Devil in a Blue Dress: Chapter 13 Summary & Analysis

When Easy arrives at Daphne’s small duplex, he’s struck by her beauty, which seems almost unreal. He offers her the money he brought for her taxi, but she stops him, asking instead if he will drive her to her friend. Surprised by her willingness to trust a stranger, Easy urges her to take the taxi, but she claims she’s too scared to go alone. She adds that if he won’t help her, she’ll be forced to involve the police—whom Easy is desperate to avoid. Although he suspects she may be deceiving him in some way, something about Daphne’s vulnerability—she’s no older than 22, foreign, and seems deeply troubled—stirs his sympathy. Against his better judgment, he agrees to drive her.

Daphne’s friend, a man named Richard, lives in a small house in Hollywood. Concerned for her safety, Easy insists on accompanying her to the door. Inside, the house is silent, with no sign of Richard in the main rooms. When they enter the bedroom, they discover Richard lying on the bed, dead, a butcher’s knife in his chest. Almost immediately, Easy recognizes Richard as the drunk man who had begged Easy to vouch for him at John’s speakeasy just days earlier.

Daphne rushes to Richard’s car in the carport and loads her suitcase, with Easy following. Her “French” accent is now completely gone. Speaking with a sharp tone and an unmistakably American accent, she panics and urges Easy to leave before the police arrive and pin the blame on him. In the chaos, Easy has no time to dwell on Daphne’s mysteriously shifting identity. Sensing his hesitation, she insists there’s nothing they can do for Richard now and declares her plan to use Richard’s car to buy herself some time. Before she drives away, she passionately kisses Easy, leaving him stunned and captivated. He watches as Daphne and the car disappear into the night.