I Have Some Questions for You Chapter 86 Summary and Analysis
⚠️ Spoiler Warning: This guide contains detailed spoilers for the entire novel. Proceed only if you've finished reading or are comfortable knowing the plot.
Summary
On a Saturday morning, the narrator—still recovering from a hangover and mindful of Hector's warning—stays in her room watching HGTV. Alder arrives in person, refusing to send the video he wants to share. He plays a recording of Amy March cross-examining retired Detective Dwight Boudreau about his investigation of Thalia Keith's murder. Boudreau admits he never pursued the suggestion from head of school Dr. Mary Ellen Calahan that the killer was a community member strong enough to lift a struggling body into the pool. Amy March systematically exposes Boudreau's failure to follow basic leads and notes that his own lack of physical fitness colored his judgment about who could have committed the crime. After the testimony, Alder shows Bodie a new Facebook page offering a $10,000 reward for information about Denny Bloch. The chapter closes with Alder's sobering statement about his expectations as a Black man in America, reflecting the limits of optimism even as the case gains public traction.
Key Events
- Bodie isolates herself in her room due to a hangover and a warning from Hector.
- Alder visits in person to share a video of Dwight Boudreau's trial testimony.
- Amy March cross-examines Boudreau about Calahan's suggestion to look for community members capable of lifting a body.
- Boudreau admits he didn't obtain Thalia's grade records or follow up on several leads.
- Amy March highlights how Boudreau's own fitness level influenced his investigative assumptions.
- Alder reveals a new Facebook page offering a $10,000 reward for Denny Bloch information.
- Alder makes a final remark about his limited hopes as a Black man, tempering the chapter's forward momentum.
Character Development
Bodie appears vulnerable and withdrawn, nursing a hangover and avoiding engagement with the outside world. Her reluctance to watch the testimony shows her internal conflict about the case. She remains focused on Omar's guilt but is drawn into the podcast's momentum through Alder's enthusiasm.
Alder is energetic and invested in the case, traveling in person to share the video rather than sending it. His earlier fixation on Ari Hutson has given way to a broader interest in any alternative suspect. His closing line reveals a deep personal perspective shaped by race and experience, distinguishing his outlook from Bodie's more singular focus.
Dwight Boudreau is portrayed as an aging, defensive investigator whose methods were compromised by laziness and personal bias. His testimony shows he treated the investigation as routine and never re-examined his assumptions.
Amy March emerges as a skilled prosecutor who dismantles Boudreau's credibility by forcing him to confront his own omissions. Her humorous suggestion to test lifting capacity underscores the absurdity of his reasoning.
Themes, Symbols, or Motifs
Police incompetence and investigative tunnel vision is central to this chapter. Boudreau's failure to follow up on multiple leads—including grade records and Calahan's suggestion—shows how the original investigation narrowed prematurely on Omar. The question of physical strength becomes a motif: who is capable of lifting a body, and how that capability is judged reveals the biases baked into the investigation.
The podcast as accountability mechanism continues to develop. Alder's choice to share the video in person creates a conspiratorial energy, and the new Facebook page shows how public attention can pressure suspects and witnesses. Bodie's hangover and Hector's warning, however, hint at the personal costs and risks involved in this work.
Physical fitness as metaphor appears through Boudreau's admission that he couldn't lift Thalia's body. His own physical limitations become investigative limitations, a symbolic example of how investigators project their own capacities onto the case.
Hopes and limits close the chapter. Alder's statement about his hopes as a Black man connects the personal to the structural, reminding readers that trust in institutions is not equally available to all.
Why This Chapter Matters
Chapter 86 represents a turning point in the public perception of the case. The cross-examination of Boudreau pulls back the curtain on a flawed investigation, strengthening the argument for Omar's wrongful conviction. The emergence of the Denny Bloch reward page shows how the podcast's reach is reshaping the landscape of suspects and public interest. At the same time, Alder's final comment prevents the chapter from slipping into easy optimism, grounding the narrative in the reality of systemic inequality. This chapter also deepens Bodie's character arc, showing her fatigue and reluctance even as the case accelerates around her.
Study Questions
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How does Amy March's cross-examination of Dwight Boudreau expose the limitations of the original investigation?
Amy March methodically walks Boudreau through leads he never pursued, including Thalia's declining grades and Calahan's suggestion that the killer was a community member. She forces him to admit that he took no direction from Calahan and that his own inability to lift Thalia's body shaped his assumptions about what was possible. The exchange reveals a lack of rigor and a reliance on personal bias rather than evidence. -
What does Alder's final line reveal about his perspective on the case and on justice more broadly?
When Bodie cautions him not to get his hopes up, Alder responds, "I'm a Black man in America. My hopes aren't up." This line does more than comment on the case—it reflects a lifetime of experience with systems that fail or target Black people. For Alder, the search for justice in Thalia's murder is inseparable from a larger context of racial inequality. His hopes are tempered not by pessimism about this one case but by structural awareness. -
How does the setting—Bodie's hotel room on a Saturday—function in this chapter?
The closed, private space of Bodie's room contrasts with the public nature of the trial and the viral potential of the video. Bodie is hungover and hiding, creating a sense of vulnerability. Alder's intrusion breaks that privacy and forces Bodie to engage with the case. The room becomes a space where the podcast's work proceeds in intimate, unguarded conversations, away from the formality of the courtroom.