When Will There Be Good News?: Arma Virumque Cano Summary & Analysis

Reggie wakes Jackson with breakfast. Jackson was baffled last night when a taxi brought them to a house that’s mere yards from the train crash. Reggie, with her “overheated imagination,” has convinced Jackson to check out the whereabouts of Joanna’s mysterious aunt before going home to London. Jackson feels like “a tired old dog” and isn’t sure how he will manage. But he figures he has “enough women on his conscience without adding another one to the tally.” Reggie has withdrawn her life savings, and Jackson tells her that he’s rich and will pay her back.

A cranky woman at the car rental agency has to be talked into renting them the only vehicle that Jackson can drive one-handed, his other arm being in a sling. Reggie has dabbed makeup on Jackson’s many bruises, but Jackson still looks like a criminal on the run. They had considered taking the train instead, but as soon as they got to Waverley Station, Jackson had a panic attack. He’s beginning to remember bits and pieces from the crash. Reggie coaches him through it, telling him, “We’re all survivors, Mr. B.”

Jackson and Reggie finally talk the rental agent into renting them the car, despite their lack of a credit card. Reggie helps him shift gears. He feels nervous with her there, “half child, half unstoppable force of nature.” Sadie curls up on the backseat. Reggie delights in navigating, but Jackson, hopped up on painkillers, is barely hanging on. When they reach the junction at Scots Corner, Jackson remembers passing this place on his way to Hawes the previous Wednesday. He’s back where he started. At that moment, he overcompensates on the turn, clips two cars, and winds up on the verge, facing the wrong direction.

A short time later, Jackson is taking a breathalyzer test while all the dazed but uninjured passengers sit by the road. Reggie gloomily concludes that she attracts bad things. The police officer inspects Jackson’s license and looks suspiciously at Reggie. Moments later, two officers flatten him to the ground. Reggie jumps up and down and yells, like “a Jack Russell fending off a pack of Dobermans,” but pretty soon Jackson is under arrest. “He couldn’t think why, but somehow it didn’t surprise him.”

Jackson sits between two officers in the emergency room at Darlington. An officer explains that he’s under arrest for failure to comply with the conditions of his release from prison. Jackson feebly tries to explain that he’s not Andrew Decker. Suddenly his phone rings, and it’s Louise, but the officer takes it away from him before they can speak. Half an hour later, she appears in person and convinces the police to let her have him. Reggie appears and greets her. “We all know each other? How’s that for a coincidence?” Jackson says, “A coincidence is just an explanation waiting to happen.” Louise says, “Shut it, sunshine.”