The only police detective in Sterling and Alex’s romantic interest. Patrick is skilled and dedicated to this job, and he has a deep sense of justice. He is also a devoted romantic partner to Alex, as he is kind, chivalrous, and charming. After saving Josie during the school shooting he develops a particular attachment to her, which causes him to constantly worry about her. He is also the only adult who manages to get through to her during the traumatized aftermath of the event. Toward the end of the novel, Patrick begins to suspect that someone else shot Matt, and realizes this conclusively just before Josie makes her confession. At the novel’s conclusion, he and Alex are expecting a child.
Get the entire Nineteen Minutes LitChart as a printable PDF.
Patrick Duharme Character Timeline in Nineteen Minutes
The timeline below shows where the character Patrick Duharme appears in Nineteen Minutes. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Part 1, Chapter 1: March 6, 2007
Patrick Ducharme is the only detective on the Sterling police force. One of the patrol officers...
(full context)
Patrick sits in his car, waiting to bring a vial of cocaine that he seized from...
(full context)
Patrick runs through the school. He can see blood, smell urine, and hear gunshots in the...
(full context)
As other officers take the boy away, Patrick looks at the two bodies lying on the floor. One is a boy wearing a...
(full context)
Part 1, Chapter 3: Hours After
The shooting at Sterling High is the worst sight Patrick has ever witnessed in his career. He sees EMTs crouch over a girl whom he...
(full context)
...longer control his body and he tumbles down onto the ground two stories below. Meanwhile, Patrick shows Diana Leven, who works at the attorney general’s office, through the gymnasium. He explains...
(full context)
...in a daze. Meanwhile, Lacy has arrived at the police station, still wearing her scrubs. Patrick notes that she doesn’t “look like a person who’d created a monster.” Lacy says she...
(full context)
In the cell where Peter is being held, Patrick offers him coffee. Peter is crying softly. When Patrick asks if he wants food or...
(full context)
Dr. Guenther Frankenstein, the state medical examiner, is a former Mr. Universe. He and Patrick are friendly, and they occasionally hang out over beers. Now, Guenther crouches over the body...
(full context)
...lying there, Guenther observes that he is the only victim who has been shot twice. Patrick notes that the victim had four guns: one was in his hand, one on the...
(full context)
Having overseen all the initial work that needed to take place at Sterling High, Patrick drives over to the medical center and asks a nurse if he can see a...
(full context)
Outside in the hallway, Patrick feels overwhelmed by horror. Alex comes out and curses him for telling Josie about Matt....
(full context)
Part 1, Chapter 5: The Day After
...string of lies.” Meanwhile, Sterling High has been turned into a “spiderweb” of white lines. Patrick steps over them, thinking about gathering the testimony of the crime’s 1,026 witnesses.
(full context)
Patrick falls asleep at a traffic light, immediately having a nightmare that he is a student...
(full context)
When Patrick arrives at Alex Cormier’s door, he is surprised by how young she looks. Frostily, Alex...
(full context)
Josie tells Patrick that the whole day of the shooting has been blanked out in her memory; Patrick...
(full context)
...Peter, determined not to let go until the officers wrench her away from him. Meanwhile, Patrick watches the surveillance footage from the shooting and is horrified to see Peter sitting down...
(full context)
Patrick goes to see the tech workers whose job it is to search computers for criminal...
(full context)
Part 1, Chapter 7: Ten Days After
...and asks, “How the hell can you sleep at night, knowing you’re defending that sonofabitch?” Patrick intervenes, calming Mark down.
(full context)
...as her own foolishness, Alex rushes to Josie, telling her they will go straight home. Patrick, meanwhile, goes to see Ed McCabe’s sister Joan, who mentions that Ed was gay. She...
(full context)
Patrick asks Natalie if Peter ever came to a GLAAD meeting, and Natalie says he did,...
(full context)
...ok. She calls an hour-long recess and goes outside to smoke a cigarette. She finds Patrick there, who speaks to her in a surprisingly flirtatious manner. She notices that he has...
(full context)
...replies that he will be the first to do so. Meanwhile, at the police station, Patrick is playing the computer game that Peter created. It is set in Sterling High, and...
(full context)
Part 1, Chapter 9: One Month After
Patrick is visiting Philip O’Shea, Ed McCabe’s partner. He asks Philip if Ed ever mentioned Peter,...
(full context)
Patrick has called Josie to the police station to ask her “a few more questions.” Josie...
(full context)
When Josie emerges from her conversation with Patrick in tears, Alex feels furious. Yet when Alex tries to comfort her daughter, Josie snaps,...
(full context)
As Alex opens the fire door to go outside for a cigarette, it accidentally hits Patrick. She asks him, “off the record,” if Josie seemed okay when Patrick interviewed her. Patrick...
(full context)
...closet, she’s found a “trove of treasures,” mementoes from across Josie’s life. On Wednesday night, Patrick is at the Golden Dragon, waiting for his usual takeout order when he spots a...
(full context)
...who has “lawyer written all over him” approaches them, greeting Alex and introducing himself to Patrick as Whit Hobart. He feels horrified that this is who Alex is dating, even though...
(full context)
...Alex is furious, desperate to protect her daughter from the pain this would cause. Meanwhile, Patrick overhears that an officer is planning to go to the courthouse and offers to drive...
(full context)
...she sometimes struggles with the expectation that, as a judge, she should always be perfect. Patrick offers words of support, saying everyone experiences similar struggles and that Alex shouldn’t be afraid...
(full context)
...rings unexpectedly, and when Josie goes to answer it, she panics at the sight of Patrick. However, to her surprise he is holding a bottle of wine—and to her even greater...
(full context)
Downstairs, Alex and Patrick initially speak in a warm, flirtatious manner. However, Alex asks Patrick to describe the state...
(full context)
Part 2, Chapter 1: Five Months After
Alex and Patrick have now been dating for four months, and Alex feels as if he has entered...
(full context)
Once Alex is down in the kitchen, Josie reveals that she knows Patrick stayed over. Alex says she will break up with Patrick if Josie doesn’t want them...
(full context)
Josie is just about to leave the cemetery when she runs into Patrick. He points out that Alex thinks Josie is tutoring right now, but he says that...
(full context)
Patrick and Diana discuss the guns Peter used to commit the shooting. Diana tells Patrick that...
(full context)
Alex has made “barbecued lasagna” for Josie and Patrick, who examine the meal suspiciously. Alex enthusiastically explains that she burned the lasagna, but decided...
(full context)
When Alex comes back downstairs, she tells Patrick that she’s going to attend the trial. She asks him why Josie is still alive,...
(full context)
...knows she won’t be allowed in the courtroom, but she says she can wait with Patrick because he is also sequestered. When Jordan gets to court, he sees a man in...
(full context)
...as if they’ve never met. When she says her name, he struggles to pronounce it. Patrick comes to check on Josie, pulling her away from Drew and John. Patrick admits he...
(full context)
Part 2, Chapter 3: Five Months After
While Patrick is giving his testimony, he is forced to relive “the worst day of his life.”...
(full context)
Patrick explains that there is a partial print on Gun B that is inconclusive; it might...
(full context)
...panics, but Selena gently says she has no choice; Jordan will be calling on her. Patrick observes that this is Jordan’s last-ditch attempt to save the case.
(full context)
That night after Josie falls asleep, Patrick comes over and Alex explains that Josie revealed that Matt shot at Peter first in...
(full context)
The next morning, Diana requests that the session not begin until Patrick can get there, as he has important evidence to add to the case that may...
(full context)
Part 2, Chapter 5: Five Months After
...Alex’s secretary grabs her, telling her she’s “not safe here right now.” In this moment Patrick arrives; he sees Alex trying to get to Josie and wants to help, but he...
(full context)
Part 2, Chapter 6: March 6, 2008
...to the floor as a memorial to Peter’s ten victims. Alex is pregnant; she and Patrick are at the school for the ceremony. She observes how the school doesn’t look the...
(full context)
