Chapters 4–6

Summary: Chapter 4, What He Remembered

John and Kathy’s seventh and final day at Lake of the Woods shows the strain under which John and Kathy have been living. They speak little and try to pretend that they can solve their problems. Kathy starts to say something but stops herself, and after she is gone, John wonders if she had continued speaking, would it have made a difference? They follow their normal routines, eating breakfast, swimming in the afternoon on the empty lake, and sunbathing. Kathy asks John if he is all right, and she doesn’t seem to believe his answer of “perfect.” After lunch, Kathy does crossword puzzles, and John organizes their bills. Later, they drive into town, barely speaking, for groceries and other errands. At the Mini-Mart, they get into a short argument after Kathy denigrates politicians. Kathy believes that John blames her for the election loss. Back at the cottage, they eat dinner and play backgammon before bed.

Summary: Chapter 5, Hypothesis

Just as there are several chapters titled “Evidence,” there are several titled “Hypothesis,” each presenting readers with a new hypothesis to consider. Chapter 5 presents readers with a hypothesis regarding Kathy. One possibility for Kathy’s disappearance could be explained by an affair. Someone might have been waiting for her elsewhere. Kathy might have staged her disappearance so she didn’t have to tell John she was tired of him.

Summary: Chapter 6, Evidence

This chapter includes snippets from interviews as well as books, and it focuses many quotes on John’s love and practice of magic. Thinbill shares that an unidentified “we” called John “Sorcerer.” Eleanor Wade emphasizes John’s secretive nature and that it was not just the war but also his father’s death that made him angry. Pat casts doubt on the relationship between John and Kathy and confides that he sometimes woke up screaming.

Quotes from books, including fiction, nonfiction, biography, and memoirs, introduce the topics of psychological trauma, war, identity, the nature of politicians, and the need for love. Ruth Rasmussen mentions that John threw out a teakettle. Vinny Pearson reiterates his belief in John’s guilt, while the sheriff Art Lux still thinks the case could go anywhere. Exhibits are a photograph of twelve-year-old John performing a magic trick and a partial list of the tricks he owns and knows how to perform. The final footnote of the chapter—linked to Lux’s comment that while Vinny presents a theory, Lux looks at facts—introduces the narrator’s presence as a character for the first time. The narrator explains that despite four years of investigation, he, the narrator, has uncovered no explanation for Kathy’s disappearance. The book is based on what the narrator perceives to be a reasonable reconstruction of what happened, but it will present no solutions.

Analysis: Chapters 4–6

Chapter 4 returns to the Lake of the Woods narrative. The title of the chapter, “What He Remembered,” echoes the first chapter, “How Unhappy They Were,” which serves the subtle purpose of helping a pattern emerge in this seemingly disjointed book. Just as readers learned about the first six days of Kathy and John’s time at the cottage, they now focus on the final day and get more context to Kathy’s disappearance. Told from John’s point of view, this chapter shares far more specific details, indicating that in the time that has passed since then, John has reviewed that day repeatedly, clearly looking for clues as to what went wrong.

In Chapter 4, John also presents his hypothesis: that perhaps Kathy was going to share something with him that would have changed the trajectory of events. “What if she’d spoke?” John wonders. “What if she’d leaned against the refrigerator and said, ‘Let’s do some loving right here,’ and what if they had, and what if everything that happened could not have happened because of those other happenings?” John’s speculation may have little practical use as he can’t change the fact that Kathy is gone, but it also reflects that a person really would question their level of ability to change what has already happened. John’s “what-if?” thought also emphasizes an important aspect of the book: Everything shared in this book is just a theory, supported by some amount of evidence, of what could have happened. Nothing in this book is truly known. The “Hypothesis” chapters only present what might have happened. The “Evidence” chapters present information and details but don’t lead to any certain conclusion. As the narrator says in a footnote in Chapter 6, even though he’s spent four years researching and learning about John and Kathy Wade, he still has to rely on conjecture and present his interpretation of events, though based on fact.

Chapter 6, “Evidence,” raises themes that will become central to the novel. John the magician emerges with a much clearer focus, not only because the first quote explains that he has the nickname of “Sorcerer” but also because so many of the people speak of John’s interest in magic. Through the exhibits, readers can see John playing this part and can’t help but wonder what role magic or illusion has in Kathy’s disappearance. Perhaps he made Kathy disappear, just like the four white mice in Exhibit Seven. Such a theory is supported by Pat’s recollection that Kathy seemed scared of her husband, Vinny’s insistence that John did something to Kathy, and even Ruth’s recollection of an iron teakettle tossed in the garbage, which has no clear connection to the rest of the story but may have readers wondering if it was some sort of weapon. Yet also strewn within this collection of evidence are other themes central to the novel, particularly trauma and combat. At this point, however, readers do not know where these themes will take them.