The Woman in Cabin 10: Chapter 19 Summary & Analysis

Lo goes to the Nobel Suite for her prearranged meeting with Richard Bullmer. She is thrown when Anne Bullmer, with a tear-stained face, answers the door. Lo isn’t sure what to say, finding both the tears and Anne’s gaunt face “unsettling.” She has trouble squaring Anne’s wealth and privilege with her helpless suffering. She finally explains why she’s come, and Anne tells her to find Bullmer in the hot tub or at dinner. Lo feels “shame” when she awkwardly wishes Anne “luck” with her ongoing cancer treatment.

Lo goes outside onto the cold, misty deck and finds Lars, Chloe, Bullmer, and Cole in an enormous Jacuzzi. Lo says she isn’t sure if now is the right time to speak to Bullmer. He replies, “What feels like prudence is almost invariably cowardice—and someone else gets in there before you.” Bullmer orders a champagne for Lo, which she awkwardly accepts, then launches into her story, describing the noises she’d heard from the neighboring cabin last night.

Just as Lo reaches the part of the story where she saw that the blood had disappeared from the glass on the veranda, Cole breaks a champagne glass and cuts his hand. As Bullmer smoothly jumps into action to help the bleeding man and the shaken Chloe, he tells Lo to wait for him in the restaurant, where they’ll run through what she actually saw and heard.