Chapter 7 Summary, Analysis, and Key Themes

⚠️ Spoiler Warning: This guide contains detailed spoilers for the entire novel. Proceed only if you've finished reading or are comfortable knowing the plot.

If you're ready, let's dive in.

This chapter is a turning point in the novel, shifting the story from a missing-persons mystery into a full-blown murder investigation. Here's what happens, what it means, and why it matters.

Summary

The chapter opens in a Glasgow hospital in May 2024, where Clem is recovering from something (the exact reason isn't specified here, but she's clearly unwell). Two police officers arrive: Detective Constable Sanger, a somber man in his late fifties, and Detective Constable Stephanie Dorrit, who introduces herself as the family liaison officer. They ask to speak with Clem about Erin's trip to Orkney.

Clem explains that Erin took a DNA test a few years ago and discovered a strong genetic link to Orkney, which sparked her desire to trace her ancestors there. Erin and her boyfriend Arlo had been together for about a year, though Erin had kept the relationship secret from her mother. They left on April 21st, taking a train to Scrabster and then a ferry to Stromness, without booking return tickets so Erin could come back early if needed. Clem mentions that Erin has a fifteen-month-old daughter, Freya, and that Erin was anxious about leaving her for three weeks.

Clem recalls the night before Erin left, when she found Erin packing and looking distressed. Erin said, “I’m scared, Mum,” but Clem assumed it was about leaving Freya. She encouraged Erin to go, telling her to have fun and that Freya would be fine. Now, in hindsight, Clem wonders if Erin's fear was about something else entirely.

The detectives press Clem about Erin's past. Clem reveals that Erin became pregnant at seventeen, completely out of the blue. Erin had been a top student with a place at Oxford to study Politics and Philosophy, but she bombed her Highers and didn't show up for some exams. Clem drove Erin to her father Quinn's house in Wetherby for an emergency family meeting, where Erin announced she was pregnant. When asked who the father was, Erin just shrugged. Clem and Quinn worried she might have been sleeping around or being abused, but Clem now says she doesn't think that was the case. Still, the identity of Freya's father remains unknown.

The detectives ask about any phone calls or messages that might indicate Erin met up with someone else during the trip. Clem says no, but the implication hits her: they're suggesting Erin and Arlo weren't alone.

Clem asks where the incident happened. Sanger tells her it was on the island of Gunn, an unusual spot for teenagers. Gunn has been uninhabited since the 1800s, when it was ravaged by plague, and there's no ferry service. The only way to reach it is to wade across at low tide from the nearby island of Gairsay, which does have a regular ferry. The island has a controversial local history. Erin and Arlo were found on a beach called Fynhallow.

The detectives ask to see Erin's messages from the days leading up to the incident. When Clem asks why, they exchange a glance and reveal that Arlo's hands were bound when he died, and that Senna is still missing. The case is now officially a murder investigation.

Key Events

Police visit Clem in the hospital and question her about Erin's trip.
Clem explains Erin's DNA test and her desire to trace Orkney ancestors.
Erin and Arlo left on April 21st, taking a train and ferry to Orkney, with no return tickets.
Clem recalls Erin's fear the night before departure and her own encouragement to go.
Clem reveals Erin's secret pregnancy at seventeen and the unknown paternity of Freya.
The detectives disclose that the incident occurred on the uninhabited island of Gunn, reachable only by wading from Gairsay at low tide.
Erin and Arlo were found on Fynhallow beach.
Arlo's hands were bound, and Senna is still missing.
The case is upgraded to a murder investigation.

Character Development

Clem is the emotional core of this chapter. Her guilt is palpable: she encouraged Erin to go on the trip, and now she's questioning whether that was a terrible mistake. Her memory of Erin's “I'm scared, Mum” is reframed as a possible warning she failed to heed. Clem's vulnerability is also on display as she struggles to answer the detectives' questions, her voice shaking and her stomach flipping. She's a mother trying to piece together the last moments of her daughter's life while drowning in regret.

Erin is revealed through Clem's recollections as a secretive young woman. She kept her relationship with Arlo hidden, concealed her pregnancy until it was impossible to ignore, and refused to name the father. Her decision to take a DNA test and travel to Orkney suggests a search for identity, but the chapter leaves open whether that search led her into danger.

DC Sanger and Stephanie Dorrit are professional but empathetic. Sanger's pressing questions and the final revelation about the murder investigation show that the police are treating this as a serious crime, not just a missing-persons case. Stephanie's role as family liaison officer provides a human touch, but even she can't soften the blow of the news.

Themes, Symbols, or Motifs

Secrecy and hidden truths dominate this chapter. Erin's secret pregnancy, her unknown lover, her hidden relationship with Arlo, and her unexplained fear all point to a life she kept hidden from her mother. The police investigation is essentially an attempt to uncover what Erin was hiding.

Parental guilt is a powerful motif. Clem's repeated “I encouraged her to go” and her bitter memory of telling Erin to have fun highlight the weight of a parent's decisions. The chapter suggests that even well-intentioned encouragement can have devastating consequences.

Isolation and abandonment are symbolized by the island of Gunn. Uninhabited since the plague, reachable only by wading at low tide, it's a place cut off from the mainland and from help. The island's history of disease and death foreshadows the tragedy that unfolds there.

The unknown father is a lingering mystery. Freya's paternity remains unresolved, and the chapter hints that this might be connected to the events in Orkney. The DNA test that drew Erin to Orkney could also be a link to her past and to the father she never named.

The plague history of Gunn adds a layer of historical dread. The island's abandonment due to disease suggests a place where death is not new, and where the past might still haunt the present.

Why This Chapter Matters

This chapter is a pivotal turning point in The Book of Witching. It transforms the narrative from a simple missing-persons case into a murder investigation, raising the stakes dramatically. The revelation that Arlo's hands were bound and that Senna is still missing introduces a violent, criminal element that was only hinted at earlier.

The chapter also deepens our understanding of Erin's character and her relationship with her mother. Clem's guilt and Erin's secretiveness create a complex emotional landscape that will likely drive the rest of the novel. The island of Gunn, with its plague-ravaged history and isolated location, becomes a symbol of the danger that lurks beneath the surface of Orkney's beauty.

Finally, the chapter sets up several mysteries that will need resolution: Who is Freya's father? What was Erin really afraid of? Why did the teenagers go to such an inaccessible island? And what happened to Senna? These questions propel the reader forward, making this chapter essential to the plot's momentum.

Study Questions and Answers

1. Why does Clem feel guilty about Erin's trip, and what does this reveal about her character?

Clem feels guilty because she encouraged Erin to go to Orkney, telling her to have fun and that Freya would be fine. She now realizes that Erin was scared the night before leaving, and Clem dismissed that fear as simple separation anxiety. This guilt reveals Clem's deep love for her daughter and her tendency to second-guess herself as a parent. It also shows that she's a reflective, emotionally vulnerable person who carries the weight of her decisions.

2. What does the island of Gunn symbolize in this chapter?

Gunn symbolizes isolation, danger, and the lingering presence of death. It's been uninhabited since the 1800s due to plague, and it's only accessible by wading across at low tide from Gairsay. This makes it a place where help is far away and where the past's tragedies echo into the present. The island's history of disease and abandonment foreshadows the violence that occurred there, and its remoteness underscores how vulnerable Erin and Arlo were.

3. How does the revelation that Arlo's hands were bound change the nature of the investigation?

The revelation that Arlo's hands were bound indicates that this was not an accident or a natural death—it was a deliberate act of violence. Combined with Senna's disappearance, it suggests that the teenagers were victims of a crime, possibly involving a third party. This shifts the investigation from a search for missing persons to a murder inquiry, raising the stakes for Clem and the reader alike. It also implies that Erin and Arlo may have met someone on the island, or that someone followed them there, adding a layer of menace to the story.