Detective Santoro in The Coworker: Investigative Drive and Moral Ambiguity

Overview

Detective Santoro is the lead investigator assigned to Dawn Schiff’s disappearance and murder in Freida McFadden’s The Coworker. From his first appearance at Dawn’s bloody house to the climactic public arrest of Natalie Farrell, Santoro embodies the relentless, intuitive cop who trusts his gut. He is methodical, uses psychological pressure, and carries a personal history with bullying that colors his interaction with suspects. While Santoro believes he has caught the killer, the novel’s twists reveal that his evidence was planted—making him both a symbol of justice and an instrument of wrongful accusation.

Plot Role

Santoro enters the story when Natalie calls 911 after discovering blood in Dawn’s living room (Chapter 7). He immediately begins questioning Natalie about her relationship with Dawn and her whereabouts the previous night. His role expands through several key scenes:

• First interrogation (Chapter 14): He questions Natalie in the conference room, revealing he traced the call to Dawn’s line as internal and that her fingerprints are on two knives and a wine glass. He also shows a photo of a gap in Dawn’s turtle figurine collection.
• Confrontation at Natalie’s house (Chapter 21): He presses Natalie about bullying and her affair with Seth, then reveals Dawn’s body has been found.
• Evidence gathering (Chapter 34): After Caleb admits he left early, Santoro obtains a search warrant and conducts a house search while sharing his own bullying story.
• Arrest (Chapter 44): In front of news cameras at the charity 5K, he arrests Natalie for Dawn’s murder.

Though his investigation points to Natalie, the epilogue shows that Dawn orchestrated the framing. Santoro never learns the full truth, and his case collapses into an unsolved murder (Tara Wilkes) and a mutual blackmail pact.

Motivations and Traits

Santoro’s actions reveal several consistent traits:

• Thoroughness: He traces phone records, checks fingerprints, interviews every employee, and follows up on Dawn’s emails.
• Intuition and skepticism: He quickly senses that Natalie is lying about her alibi. His repeated phrase “I’ll figure it out eventually” reflects his confidence in his instincts.
• Psychological insight: He uses guilt-inducing pauses and personal anecdotes to unsettle suspects. In Chapter 42, he shares his own experience of being bullied, perhaps to forge a connection or to gauge Natalie’s empathy.
• Moral bias: Santoro’s past bullying predisposes him to see Natalie—who coworkers describe as a bully—as guilty. This is an interpretation based on his comment, “Adults … ought to know better … plenty of adults out there are still bullies.” The novel never confirms that this backstory clouds his judgment, but the parallel is strong.

Chronological Arc

Relationships

• With Natalie Farrell: Adversarial. Santoro suspects her immediately and never wavers. He treats her with professional politeness but underlying accusation. Their interactions are tense, with Natalie becoming increasingly defensive.
• With Seth Hoffman: Cooperative but not confiding. Seth provides office access and confirms details, but Santoro keeps his theories to himself, as seen when Seth reveals Santoro told him about the embezzlement email.
• With Caleb McCullough: Informant. Caleb initially lies for Natalie but later tells Santoro the truth, which destroys Natalie’s alibi and leads to the search warrant. Santoro uses this leverage effectively.

Key Decisions and Consequences

• Using the business card for fingerprints: He obtains Natalie’s prints without her explicit consent (though legally via a voluntarily given card). This yields evidence that ties her to the crime scene.
• Pressing Caleb to change his story: By grilling Caleb (Chapter 16), Santoro gets him to admit he left at 9:30 PM. This removes Natalie’s alibi and provides probable cause for a warrant.
• Arresting Natalie publicly: He chooses the 5K race to make the arrest, maximizing humiliation. This suggests a desire for public accountability but also risks prejudicing the case.
• Not pursuing alternative leads: Santoro never considers Dawn’s possible survival or the role of Tara Wilkes. This tunnel vision is a flaw, though understandable given the planted evidence.

Theme and Symbol Connections

Santoro anchors several of the novel’s central themes:

• Deception and Framing: His investigation is built on false evidence (the bloody turtle planted by Dawn). His confidence in forensic evidence illustrates how easily a frame can work.
• Workplace Bullying: Santoro’s bullying story (Chapter 42) parallels Natalie’s treatment of Dawn. He empathizes with the victim, but his bias may prevent him from seeing Dawn as capable of violence. This connects to the theme that adult bullies exist on both sides.
• Guilt and Remorse: Santoro shows no remorse after arresting Natalie; the epilogue implies he never reopens the case. This absence of a reckoning underscores the novel’s cynical view of justice.
• Revenge: Dawn’s successful frame-job makes Santoro an unwitting tool of revenge. His arrest becomes the culmination of her plan, not a search for truth.

5 Book-Specific Questions and Answers

1. Why does Santoro suspect Natalie from the very first interview?
Fact: He finds her fingerprints on evidence and learns the call to Dawn’s office was internal. Interpretation: He also picks up on her defensive body language and her use of the past tense when referring to Dawn, which he remarks on (Chapter 14). These details, combined with the lack of a solid alibi, fuel his suspicion.

2. What evidence does Santoro gather that most strongly implicates Natalie?
Fact: He obtains her fingerprints on two knives and a wine glass at Dawn’s house, the internal phone call, her admission that she was not with Caleb the whole night, and the later discovery of the embezzlement email. The bloody ceramic turtle—later found in Natalie’s laundry and destroyed—is the murder weapon, but Santoro never recovers it because Natalie disposes of it. The most damning evidence from his perspective is the broken alibi.

3. How does Santoro’s personal history with bullying influence his investigation?
Fact: In Chapter 42, he tells Natalie, “I got bullied when I was in school. … Adulterers … They ought to know better.” Interpretation: This confession suggests he views Natalie’s alleged bullying of Dawn as a character flaw that points to murderous intent. It may make him more determined to prove her guilt.

4. Why does Santoro choose to arrest Natalie during the charity 5K race?
Fact: The arrest occurs in front of news cameras and the crowd. Interpretation: Santoro likely wants maximum public exposure to pressure Natalie and to send a message. It also aligns with his psychological approach—he humiliates her, similar to how a bully might. The novel does not state his motive, but the scene echoes his own bullying story.

5. Does Santoro ever discover the truth about Dawn’s survival and Tara’s murder?
Fact: In the epilogue, one year later, Tara’s murder remains unsolved, and Dawn and Natalie maintain a blackmail agreement. Santoro is not mentioned, implying he never reopens the case. Interpretation: He probably accepts his arrest of Natalie as a closed case, unaware of the deeper conspiracy. This reinforces the theme that official justice can be easily misled.

Conclusion

Detective Santoro is a well-drawn investigator whose competence is simultaneously his greatest strength and his tragic flaw. His dogged pursuit of Natalie moves the plot forward and creates tension, but his reliance on planted evidence and his emotional bias prevent him from seeing the larger picture. In the world of The Coworker, he is both the enforcer of order and a pawn in Dawn’s elaborate revenge. His character reminds readers that even the most thorough detective can be fooled when the truth is carefully hidden.

For a deeper look at the story’s twists, read the ending explained or explore related themes like revenge, workplace bullying, and deception and framing. You can also visit the main book page for summaries and discussion questions.