American Psycho: Detective Summary & Analysis

It’s now August. Bateman is sitting in his office when Jean tells him a Mr. Donald Kimball is here to see him. Bateman tells Jean to tell Kimball that he’s not in, but the man is right outside the door. Bateman puts down the Sports Illustrated he’s been doodling on and picks up the phone, pretending to be in the middle of an important call about fabrics, as Mr. Kimball comes in. When Bateman eventually gets off the phone, the two men both apologize to one another. Kimball tells Bateman that he’s been hired by Paul Owen’s girlfriend to investigate his disappearance, and has been making his rounds talking to all of the men in Owen’s social and work circle. Bateman shows concern and offers Kimball a bottle of San Pellegrino. Kimball refuses, but Bateman insists Jean bring one.

Kimball begins to ask Bateman some basic questions: his age, where he lives, where he went to school. Bateman is nervous, and Kimball notices this. Bateman starts smoking and dry swallows two Nuprin. Kimball begins to ask about Owen, and Bateman manages to tell him only that he ate a well-balanced diet and was involved in “that whole Yale thing” (meaning he was a closeted homosexual). The awkward questioning continues, with Bateman being not entirely helpful in his answers. Kimball brings up Owen’s outgoing voicemail, which said he was going to London. Owen’s girlfriend, however, doesn’t buy this, even though some people have claimed to have seen Owen out and about in London.

Kimball finally asks Bateman if he can tell him where he was on the night of Owen’s disappearance. Bateman makes up a date with a girl, though this doesn’t match what Kimball has heard elsewhere. Kimball asks Bateman the last time he was with Paul Owen, and, again, he makes something up. Finally, Kimball reveals that the item in Owen’s planner the night he disappeared was a dinner with Marcus Halberstam, though Halberstam denies this and has an alibi that checks out clean: Halberstam was out to dinner with a group of men, including Bateman.

The awkward “interrogation” continues, with Kimball bringing up another similar case and then making some strange comments about how the earth just sometimes “opens up and swallows people.” Bateman is finally able to usher Kimball out of the door, feeling both anxious and relieved, and pops a Xanax. A few days later, he bumps into Owen’s girlfriend, though she mentions nothing of the disappearance or investigation.