35. July 4, 2021
Summary
- Rodney Harris, the chef of the family, is caring for his wife Emily, who is in severe sciatic pain.
- Emily rates her pain as a twelve on a scale of one to ten, indicating extreme discomfort.
- Rodney is preparing garlic-butter lamb chops for dinner and believes their captive, the Dahl girl, in the basement, can smell the cooking.
- He brings a bottle of Diet Pepsi to the captive, Bonnie Dahl, which appears to be tampered with glue concealing a hypodermic needle hole.
- Dahl is thirsty and hungry, having only eaten liver recently, and drinks the Pepsi with suspicion.
- Rodney does not intend to feed her more as he wants her to die with a "pure liver" and an empty stomach.
- After drinking the tampered soda, Dahl quickly feels the effects of what is revealed to be a strong dose of Valium.
- As she weakens and collapses, Rodney admits to doing this because he loves his wife and himself.
- Upstairs, Emily is in pain, and Rodney reassures her that Dahl is sedated and that he plans to use more sedative to be safe.
- Emily is concerned about the quality of her "meat" and "liver," clearly showing they have sinister intentions for Dahl.
- Rodney goes back downstairs, checks that Dahl is genuinely unconscious, and injects her wrist with more sedative.
- He contemplates the practicality of having utilitarian fixtures like an elevator while acknowledging the difficulty in explaining their situation to installers.
- Convinced Dahl is sedated enough, Rodney opens the cell, drags her to an adjacent room with an operating table, and prepares for surgery.
- Rodney struggles with lifting Dahl onto the table, motivated by the thought of relieving Emily's pain.
- Despite the struggles and risks, Rodney successfully restrains Dahl to the table.
- The chapter concludes with Rodney preparing to harvest Dahl's organs, thinking back on a previous victim and their own struggles with moral dilemmas and practical considerations of their actions.