The Silent Patient

Theo meets with Lazarus to tell him about Alicia’s talking. Lazarus gives him permission to keep working with Alicia. He congratulates Theo on his work. Theo says, “I felt a small flicker of pride—a son congratulated by his father” (278). During Theo’s next session with Alicia, she tells him her story—first, the story of her silence, and second, the story of the night of Gabriel’s death.

Alicia explains to Theo why she stopped talking. Directly after the murder, she tried to talk “but no sound came out” (280). Theo notes she was likely in shock. Later, when she could physically have spoken, “By then […] it seemed pointless. It was too late” (280). Asked why she’s started speaking now, she says it’s because of Theo. She wants him to understand what happened to her on the night of Gabriel’s death. 

The next day, Alicia starts to tell the story of the night of Gabriel’s murder. She picks up where her diary in Part 3 left off—the intruder, her stalker, is in the house. He was wearing a black mask and had a knife. She offered him money. He said he didn’t want money. Alicia tried to escape but he grabbed her and held the knife to her throat. Alicia gets distressed recounting these events. When Theo asks if she wants a break, she asks if she can have a cigarette. Theo wonders how she knows that he smokes. She tells him she can smell it on him, which makes him feel embarrassed since he tries to hide his habit. The chapter ends abruptly as the two of them agree to pause for a smoke.  

Theo and Alicia talk and walk in the courtyard. Alicia returns to recounting her story of the intruder. The intruder told her he wanted a drink so she gave him a beer. The man drank and talked; Alicia says she can’t remember about what. She tells Theo that she was mentally preparing, planning to get Gabriel’s gun, which they hid in a cupboard in the kitchen. However, when she went to get it, the cupboard was empty. The intruder had already taken it. The intruder tied Alicia down in a chair. She was sure the man was going to kill her. She tells Theo she wishes he had. 

Back inside in the therapy room, Alicia continues her tale. When Gabriel finally came home, he found Alicia tied to the chair. The intruder warned her not to scream or he would shoot Gabriel in the head. The intruder ambushed Gabriel when he walked in, hitting him on the head with the gun. He then tied the unconscious Gabriel to a chair using wire. When Gabriel regained consciousness, the man raised the gun and aimed it at Gabriel. Alicia says the man shot Gabriel in the head six times, tossed the gun on the floor, and left without saying a word.