McNamara refers to a pair of cuff links in several places throughout I’ll Be Gone in the Dark. The cuff links become a symbol both for the sense of excitement McNamara feels when she believes she’s discovered a new lead, as well as for the disappointment that washes over her when the lead turns into a red herring.

The cuff links first appear in I’ll Be Gone in the Dark’s Prologue. McNamara describes staying up late one night after her husband and child have gone to sleep. McNamara is going through a list of items the GSK stole from his victims, hoping that one might appear in an online search and provide a lead as to who the killer might be. Though McNamara believes this search to be “grasping at straws,” she is ecstatic to discover what appears to be a stolen pair of cufflinks for sale on a vintage store’s website (5). McNamara is so excited by the discovery that she immediately wakes her sleeping husband. In this instance, the cuff links become emblematic of the sense of exhilaration that overcomes McNamara many times throughout I’ll Be Gone in the Dark, as she excitedly believes she’s finally stumbled onto the GSK’s identity.