The Girl Before

Chapter 14 opens on Jane and Simon at One Folgate Street. Simon is reminiscing about “old times” with Emma, so Jane reminds him “I’m nothing like her” (305). He assures her that he knows that. Jane picks up her phone and says that she’s going to put the necklace back upstairs, and he tells her that she should be resting because she is pregnant. Jane is reminded of Simon saying earlier that alcohol is okay at “fifteen weeks,” and wonders how he knows how many weeks pregnant she is. She starts to go towards the stairs, and he says, “Careful” (306).

Jane gets upstairs and goes into the cleaner’s cupboard, where she tries to call Mia, then Edward, then 9-9-9 (the UK equivalent of of 9-1-1). Each call fails. She goes into the roof space, but there is still no signal. Simon calls to her from downstairs, and she asks him to leave. He finds her in the cupboard. When she won’t come out, he explains that he’s jamming the cellphone signal, and says, “All I wanted was to be with you” (307). Jane tells him that she’s calling the police, and he begins kicking on the door and calling her a liar.