Marcus tells her to schedule another interview time. Some of the hunting group returns. He speaks in a foreign language, but it’s apparent that Marcus is unimpressed with the bird Pieter killed. As he leaves, Marcus asks Lo to give his regards to Judah, as a subtle reminder of how much he knows about her.

While sitting in the bath and listening to the interview, Lo thinks she might be able to spin Marcus’s comment about succession into something for the Financial Times. She thinks about Marcus micromanaging Pieter instead of letting him open the hotel alone. She’s surprised by how charismatic Marcus is. Lo researches Elke’s death and finds a quote from Pieter about how Elke died in childbirth because she had another child when the doctors advised against it. Lo guesses that Marcus insisted on having the child.

Carrie lets herself into Lo’s bathroom, shocking Lo, and asks if she’ll help her. Lo thinks that Judah would advise her not to help Carrie. However, Lo doesn’t like the power Marcus has over Carrie and decides to help her. Carrie is excited and talks about the next step: booking two seats on the Eurostar. Carrie suggests that Lo lie and say her mother fell so that she can leave a day earlier than planned. They should travel together, Carrie asserts.

Lo realizes that only her UK passport has an entry stamp on it. After some persuasion from Carrie, Lo reluctantly agrees to use this one. Carrie will take the less suspicious US one. Carrie reiterates that she’ll put Lo up somewhere special in the UK for the night. In addition, she warns Lo against eating the foraged mushrooms. After Carrie leaves, Lo realizes that she wrote “stop worrying” (134) on the steamy mirror.

At dinner, Lo eats the mushroom soup, and the others joke about it being hallucinogenic. Near the end of dessert, Lo pretends to get a message about her mother falling. She tells Ben and Pieter the lie, explaining that she must leave early. Pieter offers to switch Lo’s flights, and she claims that her mother might be going to a hospital closer to the train. Pieter says she should prioritize her mother and invites her to return another time.

Ben offers to help with logistics, but Lo turns him down. He kisses her cheek. Lo contrasts this kiss with Cole’s kiss on the cheek; she prefers Cole’s. When Ben and Lo part ways, Lo sees Cole. She repeats her lie about her mother, and Cole asks if she’s okay. Lo reflects on how no one asks her that. Judah is supportive but doesn’t ask that particular question. Lo assures Cole that she’s okay, and he tells her to take care of herself as well as her mom.

Lo doesn’t see Carrie at the train station or on the train as she gets to her seat. The train leaves, and Lo thinks about how she didn’t tell Judah the real reason for her change of plans. She claimed that she wanted to spend more time with her mother. Lo is homesick. A pregnant woman comes by and asks in French about a seat near Lo. When the man beside Lo notes that the seat is marked as taken, the woman leaves and winks at Lo. The wink causes Lo to realize that it’s Carrie in disguise.

Three hours later, Lo exits the train and sees Carrie disguised as Lo. Lo starts to compliment the disguise, but Carrie shushes her because she thinks she saw Heinrich, Marcus’s bodyguard, on the train. Lo asks if they should call it off before going through customs for the next train. Carrie says she’s being paranoid, adding that they should go forward with the plan but split up to avoid people with twin fetishes. They’ll try to go through the passport control desks furthest from one another. Lo gives Carrie her UK passport.

At the Eurostar terminal, Lo gets in line. Passport control is too busy and chaotic for her to get to the desk on the furthest end; she ends up in the middle. Lo tells the agent that she’s missing an entry stamp because she’s a dual national and came in with her UK passport, but it was stolen. After a pause, the agent allows her to go to the train.

On the train, Carrie and Lo reunite. Lo admits that the experience was terrifying, but Carrie is elated. She walked through the train and didn’t see Heinrich. Another passenger is offended at Carrie for swearing in front of children, but Carrie continues to swear. After the train gets underway, Carrie falls asleep. Lo decides to take Carrie up on her offer of a night in a fancy hotel.

The chapter ends with a story from the BBC Sussex website about the death of a man. He isn’t named but fits Marcus’s description. A similarly unnamed British woman has been arrested for the crime.