Chapter 9 Summary

Chapter nine opens as Sophie is leaving Claire's. She is moving quickly and becomes apprehensive. She reaches a phone booth and calls Francis; he doesn't answer. Then she calls Charlie and his son Stuart answers, but she asks to speak to his wife Ruth. The two chat a bit and Sophie says she's upset about Charlie and Otto's split. Ruth is not, arguing that they were keeping each other dependent, like children. Sophie runs out of money for the payphone and is unable to finish the conversation. She goes home and begins to get nervous about her cat bite, which leads her to finally call some hospitals. After making the calls, she sits in a corner and drinks some whiskey, and then she sees the cat that bit her outside of her window.

Otto gets home and sees Sophie crying silently in the...