Chapter summaries The Eyes Are the Best Part Monika Kim

Chapter 72 Summary, Key Events, 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 final chapter opens with the immediate aftermath of the night’s violence. Police officers drag Geoffrey Miller away in handcuffs while he talks rapidly, trying to explain himself, but they ignore him. Shortly afterward, George Taylor’s body is wheeled out, covered with a white sheet. A young police officer approaches the narrator, Miss Lim, and asks if she is able to answer questions. She agrees, though she first asks whether George is okay. The officer grimly informs her that George is deceased and that her mother has not yet been notified.

Miss Lim explains that she had been sleeping when Geoffrey woke her, standing over her with a knife and threatening to do to her what he had done to George. She says she pressed an emergency button in response. The officer shows her a clear plastic bag containing the knife and asks if she recognizes it as the weapon Geoffrey used. She confirms it is. The officer then raises a discrepancy: Geoffrey claims that Miss Lim called him that evening and told him to meet her there, and he showed the police a call from her at 9:47 p.m. Miss Lim acknowledges the call, explaining that Geoffrey had been calling her ten to twenty times a day and sending hundreds of texts. She says she called him to ask him to stop, and she feigns regret, asking whether George would still be alive if she had kept quiet. The officer reassures her that this is not her fault, describing Geoffrey as mentally unstable and violent, and says something like this was bound to happen regardless.

After the officer leaves, Miss Lim’s internal monologue reveals the truth: the knife used to kill George is covered in Geoffrey’s fingerprints. A search of Geoffrey’s home will uncover her pocket knife, which will be a forensic match to her three previous victims. Because Geoffrey had been following her, police will be able to ping his cell phone locations and place him near the murder sites, many miles from his home in the Valley. She concludes that the case is a no-brainer, an open-and-shut case.

Key Events

  • Geoffrey is arrested and taken away in handcuffs, still trying to talk his way out.
  • George’s body is removed, covered with a sheet.
  • A young officer questions Miss Lim about the night’s events.
  • Miss Lim learns George is dead and that her mother has not yet been told.
  • She claims she woke to Geoffrey threatening her with a knife and pressed an emergency button.
  • The officer shows her the knife; she confirms it is the one Geoffrey used.
  • The officer mentions Geoffrey’s claim that she called him; she admits to the call but explains it was to ask him to stop his harassment.
  • The officer reassures her that the incident is not her fault.
  • Miss Lim privately reflects on the forensic evidence that will frame Geoffrey: his fingerprints on the murder weapon, her pocket knife found in his home, and his phone location data placing him near the murders.

Character Development

This chapter completes the portrait of Miss Lim as a calculating and ruthless protagonist. Throughout the novel she has been driven by a need for control and a distorted sense of justice, and here she executes her final, most elaborate deception. She performs the role of a traumatized victim with precision—asking about George, expressing shock, and even manufacturing guilt by asking if she is to blame. Her ability to manipulate the officer’s sympathy shows a deep understanding of how people perceive vulnerability. The chapter also reveals her cold pragmatism: she does not mourn George, but instead focuses on the forensic details that will seal Geoffrey’s fate. Her internal monologue is devoid of remorse, presenting the framing as a logical, inevitable outcome.

Geoffrey, though physically present only briefly, is shown as desperate and ineffectual. His wheedling and cajoling are ignored, and his claim that Miss Lim called him is easily dismissed once she explains the context of harassment. The officer’s assessment of Geoffrey as “mentally unstable and extremely violent” reinforces the narrative Miss Lim has constructed. The young officer himself is a minor but telling character: he is sympathetic, professional, and entirely convinced by Miss Lim’s performance, representing the institutional gullibility that she exploits.

Themes, Symbols, or Motifs

The chapter is built around the theme of framing an innocent man. Miss Lim has not only committed murders but has engineered the evidence to point to Geoffrey, turning him into a scapegoat. This is a subversion of justice, as the legal system is shown to be easily misled by circumstantial evidence and a convincing victim.

Manipulation of forensic evidence is central. Miss Lim knows that fingerprints, a hidden weapon, and phone location data will all implicate Geoffrey. She has deliberately planted her pocket knife in his home and used his stalking behavior to place him near the crime scenes. The chapter highlights how forensic evidence can be manufactured to tell a false story.

The motif of control over narrative appears throughout. Miss Lim controls the story she tells the officer, and she also controls the physical evidence. She is the author of the “open-and-shut case,” and the chapter emphasizes her satisfaction in that authorship.

Exploiting a stalker’s obsession is another theme. Geoffrey’s relentless calls and texts, his weekly visits to the hospital, and his following of Miss Lim all become tools for her. She uses his obsession to create a plausible motive and opportunity, turning his own behavior against him.

Finally, the chapter explores self-preservation through deception. Miss Lim’s actions are entirely self-serving; she has no concern for George’s death or for the injustice done to Geoffrey. Her survival depends on maintaining the illusion of innocence, and she does so with chilling efficiency.

Why This Chapter Matters

This is the novel’s climax and resolution, where the protagonist’s long-planned scheme comes to fruition. It matters because it completes the arc of Miss Lim’s transformation from a victim of trauma into a perpetrator who actively subverts justice. The chapter also forces readers to confront the uncomfortable reality that the protagonist is not a hero but a cunning murderer who has successfully framed an innocent man. The ending is deliberately unsettling: there is no comeuppance, no revelation of the truth. Instead, the reader is left with Miss Lim’s confident assertion that the case is open-and-shut, implying that she will get away with her crimes. This matters thematically because it challenges conventional expectations of justice and morality, leaving the reader to sit with the ambiguity of a protagonist who is both sympathetic in her backstory and monstrous in her actions.

Study Questions and Answers

1. How does Miss Lim manipulate the police officer’s perception of her during the interrogation?

She presents herself as a shocked and vulnerable victim. She asks about George’s condition, expresses distress, and even suggests that her call to Geoffrey might have caused the tragedy. By framing her call as an attempt to stop harassment, she turns Geoffrey’s own behavior into evidence against him. The officer’s sympathy is a direct result of her performance, which makes her appear credible and innocent.

2. What specific pieces of forensic evidence does Miss Lim rely on to frame Geoffrey, and why are they convincing?

She relies on three pieces: Geoffrey’s fingerprints on the murder weapon, her pocket knife found in his home (which matches her previous victims), and his cell phone location data placing him near the murder sites. These are convincing because they are physical and traceable, and they align with the narrative of Geoffrey as a violent stalker. The fingerprints directly link him to George’s death, the knife ties him to the earlier murders, and the phone data establishes opportunity.

3. How does the chapter subvert the idea of a “just” ending?

The chapter subverts justice by showing the legal system being fooled. The police believe they have solved the case, but they have actually arrested an innocent man while the true killer walks free. Miss Lim’s internal monologue reveals that she is fully aware of the deception and feels no remorse. The ending offers no moral resolution, leaving the reader to question whether the protagonist’s actions can ever be justified, and whether the system is capable of finding the truth when evidence is deliberately manipulated.

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