The narrative is in the third person, with the author entering the consciousness of Laura and Anne in alternating chapters. Anne's thinking is complex and conflicted, while Laura's thoughts are expressed in simplistic sentences, characteristic of her single-minded pattern of thought. The suspense and the dramatic irony in the narrative come from the reader's insight into the conflicting motives of the two major characters. The reader knows that this clash of motives will result in tragedy, but cannot predict in what form.