The Partner

“She was tired, but sleep was out of the question. [Patrick] said they’d come looking for her. She could not go home. Her thoughts were not on money, but on him. Was he alive? If so, how much was he suffering? How much had he told them, and at what price?”

Eva Miranda at this point has not been thoroughly corrupted by money. She is still infatuated with Patrick. The more the reality of the situation impacts her, the less romantic he seems.

“‘The rooms next door are empty,’ Guy said, pointing in both directions. ‘So you can listen at full volume.’

‘It’s nasty, I take it,’ Stephano said, staring at the tapes.

‘Pretty sick. I’ll never do it again.’

‘You can leave now.’

‘Good. I’m down the hall if you need me.’ Guy left the room.

Stephano made a call, and a minute later Benny Aricia knocked on the door. They ordered black coffee, and spent the rest of the night listening to Patrick scream in the jungles of Paraguay.

It was Benny’s finest hour.”

This passage explores the theme of Money and Corruption and establishes the characters’ moral quality. The author uses their reactions to torture—ranging from indifferent to uncomfortable to actively sadistic—to contrast with Patrick and keep the reader’s sympathy on Patrick’s side.

“When the money disappeared six weeks later, and the gossip started, Sandy had laughed to himself and wished his buddy well. Run Patrick run, he’d thought many times over the past four years, and always with a smile.”

Sandy is experiencing the universal appeal of the dream of freedom. He doesn’t really want what Patrick achieved, but the thought of Patrick gives him a vicarious satisfaction.