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Chapter 10
Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in Old God’s Time, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Memory
Grief and Ghosts
Abuse of Institutional Power
Personal Trauma vs. Collective Trauma
Summary
Analysis
The next day, Fleming comes to Tom’s flat to review the case with him. He tells Tom that the assistant commissioner is not standing in their way and Byrne will likely be arrested soon. Tom asks him if they discovered any DNA from the evidence Billy kept; Fleming says no, but that they did find two blood samples. One was a significant quantity of blood that likely belonged to Matthews while the other was a smaller, unidentified amount. Tom’s mind wanders. Fleming asks Tom if he had collected any blood samples, and Tom embarrassingly has to admit that he didn’t. Fleming is disappointed and asks if he didn’t even take a sample from Byrne, but Tom says he can’t remember.
Fleming’s attempt to get more information from Tom serves as another example of Tom’s failing memory. Previously, Tom did not even remember that he investigated the case in question, and now he cannot remember what evidence he collected when he was working on the case. These lapses in memory of course slow progress on the case, but Tom has no ulterior motive, having said in the past that he wants the investigation to push forward. Rather, this moment serves as a reminder that Tom is essentially an unreliable narrator when it comes to the case due to his poor memory.
Themes
Fleming explains to Tom that Byrne recently testified about seeing a man attacking Matthews from a distance on the day of the murder, then later encountering the man again—and recognizing him as a police officer. Fleming insinuates that this man was Tom. Tom denies this, but Fleming warns that Byrne wants to cause trouble now that his arrest is imminent and asks Tom straight-out if he killed Matthews. Tom says no, claiming that he and Billy were called out to the scene from Byrne’s 999 call, and this was the first time he was on the mountain. Fleming asks Tom if he had any connection to Matthews, and Tom says no—which is corroborated by Billy’s famously detailed notes. Fleming is sympathetic but asks Tom to provide a blood sample soon. Tom agrees, but internally he’s reeling.
The tension between Fleming and Tom escalates as Fleming subtly accuses Tom of murder. Since this chapter has already established that Tom’s memory around the case is fuzzy and unreliable, Tom’s denial of being involved is simultaneously difficult to trust and difficult to outright disregard. However, Tom’s claim that he had no connection to Matthews is an overt lie, casting doubt on his credibility. At the same time, Byrne has an ulterior motive in muddying the waters by accusing Tom. In other words, the truth of the case is still deeply tangled and unclear.
Themes
Fleming leaves. Tom wonders what Fleming thinks of the situation, and he thinks that the blood sample will require him to reach back into the past and recover old memories, something he is unsure he is able to do. But he knows exactly what happened. He remembers June asking Tom to let her see Matthews. In the days between her request and the visit, she moved little, sitting in their house like a child waiting to be picked up. When the day came, they tracked down Byrne and Matthews at their house. The two priests left in a car, and June demanded they follow them. Tom was initially in a panic, but when he remembered what Matthews did to June, he lost himself in the thrill of staking out the men. He wondered what June was intending, and whether his gun was in the car.
As Tom retreats back into his memories, the ambiguity of the chapter begins to clear: it turns out that Tom does remember what happened. June’s erratic behavior in this flashback is reminiscent of Tom’s earlier recollections of her beginning to behave strangely, suggesting that the change in her behavior was connected to the reemergence of Matthews in her life. The chapter’s cliffhanger ending introduces a key fact into the case’s story: that rather than Tom going after Matthews alone, June may have also been involved.
Themes
