Brighton Rock: Part VII, Chapter 2 Summary & Analysis

From the news agent, Pinkie watches Ida stride down the street. Dallow points her out and tells Pinkie he’s had a narrow escape with his mother-in-law. Pinkie does not correct him. He heads back to Frank’s, finding a plastic violet on the stairs. It smells of California Poppy perfume. He picks the flower up and goes to see Rose, asking how it went with her mother. Rose tells him it was fine; she wasn’t in a mood. The flower’s wire stem digs into his palm. Pinkie leaves and finds Dallow again, saying they need to talk. In the basement, Pinkie tells Dallow that people are starting to close in on him.

Pinkie realizes he dropped the fake flower outside his room. He curses his carelessness and tells Dallow that the woman who’d come to see Rose wasn’t her mother but the buer who was with Hale in the taxi the day he died. He wonders why Rose would lie to him, and whether she’s started talking. Dallow doesn’t think she would. Pinkie says they need to do something soon or the whole world will know they killed Hale.

Pinkie tells Dallow they have to find some way of shutting Rose up. Dallow says he needs to stop thinking that way, but Pinkie feels like he’s set events in motion and he has to keep going, that there is no stopping. Dallow reminds Pinkie that Rose is devoted to him, and Pinkie says that will simply make everything easier. Dallow tells Pinkie he will not stand for any more killing, and Pinkie suggests the possibility that Rose will kill herself. The thought gives him a spurt of pride.

Pinkie heads back up to his room and finds Rose waiting for him on the landing at the top of the stairs. She confesses that she lied earlier. It wasn’t her mother she met with; it was Ida. Pinkie feels a momentary sensation of comfort. Maybe he doesn’t have to make a plan for Rose’s death after all. Then he sees the fake flower on the landing to his room and supposes she’s only telling him about Ida now because she realized he knew all along. He doesn’t know if he can trust Rose, but he’s also convinced it doesn’t matter. He’ll take care of things, one way or an other. He reminds Rose of the note she wrote to him about sticking to him no matter what and she tells him she meant it.

Pinkie says he’s not worried; as long as Ida doesn’t find out about Spicer, he’s fine. Rose recoils the slightest bit at this, saying she thought Pinkie was guiltless in Spicer’s death. Pinkie lies and tells her he just doesn’t want Ida to find out he was at Frank’s when it happened. That’s all. He tells Rose not to worry, either. They’ll just keep going on as they are and everything will be fine.