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Chapter 19
Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in The Dry, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
The Human Cost of Climate Change
Justice
Urban vs. Rural
Friendship
Summary
Analysis
Falk comes to Sergeant Raco’s station, where Sullivan is in the interview room. Raco tells Sullivan that Falk will be joining the interrogation and informs Sullivan of his rights. He then asks Sullivan if there’s anything he’d like to change about his statement about having dinner with Gran. Sullivan doesn’t say anything, so Raco reveals that some firefighters came out to Sullivan’s property on the day of the murders after his Gran pushed her panic button.
This chapter picks up an earlier thread, showing how Falk’s earlier intuition was correct: Sullivan was indeed lying about his alibi. Raco’s decision to let Falk into the interrogation room with him once again shows massive trust and how fully the two of them have become partners over their shared desire to try to find out the truth about Luke.
Themes
Sergeant Raco tells Sullivan that the firefighters saw his farm coming from the main road. Sullivan claims he was driving to get some time to think and went near the Hadler farm. Sullivan says he has no reason for keeping this secret, other than he knew it would raise suspicion and he didn’t want the hassle.
Sullivan makes the interesting observation that it was easier to lie than to tell a version of the truth that might sound suspicious. His comment gets at how people’s preconceived ideas can warp their perception of the truth, although it’s also possible Sullivan only says this because he has to cover for himself after Raco catches him in a lie.
Themes
Falk asks if Sullivan knows about Ellie. Sullivan says he moved to town 10 years after her death but knows the basic story. Falk shows Sullivan the photo of the horizontal marks on Luke’s ute and asks if Sullivan knows what caused them. Sullivan suggests rust, but he seems to be lying. Falk and Sergeant Raco finally let Sullivan go, but they wonder if Sullivan is afraid of something even worse than being accused of triple murder. When Falk goes back out to his car, it has a message on the hood: “WE WILL SKIN YOU KILLER SCUM.”
Sullivan remains an elusive character, seemingly providing Falk and Raco with useful information—but also still hiding secrets from Falk and Raco. The message on the hood of Falk’s car seems to suggest an escalation—that Falk’s in danger of more than just taking a punch in a pub fight. Particularly because the message says “WE,” it seems probable that the message comes from Grant and Dow, unless perhaps someone is trying to frame them.
Themes
