Chapter 66: Naomi — 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

The chapter opens on Friday, May 26, 2023 — a date the narrative explicitly marks as the night of Naomi's death. Ben calls from the airport gate before his flight, and Naomi is struck by how much she already misses him. She spends the day confined to her apartment, but as evening approaches, she ventures uptown, feeling increasingly exposed. She repeatedly checks over her shoulder, scanning for anyone who might be following her. To steady herself, she imagines a future with Ben in the city after graduation, and she texts him asking if he will teach her to use his camera. He replies almost instantly.

At her favorite deli, Naomi buys a lox bagel and matzo ball soup. As she checks out, she hears a familiar voice behind her: her aunt Cecily. Naomi embraces her and immediately breaks down in tears, overwhelmed by the fear and anger that have been building for weeks. Cecily comforts her and invites her back to her Upper East Side home, promising homemade bread, French butter, and raspberry fig jam. Naomi, feeling lost and scared, accepts.

At Cecily's home, Naomi's phone buzzes with an email from Marta. The message instructs her to watch the end of a video first — around four hours in — and then take it to the police. Naomi downloads the video and deletes the email to protect Marta from any fallout. Cecily notices her distraction and asks what is wrong. Naomi explains that she has been investigating the death of the girl found in Greystone and that she believes it was not an accident.

Naomi plays the video. It shows the same cabin that appeared in the background of a photo of her sister and her friends. The footage is grainy and dark, but Naomi can make out the outline of a body on the floor — Lila. A man in a ski jacket appears, holding a shovel. He sets it down and struggles to lift Lila's body, then turns and appears to speak to someone off-screen. Naomi recognizes him as DuPont.

Cecily suggests they go to the police first thing in the morning, with her lawyer present. She asks whether Naomi has told her sister, Maya, and Naomi says no — she did not want to involve her. Cecily reassures her that she is safe now.

But Naomi begins to feel unwell. Her heart flutters, her hands grow clammy, and a sharp pain forms in her forehead. Cecily brings her water, which Naomi gulps down. She asks to use the bathroom, then remembers that Cecily keeps Advil in the upstairs bathroom. Her head is throbbing so badly that her vision blurs, and she has to grip the railing to climb the stairs.

In the upstairs bathroom, Naomi splashes cold water on her face and leans over the counter, dizzy and breathing raggedly. She wonders if she ate something bad or if the video triggered a reaction. She hopes Maya is innocent. Then she opens the medicine cabinet to find Advil and notices a prescription bottle with a name on it: Naomi Mason — temazepam.

Naomi is confused. Why are her sleeping pills in Cecily's bathroom? Her neck grows hot, sweat breaks out, and the room spins. Cecily calls from the hall and climbs the stairs. Naomi tries to run but has nowhere to go. Cecily opens the door, sees the bottle in Naomi's hand, and demands it back. Naomi's legs collapse beneath her, the pills clatter to the floor, and the last thing she sees before everything goes dark is Cecily's long fingers wrapped around a syringe.

Key Events

Ben calls Naomi from the airport; she misses him intensely.
Naomi leaves her apartment and heads uptown, feeling paranoid and checking for followers.
She runs into her aunt Cecily at a deli and accepts an invitation to her home.
Marta emails Naomi a video link with instructions to watch the end and go to the police.
Naomi downloads the video and deletes the email to protect Marta.
The video shows Lila's body in a cabin and a man in a ski jacket with a shovel — identified as DuPont.
Cecily proposes going to the police the next morning with her lawyer.
Naomi becomes ill and goes upstairs to the bathroom.
She discovers a prescription bottle for temazepam labeled with her own name in Cecily's medicine cabinet.
Cecily confronts her; Naomi collapses, and the last image she sees is Cecily holding a syringe.

Character Development

Naomi is at her most vulnerable in this chapter. Her paranoia — checking over her shoulder, feeling exposed — proves justified, but her trust in Cecily blinds her to the danger. Her decision to delete Marta's email shows fierce loyalty and a protective instinct, even at her own risk. The moment she finds her own sleeping pills in Cecily's bathroom is a devastating realization: the person she turned to for comfort has been deceiving her. Her collapse marks the end of her agency.

Cecily is revealed as the chapter's true antagonist. Throughout the scene, she plays the role of the caring aunt — comforting Naomi, offering food, proposing a plan to go to the police. But her insistence on bringing