Chapter 12 Summary

Otto and Sophie leave for Flynders. She wakes up worrying about whether the cat was rabid and worries further about receiving the phone call which will tell her if the cat is going to be killed. They leave and drive through Queens, a particularly ugly part of town that they dislike. They discuss Charlie, and a Thoreau passage he was interested in. In the story, Otto doesn't take Charlie's fascination seriously and this infuriates Charlie in a way that surprises Otto. Charlie insists that "life is desperate." Otto thinks this is melodramatic, but Sophie agrees with Charlie. They continue to banter about Charlie, and Otto claims that he wants Charlie gone from the firm. This leads Sophie to speculate to herself about how things ended with Francis. She wonders what would have happened had Francis been interested in continuing the relationship.

Otto is...