The Outsider

Samuels describes what happened to Terry as frontier justice, but to Ralph, Terry’s death doesn’t feel like justice. It’s not enough for Ralph that someone be punished: It’s important to go through all the steps to make sure that the right person is punished. He has shown his faith in the legal system by logging the evidence of the fingerprints from Cap City, even though the fingerprints might get Terry acquitted. He believes that if Terry is guilty, the evidence will eventually prove it.

Ralph and Samuels also have different ways of looking at how the case ended, illustrated by the stories of the footprints and of the cantaloupe. Samuels followed Terry’s footprints until they disappeared. This disappearance is inexplicable, so he is prepared to let it go. He is still sure that Terry was the murderer, so the inexplicable details don’t matter. In Ralph’s mind, the case feels more like the worm-infested cantaloupe—perfect on the outside but containing something repellent. It’s not just the details of the case that disturb him; he is disillusioned with himself for having cut corners and contemplated suppression of evidence. Just as he can no longer bear cantaloupe, his career feels tainted. He may not be able to look at himself until he redeems himself by unraveling the mystery and finding the truth.

Grace’s vision of the Play-Doh man signals a shift in the story from a straightforward murder mystery to a supernatural one. Jeannie follows up the change by expanding on the William Wilson story, asking whether William Wilson’s doppelgänger was a material—although not natural—entity or simply Wilson’s alter ego. The story leaves the question open. Jeannie proposes that the Maitland case may be like that, and the William Wilson story does in fact parallel Terry’s, though distortedly. Other people see and interact with Terry’s double, and each time, the real Terry comes out looking worse, but it is the double who commits the crimes. By contrast, the double’s presence drives the “real” William Wilson to crime in Poe’s story. In the end, the original Wilson kills himself while trying to get rid of his double. Terry, too, dies, although he is killed by someone else.

Jeannie’s reference to the Holmes adage toys with the question of the supernatural. In one sense, the adage reinforces Ralph’s material approach because in the Holmes stories, the detective repeatedly faces circumstances that appear to be supernatural but have mundane explanations. Doyle himself, however, believed in the supernatural in the form of fairies and communication with the dead. Ralph’s challenge is to determine what is impossible and what is merely improbable.

Frank Peterson’s suicide attempt provides a second glimpse of the outsider. At this point, King restricts the reader to glimpses on the principle that the unseen is more frightening than the seen. The hanging also raises the stakes further for Ralph. His bungling of the investigation has led to another unnecessary death, and the guilt finally pushes him into action. Facing Marcy requires him to swallow his pride and come face-to-face with the righteous judgment of the woman he wronged. It takes moral courage to face Marcy and to acknowledge his culpability by begging for her help.

The confrontation also shows Marcy to be a person of strength and character. She can put aside her rage and hurt for a greater good. Finding the real killer will almost certainly save other children from Frankie’s fate. This is, in a way, a monument to Terry, who would have done anything in his power to prevent what happened to Frankie from happening again.

The “Tommy and Tuppence” café continues the detective mystery theme. The Tommy and Tuppence stories are lighter and funnier than those involving Agatha Christie’s most famous detectives—Hercule Poirot and Jane Marple. The Tommy and Tuppence restaurant is a minor clue—a stepping stone leading to a larger revelation rather than the revelation itself. A more serious reference might make the clue seem more significant to the story than it really is.

The nagging memory of the yellow strap shows that Ralph’s brain is working on the puzzle in the background while his conscious attention is elsewhere. Even if he makes a conscious decision to abandon the investigation, his own dogged nature is likely to force him to pursue it. However, the introduction of Jack Hoskins, the incompetent detective who despises Ralph, increases the difficulty of getting to the truth. Hoskins will almost certainly bungle any further investigation into the murder. Jack’s hostility to Ralph also hints that Jack may seize any opportunity to undermine Ralph’s goals.

Jack Hoskins immediately demonstrates not just incompetence but also unprofessionalism and moral weakness by stopping for a drink while he should be investigating the scene at the barn. Had he been diligent, he would not have been alone at the barn, and the outsider would not have had the opportunity to poison him with its touch and form a link to his mind. On the other hand, if he had been on the scene when he should have been, his incompetence might have interfered with Detective Sablo collecting the evidence that will help solve the mystery.

Unable to participate in the investigation while on administrative leave, all Ralph can do is sit in Frank Peterson’s room and wrestle with his doubts. For all he knows, the effects of the murder will continue to spread. He is increasingly torn between two impossibilities—that Terry was in two places at once, or that something supernatural has intervened.

Ralph’s subconscious mind is still working on the puzzle, putting pieces together in ways less rational than he would consciously consider. The reference to the scratch on Terry’s wrist has stirred a vague memory of the eyewitness Claude Bolton mentioning that Terry had scratched his hand the night they bumped into each other at the strip club. On a conscious level, Ralph would likely dismiss the two scratches as a meaningless coincidence, but rationality does not constrain his unconscious mind.