Malcolm doesn’t tell Gwen about the comment on the blog post and ruins the dinner he cooks for himself. He realizes that the commenter’s name comes from The Murder of Roger Ackroyd, and he finds his copy. Then, he thinks about his history with Claire Mallory. She started using drugs while at Boston University and flunked out. Then, she started working at the Redline Bookstore, where she met Malcolm. He fell in love with her immediately, but it was six weeks before he asked her out on a date. They talk about books over drinks, and she warns him that she has issues.

Malcolm thinks back on his two previous girlfriends and how he has trouble misreading women. He told Claire that he is “terrible at nonverbal cues” (70) and to tell him everything. She shared a story about being molested by her middle school science teacher. When they were in a similar intimate position, while she was drunk, he wondered if she thought about the abuse. They elope in Vegas and move to Somerville. Claire took a job at the cable access station, but she didn’t enjoy it, and she became a bartender while taking some classes at Emerson College.