Chapter 10 (Chapter 11) – 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

Lo Blacklock lies awake in her hotel room at the Hotel du Lac, tormented by jet lag and by the story Carrie told her in Suite 11. She replays Carrie’s terrified account of Marcus Leidmann and the tripod in the dark, and wrestles with the question of whether she owes Carrie anything. Lo acknowledges that Carrie saved her life but also caused the trouble that led to that moment. She concludes she is not acting out of debt but out of principle: she cannot walk away from a woman in danger, just as she could not on the Aurora ten years ago.

Exhaustion finally pulls her into a nightmare that reimagines her trauma on the Aurora – trapped in a cabin, weighed down by blankets, pounding at the door. The pounding turns real: Ben Howard is shouting through her hotel-room door. It is nearly 10:30 a.m.; Lo has slept through her alarm and missed breakfast. The press group is about to leave for a foraging trip. She showers in a panic and joins Ben, Cole Lederer, and a food Instagrammer named Kelly in a Land Rover.

The driver takes them through Swiss countryside toward a forest. They pass a sign that reads “No trespassing. Hunting forbidden,” but gunshots ring out – presumably the hunting party that includes Marcus Leidmann. A guide named Gottfried leads the group deep into the woods, identifying dozens of fungi. Lo is famished after missing breakfast. When Gottfried announces they will meet the hunting party for lunch, Lo is relieved.

At the rustic picnic, Lo finally meets Marcus Leidmann. He is older than she expected – perhaps seventy-five – but handsome, with a Donald Sutherland quality. He knows who she is: he has read her book Dark Waters and compliments her writing. They begin a formal interview, but Marcus turns the tables by asking about her children, Eli and Teddy – information Lo had not shared. Uneasy, she tries to steer the conversation toward his late wife, Elke. Marcus dismisses Elke as a “limited person” focused only on home and child. Lo presses further: “How did she die?” At that moment, Adeline LeBlanc interrupts with an urgent business matter. Marcus leaves abruptly, calling his son Pieter to join him. Before driving off, Marcus says, “Do give my regards to your children – and your husband. Judah Lewis of the New York Times?” The comment feels like a veiled threat. Lo is left wondering which version of Marcus is real: the charming businessman, the monster Carrie described, or the power-hungry man who just warned her.

Key Events

Lo lies awake debating whether to help Carrie, concluding she acts not from debt but because it is the right thing.
Lo dreams a version of her Aurora trauma, now with a man’s voice at the door.
Ben Howard wakes Lo; she oversleeps and rushes to join the foraging trip.
The group forages for mushrooms in the woods; gunshots are heard nearby.
Lo meets Marcus Leidmann at the picnic lunch.
Marcus compliments Lo’s writing and asks about her children, unnerving her.
Lo asks about Marcus’s wife; he dismisses her as a “limited person.”
Adeline LeBlanc interrupts, citing an urgent business deal.
Marcus leaves, calling Pieter to join him; he makes a pointed remark about Lo’s family.
Lo questions which version of Marcus is authentic.

Character Development

Lo Blacklock – This chapter deepens Lo’s internal conflict. She acknowledges her own flaws – her inability to walk away from trouble, her distrust of Carrie – yet commits to helping because of her moral compass. The dream revisits her Aurora trauma, showing that past experience still shapes her present decisions. Her interview with Marcus also exposes her vulnerability: she is caught off-guard by his knowledge of her family, and her journalistic composure cracks.

Marcus Leidmann – He is introduced in person, and the portrayal is deliberately ambiguous. He appears cultured, charming, and self-aware, but his confession that “power is the only thing worth having” aligns with Carrie’s accusations. His knowing reference to Lo’s children feels menacing, and his dismissive description of his wife suggests emotional detachment.

Ben Howard – He appears briefly, annoyed at being woken and then annoyed that Cole helps Lo with her seatbelt. His annoyance may hint at lingering jealousy or competitiveness.

Pieter Leidmann – He is humiliated by his father in public over his meager hunting bag. This reinforces the power imbalance in their relationship and explains some of Pieter’s earlier reluctance about his father’s activities.

Themes, Symbols, or Motifs

Power and Control – Marcus openly declares that power is his driving force. His ability to interrupt Lo’s interview, summon his son, and casually mention her children demonstrates the reach of that power. The gunshots in the forest and the “no trespassing” signs highlight that Marcus’s domain is off-limits to outsiders.

Truth and Perception – Lo must reconcile three conflicting versions of Marcus: the businessman, the monster, and the man in front of her. The chapter emphasizes that people are not what they seem; even Lo’s own past is reimagined in her dream.

Debt versus Morality – Lo explicitly rejects the idea that she owes Carrie. Instead, she frames her choice as a moral imperative, one rooted in her inability to abandon another woman in danger – a pattern that began on the Aurora.

Past Trauma – The dream sequence shows that Lo’s experience on the Aurora still haunts her. The revision of the dream (with a man’s voice at the door) suggests that her current situation is triggering new variations of that old fear.

Foraging and Appearances – The mushroom-gathering activity serves as a metaphor: what looks edible may be poisonous, and what seems safe can be deadly. Lo’s confusion about which mushrooms are which mirrors her confusion about Marcus’s true nature.

Why This Chapter Matters

This chapter marks Lo’s first direct confrontation with Marcus Leidmann, the antagonist. It validates Carrie’s warnings – Marcus indeed knows intimate details about Lo’s life and is willing to use them. The interrupted interview, cut short when Lo asks about Elke’s death, suggests a hidden wound or secret in Marcus’s past. The chapter also solidifies Lo’s commitment to helping Carrie, raising the stakes: helping Carrie will likely put Lo’s own family at risk. Finally, the chapter deepens the psychological thriller atmosphere by blurring the line between predator and prey – Lo is now being watched as much as she is watching.

Study Questions and Answers

1. Why does Lo decide to help Carrie despite not trusting her?

Lo decides to help because she cannot walk away from another woman in danger. She explicitly rejects the idea that she owes Carrie; instead, she acts out of a personal moral code. Her experience on the Aurora taught her what powerful men will do, and she refuses to leave Carrie to that fate. She knows herself well enough to recognize that inaction would destroy her conscience.

2. How does Marcus Leidmann’s admission that “power is the only thing worth having” affect Lo’s view of him?

The open confession unsettles Lo because it matches Carrie’s description of a man who believes he has “the power of life and death” over her. Until that moment, Lo was unsure whether to believe Carrie. Marcus’s words, delivered with a cold smile, make it harder to dismiss Carrie’s story and raise Lo’s fear that she might be dealing with a genuine predator.

3. What is the significance of the interrupted interview just as Lo asks about Elke’s death?

The interruption feels too conveniently timed to be a coincidence. Adeline LeBlanc’s arrival the moment Lo asks a sensitive question suggests that Marcus is being protected – either by his staff or by his own design. The incident hints that Elke’s death may be a painful or incriminating topic, one Marcus does not want explored. It also leaves Lo (and the reader) with a dangling question that will likely be answered later.