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A couple of questions for Dr. Lucas, Gideon, Eva, Corinne, Magdalene, Christopher & Marriage


Agordon817

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silly me for not editing my profile.  geez.

 

i'm not sure what to think of magdalene.  she's a family friend of gideon's, which puts her in a position of being the girl he "thinks of like a sister".  we all know that girl.  , i've been that girl.  pathetically fallen for a guy who sees their relationship as friendly - sigh.  that girl, unlike corinne's charecter, will settle for whatever relationship she can get with gideon, and if that means she has to be besties with his current fling (be it corrine or eva) she'll do that.  poor thing is screwing his brother for crying out loud!  if that's not taking what she can get i don't know what is.  i don't want to think she's devious. i think she will be incredibly important, though, since she has known gideon for so long.

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silly me for not editing my profile.  geez.

 

i'm not sure what to think of magdalene.  she's a family friend of gideon's, which puts her in a position of being the girl he "thinks of like a sister".  we all know that girl.  , i've been that girl.  pathetically fallen for a guy who sees their relationship as friendly - sigh.  that girl, unlike corinne's charecter, will settle for whatever relationship she can get with gideon, and if that means she has to be besties with his current fling (be it corrine or eva) she'll do that.  poor thing is screwing his brother for crying out loud!  if that's not taking what she can get i don't know what is.  i don't want to think she's devious. i think she will be incredibly important, though, since she has known gideon for so long.

 

Wow, you are on to something about Magdalene possibly being important in the next book. Not only has she know Gideon for a long time, she's known Gideon's mother for a very long time. Still does. Elizabeth Vidal's best friend is Magdalene's mother. It might be foreshadowing that Magdalene tattles to Eva when it's convenient for her. She certainly tattled an awful lot about Corrine. What else might she be willing to reveal to Eva? Especially because Magdalene has every reason to believe Corrine's on top now. And it was always Corrine who was Magdalene's chief rival. If she could stir things up in the Gideon/Corrine department by getting Eva involved in something concerning him, it would be to Magdalene's benefit. The more trouble she can cause in the Eva-Gideon-Corrine love triangle, the better. That's exactly what she did do the night of the dinner at the Waldorf and the follow-up phone call she made to Eva the next morning.

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Wow, you are on to something about Magdalene possibly being important in the next book. Not only has she know Gideon for a long time, she's known Gideon's mother for a very long time. Still does. Elizabeth Vidal's best friend is Magdalene's mother. It might be foreshadowing that Magdalene tattles to Eva when it's convenient for her. She certainly tattled an awful lot about Corrine. What else might she be willing to reveal to Eva? Especially because Magdalene has every reason to believe Corrine's on top now. And it was always Corrine who was Magdalene's chief rival. If she could stir things up in the Gideon/Corrine department by getting Eva involved in something concerning him, it would be to Magdalene's benefit. The more trouble she can cause in the Eva-Gideon-Corrine love triangle, the better. That's exactly what she did do the night of the dinner at the Waldorf and the follow-up phone call she made to Eva the next morning

it's something that bothers me in all the speculation about gideon's abuse - because there are several allies of his that were there then and still in his life in a positive way.  magdalene and angus both would have had opportunity to know of the abuse, and either believe him or not.  magdalene would have been a child, herself, and possible unaware. 

 

but angus - i think he might have been a champion for gideon.  maybe he's a champion for eva, now, too.

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LOL stands for Laugh Out Loud (or Laughing Out Loud).

 

Oh there's lots of material, I think, to tide us all over until June 4. Not only analyzing to pieces every last character, major and minor. But also combing through both books to try to figure out what are the red herrings (designed to deflect the reader) and what are the foreshadowings of what's to come. And of course Sylvia, bless her, keeps feeding us appetizers on a regular basis: the snippets.

 

I'd love it if she were able to have some more time in her busy schedule to jump in answers to spoiler questions.

 

Of the three times we do know he was with Corrine, number one was an intimate dinner for two at a friend's restaurant. Number two, the biggie, was at a very public social function. Number three was for all intents and purposes one-on-one, her being at his office and leaving together in his car. Discounting his assistant Scott and his back-up driver, Raul, it was just the two of them leaving.

 

Eva couldn't help but notice Corrine lives almost around the corner from Gideon. I'm wondering whether that's an important tidbit to the plot of Entwined. Did Gideon spend time at Corrine's apartment? Certainly, it's conveniently located to make it easy for him to spend free time. And if he is trying to fool the police, it'd be smart of him to be going in and out of there. Not having papparazzi hanging outside to snap a picture. But certainly having the building's doormen and downstairs desk people able to say, if it came down to them being asked, that yes, she has Gideon over to her place.

 

I suspect the whole reason he had Corrine over to his office that afternoon was so that the building security and the staff in his office could say, if it came down to anyone asking, that he's had her swing by to see him at work too. Especially because he used to have Eva come up to his office regularly.

 

What I really want to know is where did Gideon go after the vodka party. The very short article online said the party was from 6-9 p.m. Having an alibi of only three hours would be very high risk, because an argument might be raised Nathan died sometime after 9 p.m. Determining time of death is not an exact science. Unless a death is actually witnessed, time of death is at best an educated guestimate. To be safe -- and Gideon was very methodical -- he should have had an alibi for the entire night. 

 

When the cops asked him where he'd been that night, he didn't want to offer his alibi in front of Eva. But he did agree to talk to them while he walked them downstairs. "I was at a work-related function" is something he could easily say in front of Eva and her father. "I spent the whole night with Corrine Giroux" is something he couldn't say.

 

Here's a theory: what if right after the party was over, Gideon went back to Corrine's apartment with her? Bear with me here. Maybe he said something like "we didn't get a chance to really talk at the party, why don't we go to your place. I really want to hear about what's going on with the divorce, how you're holding up, how you're getting settled back in here in New York. I know things are rough. How are you doing?" And proceed to sit there listening to her talk until the wee hours, then walking home.

 

Hi LNCronan,

I just wanted to clarify with you that cozy and intimate doesn’t mean sitting out right in front of the restaurant in the “front window†where absolutely everyone can see the two of you. Cozy and intimate usually means the back of the restaurant where no one can see the two of you canoodling or playing footsies! :) Again let’s remember that Gideon hasn’t been able to be alone/or want to be alone with Corinne period. The first time they were engaged, he was climbing the walls, this time he doesn’t even remotely feel that he has to keep up pretenses so Angus, Raul, Scott and security are there. Can anyone say chaperone/ or should I say mood killer? Somehow I don’t think that this observation is lost on Corinne.

If Corinne lives close to Gideon it is by her doing and not his, of that I am sure. Who knows maybe she will wind up being his stalker in the next book (ex-lover who becomes obsessed with the man she still loves). There’s a twist for you.

As for the Nathan thing, sister you are all over the map. I thought you were firmly in “Camp Gideon†and if that’s the case, then somewhere between six and nine pm he was off ending Nathan’s life. :) As far as the Corinne deal, I highly suspect that there is NO way he would wind up spending the night with her. I think that there are some things that Gideon could explain to Eva but even she has her limits. I really don’t know if their relationship could withstand him spending the night at Corinne’s apartment.

I think this waiting is getting to you LNCronan. :) It is nice to know I am not the only one with this affliction (please know that I am just kidding). :)

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Hi Jo-mama,

I agree with your posting. I guess what will remain to be seen is if Angus knew about Gideon’s childhood abuse, if/when he found out about it and if he did anything about it. I think that those are all really important questions that will help the reader understand the Angus/Gideon relationship more. What do you think?

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Hi Jo-mama,

I agree with your posting. I guess what will remain to be seen is if Angus knew about Gideon’s childhood abuse, if/when he found out about it and if he did anything about it. I think that those are all really important questions that will help the reader understand the Angus/Gideon relationship more. What do you think?

i would love to find out that angus discovered gideon's abuse and protected him.  we know that is his role, so it is no far reach to assume he played it.  he is the only person from his family life that gideon brought into his current life, and there must be a reason for that.

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i'm wondering what angus and gideon might have been through together.  during the gideon/brett fight angus seemed completely comfortable abandoning gideon there, telling eva something like "he knows when to stop".  i still don't understand why they had to leave - there was no danger for the rest of them.

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i'm wondering what angus and gideon might have been through together.  during the gideon/brett fight angus seemed completely comfortable abandoning gideon there, telling eva something like "he knows when to stop".  i still don't understand why they had to leave - there was no danger for the rest of them.

 

Hi Jo-mama,

Maybe Gideon had Angus remove Eva and the rest of the group from the scene because he didn't want Eva to see his violent side. It also might be very uncomfortable for Shawna and Arnoldo sit back and watch the fight along with Eva. Eva would have felt very guilty about the fight and I think that may have distracted Gideon from protecting himself during the fight. What do you think?

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AMC wrote: "Wow and Wow, lady! Great points!"  LN Cronan wrote: "Fantastic observations, mrsmajessick, so much so I promoted the post to article status on the site."

 

Thank you so much Ladies. I can't tell you how much fun it is to discuss this with all of you. I learn something new every time and of course it leads me to more questions, but I love it. Such a great way to make the wait time pass.

 

Okay, so back to RIY. I am also really curious about Angus' statement to Eva "He knows when to stop." That has a really knowing and a bit ominous feeling to it. This isn't just a thought or a feeling he had, this is something he knows because he would have never left Gideon there if he believed otherwise. I wonder if Angus was instrumental in Gideon getting revenge against his abuser - if in fact he did? I wonder if it was Angus who may have taught him how to fight back in those early days and maybe at that time (from the sounds of Gideon's dreams) he took it to far and Angus showed him how to control and contain his anger.

 

I don't think Angus would have been able to do anything directly himself because he would have more than likely lost his job (I'm sure Elizabeth would have had a fit if she thought he was indulging Gideon in what she considered to be made up stories) so maybe he did the next best thing and taught the child Gideon how to stop the abuse and defend himself. Gideon takes MMA training with his personal trainer now, but that may be to stay up on his' skills.

 

The abuse had to end some way and I'm willing to bet Angus had something to do with helping Gideon to end it. What do you ladies think?

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Angus is the only adult from Gideon's childhood with whom he's close. He started out driving Gideon to school when he was still a kid. Gideon hired him away from Christopher Vidal Sr. as soon as he was old enough to do so (and wealthy enough too, but we know Gideon started accumulating his fortune as a young man.) And Gideon trusts Angus so much that he entrusted Angus to protect the person who means everything in the world to Gideon: Eva.

 

Angus had to have done something monumental for him when Gideon was young to earn such trust. Remember, Gideon is a man with very serious trust issues, so serious that those issues kept driving Eva away and ultimately caused her end the relationship. My theory of the day: Angus was the only adult who had the courage to speak out that Gideon was being abused. The red flag went up not because Gideon said something to his parents, but rather, Angus did. And Angus remained the only person in that house who believed Gideon even after his own family concluded he was lying because he was messed up and desperate for attention. To this day, his mother still denies anything happened.

 

Near the end of Reflected, Gideon finally began to reveal some details to Eva about what happened to him as a child. I'm certain that in Entwined, he'll continue to talk more with Eva about his abuse past and about his family, then and now. Certainly, Eva has questions she wants answers to, such as why did Gideon gain financial control of his stepfather's business.

 

He shared only a few pieces of the story as he sat there in the car with Eva. But we have to assume that every word of what he did say was true. The only reason he was finally revealing such closely-held secrets to Eva was he at last believed she had ended things for good. She made it clear she would no longer tolerate him refusing to be honest. She told him point blank she'd already begun moving on with her life, a life that no longer included him. He became desperate that he'd lost her. And so he began to talk. 

 

A summary of what Gideon did reveal to Eva during that crucial conversation:

  • The abuser was a male doctoral candidate tagging along with a therapist, a woman, the Vidals originally hired to treat Gideon for anger issues. Gideon's anger issues were so bad that his younger half-brother, Christopher Jr., was starting to imitate his brother by throwing violent tantrums too. 
  • Christopher was five at the time. Doing the math, Gideon would be somewhere between the ages of 10-12.
  • The therapist was supposed to be treating Gideon, but she ended up instead spending her time with Gideon's mother, who was in the midst of a difficult pregnancy (carrying Ireland) and stressed with parenting two out of control boys (Gideon and Christopher).
  • Gideon increasingly was left alone with this doctoral candidate, and that's when the man started abusing him.
  • The behavior Gideon described started out as the man telling Gideon he needed to learn how to in order to relieve stress (this is "grooming" behavior). Then the man told Gideon he was doing it "wrong" and he began to "teach" Gideon how to do it the "right" way by touching him (now we're at the level of molestation.) And that every single time, the man forced Gideon to come so that the man could justify Gideon "wanted" it (a common means of keeping young victims from revealing abuse, brainwashing them into believing they're guilty).
  • At that point in the conversation, Eva had heard enough. She climbed out of her seat in the car and into Gideon's lap, holding him close and comforting him by shushing him and telling him he didn't need to say more. So Gideon didn't get into any of the things that happened next. But we can guess from his violent nightmares Eva witnessed, (moans of pain and even during one nightmare, him crying out "it hurts!") that forcible penetration of Gideon came next.

What I really hope we learn in Entwined, as Gideon continues to trust Eva, is he'll talk about some of things that did come next:

  • How did the red flag go up?
  • Who were the two pediatricians Elizabeth Vidal consulted to examine him?
  • What came next when his mother concluded he was lying. Did the abuser continue to have access to Gideon?
  • When did the abuse finally end?
  • How did the rest of his childhood and then his teens unfold?
  • How soon into young adulthood did he begin extracting revenge against his family by cutting them off (i.e. rarely if ever seeing them and refusing to step foot in the house again)?
  • Why did his revenge include gaining financial control of the Vidal family business?
  • The full role Dr. Lucas, a pediatrician, played? Sylvia has told us he was not the abuser. Gideon has told Eva two scraps of info: that Lucas alienated him from his family, and Gideon sought revenge by seducing Lucas' wife, getting her to fall in love with him, then dumping her and sending her back to her husband.
  • Most important of all: where is Gideon's abuser today, and what has Gideon done to get revenge against him?
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Angus is the only adult from Gideon's childhood with whom he's close. He started out driving Gideon to school when he was still a kid. Gideon hired him away from Christopher Vidal Sr. as soon as he was old enough to do so (and wealthy enough too, but we know Gideon started accumulating his fortune as a young man.) And Gideon trusts Angus so much that he entrusted Angus to protect the person who means everything in the world to Gideon: Eva.

 

Angus had to have done something monumental for him when Gideon was young to earn such trust. Remember, Gideon is a man with very serious trust issues, so serious that those issues kept driving Eva away and ultimately caused her end the relationship. My theory of the day: Angus was the only adult who had the courage to speak out that Gideon was being abused. The red flag went up not because Gideon said something to his parents, but rather, Angus did. And Angus remained the only person in that house who believed Gideon even after his own family concluded he was lying because he was messed up and desperate for attention. To this day, his mother still denies anything happened.

 

Near the end of Reflected, Gideon finally began to reveal some details to Eva about what happened to him as a child. I'm certain that in Entwined, he'll continue to talk more with Eva about his abuse past and about his family, then and now. Certainly, Eva has questions she wants answers to, such as why did Gideon gain financial control of his stepfather's business.

 

He shared only a few pieces of the story as he sat there in the car with Eva. But we have to assume that every word of what he did say was true. The only reason he was finally revealing such closely-held secrets to Eva was he at last believed she had ended things for good. She made it clear she would no longer tolerate him refusing to be honest. She told him point blank she'd already begun moving on with her life, a life that no longer included him. He became desperate that he'd lost her. And so he began to talk. 

 

A summary of what Gideon did reveal to Eva during that crucial conversation:

  • The abuser was a male doctoral candidate tagging along with a therapist, a woman, the Vidals originally hired to treat Gideon for anger issues. Gideon's anger issues were so bad that his younger half-brother, Christopher Jr., was starting to imitate his brother by throwing violent tantrums too. 
  • Christopher was five at the time. Doing the math, Gideon would be somewhere between the ages of 10-12.
  • The therapist was supposed to be treating Gideon, but she ended up instead spending her time with Gideon's mother, who was in the midst of a difficult pregnancy (carrying Ireland) and stressed with parenting two out of control boys (Gideon and Christopher).
  • Gideon increasingly was left alone with this doctoral candidate, and that's when the man started abusing him.
  • The behavior Gideon described started out as the man telling Gideon he needed to learn how to in order to relieve stress (this is "grooming" behavior). Then the man told Gideon he was doing it "wrong" and he began to "teach" Gideon how to do it the "right" way by touching him (now we're at the level of molestation.) And that every single time, the man forced Gideon to come so that the man could justify Gideon "wanted" it (a common means of keeping young victims from revealing abuse, brainwashing them into believing they're guilty).
  • At that point in the conversation, Eva had heard enough. She climbed out of her seat in the car and into Gideon's lap, holding him close and comforting him by shushing him and telling him he didn't need to say more. So Gideon didn't get into any of the things that happened next. But we can guess from his violent nightmares Eva witnessed, (moans of pain and even during one nightmare, him crying out "it hurts!") that forcible penetration of Gideon came next.

What I really hope we learn in Entwined, as Gideon continues to trust Eva, is he'll talk about some of things that did come next:

  • How did the red flag go up?
  • Who were the two pediatricians Elizabeth Vidal consulted to examine him?
  • What came next when his mother concluded he was lying. Did the abuser continue to have access to Gideon?
  • When did the abuse finally end?
  • How did the rest of his childhood and then his teens unfold?
  • How soon into young adulthood did he begin extracting revenge against his family by cutting them off (i.e. rarely if ever seeing them and refusing to step foot in the house again)?
  • Why did his revenge include gaining financial control of the Vidal family business?
  • The full role Dr. Lucas, a pediatrician, played? Sylvia has told us he was not the abuser. Gideon has told Eva two scraps of info: that Lucas alienated him from his family, and Gideon sought revenge by seducing Lucas' wife, getting her to fall in love with him, then dumping her and sending her back to her husband.
  • Most important of all: where is Gideon's abuser today, and what has Gideon done to get revenge against him?

i believe your 4th point here is inferred, but not a fact based on what gideon has said.

 

i think we're all in agreement, then, that angus is something special.

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Good morning, GiGi. Those of us in Camp Gideon Did It would conclude, based on what Detective Graves told Eva, that Nathan did die somewhere between 6-9 p.m. while the party was in progress.

Per Graves,: At some point during the party, the hotel was cleared out for nearly an hour because of a small fire in the kitchen of the hotel restaurant. Gideon was seen walking around outside talking to people, such as firefighters. But the scene was chaotic. Somewhere in the middle of this, she claimed to Eva, he slipped away, went to Nathan's hotel (15 minutes away on foot) and stabbed him once through the heart. Nathan's body was discovered sometime Friday morning (Graves told Eva and her Dad this Friday night at her apartment.)

 

In a huge percentage of the time, when someone dies in a hotel room, it's housekeeping that finds the body. Depending upon the hotel's check-out schedule, housekeeping starts work mid-late morning.

 

And this is key: Graves did not ask Eva and Gideon where they were "last evening." She asked them if they could tell her where they were "yesterday." She was casting a very wide net about their movements prior to Friday morning.

Unless a murder is witnessed at the time it happens, a medical examiner cannot say exactly when the victim died. Don't believe what you see on TV dramas where a coroner on the stand says "the victim died at such-and-such time." As a former journalist who covered the criminal courts, I can say that in real life, the best estimate that can be given is a two-hour window. And this is only under ideal circumstances where a body is found within about 24 hours of death. The two means that medical examiners most rely on when they have a "fresh" corpse is how much the body's interior has cooled (via means of taking the temperature of the liver) and the degree of rigor mortis present. The longer a body goes undiscovered, the greater the margin of error, because there are many outside factors that can affect how quickly the body goes entirely cold, how soon rigor mortis begins and ends (it does wear off) and how soon/quickly a body begins to decompose.

So at an absolute bare minimum to cover the two-hour wiggle room, Gideon needs his alibi to run uninterrupted two hours on either side of that party: 4 p.m. to 11 p.m. To be extra cautious (and Gideon was very methodical) he ought to have had an uninterrupted alibi starting earlier in the afternoon (a cinch at work) and continuing through the middle of the night. Being with Corrine until the wee hours of the morning after the party would accomplish two things: give him an unbreakable timeline and fool the cops into thinking he was now in a sexual relationship with Corrine. Given her status as his former fiancé, this would indicate a serious reconciliation between the two. I think this is why he picked Corrine over Magdalene as his cover. If it ever got as far as the cops questioning Corrine, she could say at a bare minimum that Gideon was with her all night, even if all they did was talk.

Gideon was methodical about arranging things so Eva had an uninterrupted alibi starting that afternoon and continuing all night. Because he's been pressuring her, she didn't leave the office for lunch. He had Angus pick her up right after work and drive her to the therapy appointment with Dr. Petersen, then drive her home. And when she arrived home, her roommate was there, because Gideon had arranged for Cary to be moved home from the hospital the day before. Naturally, Eva would stay in for the night, because her roommate/best friend was still in such rough shape he was being cared for by a private nurse.

 

In fact, Eva's alibi continued through early the next morning. Gideon knew she was due to pick up her Dad, who was taking a red-eye flight to  La Guardia. Gideon had a car waiting for her at her place around 5 a.m. And not Angus driving either. This is the first time we see his other driver, Raul. So where was Angus, the only person Gideon ever trusted to drive Eva? Maybe picking up Gideon from wherever he spent the night? Mind you, Eva refused to accept Raul's ride, but he could, if ever questioned, confirmed what time she left her place Friday morning.

 

Yes, GiGi, I've got it bad with all my theories. I'm enjoying myself in these threads as part of re-reading the stories in light of the snippets and while awaiting June 4.

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Good morning, GiGi. Those of us in Camp Gideon Did It would conclude, based on what Detective Graves told Eva, that Nathan did die somewhere between 6-9 p.m. while the party was in progress.

Per Graves,: At some point during the party, the hotel was cleared out for nearly an hour because of a small fire in the kitchen of the hotel restaurant. Gideon was seen walking around outside talking to people, such as firefighters. But the scene was chaotic. Somewhere in the middle of this, she claimed to Eva, he slipped away, went to Nathan's hotel (15 minutes away on foot) and stabbed him once through the heart. Nathan's body was discovered sometime Friday morning (Graves told Eva and her Dad this Friday night at her apartment.)

 

In a huge percentage of the time, when someone dies in a hotel room, it's housekeeping that finds the body. Depending upon the hotel's check-out schedule, housekeeping starts work mid-late morning.

 

And this is key: Graves did not ask Eva and Gideon where they were "last evening." She asked them if they could tell her where they were "yesterday." She was casting a very wide net about their movements prior to Friday morning.

Unless a murder is witnessed at the time it happens, a medical examiner cannot say exactly when the victim died. Don't believe what you see on TV dramas where a coroner on the stand says "the victim died at such-and-such time." As a former journalist who covered the criminal courts, I can say that in real life, the best estimate that can be given is a two-hour window. And this is only under ideal circumstances where a body is found within about 24 hours of death. The two means that medical examiners most rely on when they have a "fresh" corpse is how much the body's interior has cooled (via means of taking the temperature of the liver) and the degree of rigor mortis present. The longer a body goes undiscovered, the greater the margin of error, because there are many outside factors that can affect how quickly the body goes entirely cold, how soon rigor mortis begins and ends (it does wear off) and how soon/quickly a body begins to decompose.

So at an absolute bare minimum to cover the two-hour wiggle room, Gideon needs his alibi to run uninterrupted two hours on either side of that party: 4 p.m. to 11 p.m. To be extra cautious (and Gideon was very methodical) he ought to have had an uninterrupted alibi starting earlier in the afternoon (a cinch at work) and continuing through the middle of the night. Being with Corrine until the wee hours of the morning after the party would accomplish two things: give him an unbreakable timeline and fool the cops into thinking he was now in a sexual relationship with Corrine. Given her status as his former fiancé, this would indicate a serious reconciliation between the two. I think this is why he picked Corrine over Magdalene as his cover. If it ever got as far as the cops questioning Corrine, she could say at a bare minimum that Gideon was with her all night, even if all they did was talk.

Gideon was methodical about arranging things so Eva had an uninterrupted alibi starting that afternoon and continuing all night. Because he's been pressuring her, she didn't leave the office for lunch. He had Angus pick her up right after work and drive her to the therapy appointment with Dr. Petersen, then drive her home. And when she arrived home, her roommate was there, because Gideon had arranged for Cary to be moved home from the hospital the day before. Naturally, Eva would stay in for the night, because her roommate/best friend was still in such rough shape he was being cared for by a private nurse.

 

In fact, Eva's alibi continued through early the next morning. Gideon knew she was due to pick up her Dad, who was taking a red-eye flight to  La Guardia. Gideon had a car waiting for her at her place around 5 a.m. And not Angus driving either. This is the first time we see his other driver, Raul. So where was Angus, the only person Gideon ever trusted to drive Eva? Maybe picking up Gideon from wherever he spent the night? Mind you, Eva refused to accept Raul's ride, but he could, if ever questioned, confirmed what time she left her place Friday morning.

 

Yes, GiGi, I've got it bad with all my theories. I'm enjoying myself in these threads as part of re-reading the stories in light of the snippets and while awaiting June 4.

i think it is interesting that you are applying real-wrorld knowledge to a piece of fiction.  as you said, we hear all the time on court dramas that coroners pinpoint time of death quite exactly - why, then, would we expect anything else from a book?  sylvia's a smart gal, but i won't assume she has the same firsthand knowledge that you do.

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i think it is interesting that you are applying real-wrorld knowledge to a piece of fiction.  as you said, we hear all the time on court dramas that coroners pinpoint time of death quite exactly - why, then, would we expect anything else from a book?  sylvia's a smart gal, but i won't assume she has the same firsthand knowledge that you do.

 

TV courtroom dramas fairly regularly over-simplify everything to rush the script (and thus the episode) along. Novels are another thing, though. Many of the good mystery writers do in fact get a lot of the police and legal procedural stuff right. Because they do their research. As do the book editors who work with them. And because most writers are also voracious readers, so they're exposed to all sorts of information, fiction and non-fiction alike. I've worked as a non-fiction writer in various capacities all my career, and I've been a bookworm since I was a kid. A lot of the stuff I saw in real life when I worked for 12 years as a journalist, including police/court procedural stuff, fire/emergency medical stuff, political process, I learned a great deal about long before I stepped foot in a newsroom for the first time. Because good novelists get a great deal of the stuff right.

 

Sylvia is an excellent writer who does her homework. And her publisher is Penguin, one of the industry giants. I don't think it was on a whim she had that short newspaper article Eva read give the exact hours of the party. And we have a detective who very aggressively tried to find a hole in his alibi. Sylvia put that in the story for a reason. I saw both as big red flags.

 

I see several other big red flags too. It's why I'm firmly convinced the cops have laid a trap for Gideon and Eva. Because there are actually ways they could use her against Gideon even without her cooperation. On June 5, after we've all sat up all night reading Entwined, we can swap told-you-sos as each of us discovers what we saw coming (via red flags) and what threw us off (red herrings.)  The things that Sylvia has given us through Entwined snippets hint that Gideon and Eva are sneaking around to be with one another. Is it because Gideon doesn't believe the "coast is clear" yet? Or because he knows somehow that the cops are seeking to trap him?

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although i am curious about raul's appearence at that time.  i'm really starting to like angus ;)

Let's not forget that Raul was there to pick up Eva at 4:45am...maybe that was just a little too early for Angus! Hehe :)

I like Angus too...I def think he's a big important part in Gideon's life...and now will be for Eva too.

I don't think that Gideon has said much of anything to Corrine...probably the bare minimum. I hope that their only interactions are public ones...although that day at the Crossfire when Eva saw them outside annoys me..lol..Prob just for the security cameras ... They probably haven't had any alone time. It still get's me that Corrine was trying to make like Gideon was in her apartment when Eva went to see her...She blew that though when she asked Eva if Gideon knew that she was there...so, obviously Gideon wasn't.

 

I love reading everyones opinions on here...even though i want to stop coming on this site b/c June is so far away! Even the snippets are a bit of torture!

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i think we'll have to agree to disagree on our conclusions.  i think gideon is an honest guy.  he's working desperately throughout reflected to get eva to trust him completely.  he's also not very 'chatty' when it's not about sex, so i can't imagine him offering corinne much more than a "don't worry about eva" or "eva is non of your business" line if she were to question him.  and when would she do all this questioning?  while he's at work and can easily avoid her calls?  when they are at events and he's bombarded with people bidding for his attention?  he might be spending his free time with corinne, but it's all spent in public so to attract attention.

 

corrine's behavior is evidence to me that she does not think gideon and eva are over.  if she thought she had him she wouldn't have to make eva jealous.  she's still playing games and trying to push eva out.

 

i think gideon's behavior is being overanalysed.  he's a man, and in such his motives are very simple.  he says he wants eva and all his actions are working to that end.  even nathan is easy - he wants eva and money, and he is working towards those goals.  it's the females of the story who are stirring the pot and causing friction (eva included).

Lol...I agree with you Jo_mama.  

 

I also think that Corrine def just mussed herself up right before she stepped out of the Crossfire when she saw Eva. A woman who is always put together so well as she is, wouldn't let herself be seen w/ smeared makeup/lipstick and messed up hair. I'm sure she always looks perfect. So, that was def for Eva b/c i'm sure she went ot speak to Gideon but got turned away.

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Hi LNCronan,

I think that if Gideon spent any time at all with Corinne, it was strictly at public functions where the two of them could be photographed together, thereby bolstering his alibi. If Gideon couldn’t spend any extended alone time with Corinne, sexual or otherwise, I don’t believe that he was going to start now, especially when he doesn’t have those feelings. :)

I agree with that. I think it was just in public. Maybe he's trying to help her meet someone new! lol. No way he would lead her on...especially b/c he doesn't want her, he only wants Eva.

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Hi LNCronan,

I read your posting and I am aware that when a coroner pronounces the time of death for a body, it is not an exact science. The medical examiner would have to factor in the body temperature, the temperature in the room or surroundings where the body was found, etc. I get that. This theory about a whole uninterrupted theory is becoming way too complex. Could it be that Gideon had meetings at his Crossfire Building or one of his buildings, had people as witnesses; Scott for example, then when the day was done, Angus his driver, or Raul, or one of his security detail witnessed him get into the Bentley be driven home, where he was witnessed going into his apartment building, and then seen later that evening leaving his building going to pick up Corinne?

You know and I know that the detectives cast such a wide net, because they want to nail down, means, motive and opportunity and depending on what the suspect says and what the detectives are able to find; can mean the difference between premeditated murder and manslaughter. Let's not kid ourselves here. Detective Greaves is gunning for Gideon in the biggest way; she wants a premeditated murder charge. Let's also remember that is how these individuals get their promotions. They crack the hardest cases and bring down the most unlikely suspects. My, my, wouldn't the head of Gideon Cross be one nice trophy to hang over one's mantle?

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silly me for not editing my profile.  geez.

 

i'm not sure what to think of magdalene.  she's a family friend of gideon's, which puts her in a position of being the girl he "thinks of like a sister".  we all know that girl.  , i've been that girl.  pathetically fallen for a guy who sees their relationship as friendly - sigh.  that girl, unlike corinne's charecter, will settle for whatever relationship she can get with gideon, and if that means she has to be besties with his current fling (be it corrine or eva) she'll do that.  poor thing is screwing his brother for crying out loud!  if that's not taking what she can get i don't know what is.  i don't want to think she's devious. i think she will be incredibly important, though, since she has known gideon for so long.

 

Hi Jo-mama,

I too am curious to see how much of a role Magdalene will play in the next book. I really wonder what kind of background or information Magdalene could provide that would make her a vital character or one worthy of us dissecting her (just kidding)? Gideon himself stated that Magdalene was nothing more than a family friend and as such I don't see him confiding his deepest darkest secrets to her? I also don't know whether Magdalene would have been privy to the abuse that Gideon suffered? It isn't clear whether Magdalene was friends with Christopher in the early days or whether this was something that developed later on in adulthood when perhaps desperation finally set in and Magdalene realized that she didn' t stand a chance of winning Gideon's heart or affections.

The answers to those questions will help to determine whether the reader will pity poor Magdalene or absolutely hate her....for reasons yet to be revealed? How many more days until June 4th? What do you think?

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Hi Jo-mama,

I too am curious to see how much of a role Magdalene will play in the next book. I really wonder what kind of background or information Magdalene could provide that would make her a vital character or one worthy of us dissecting her (just kidding)? Gideon himself stated that Magdalene was nothing more than a family friend and as such I don't see him confiding his deepest darkest secrets to her? I also don't know whether Magdalene would have been privy to the abuse that Gideon suffered? It isn't clear whether Magdalene was friends with Christopher in the early days or whether this was something that developed later on in adulthood when perhaps desperation finally set in and Magdalene realized that she didn' t stand a chance of winning Gideon's heart or affections.

The answers to those questions will help to determine whether the reader will pity poor Magdalene or absolutely hate her....for reasons yet to be revealed? How many more days until June 4th? What do you think?

magdalene is a family friend, but their mothers are best friends.  best friends, at the affluent level that these women would be, are going to know everything.  maybe magdalene still isn't privy to as much, but there is certainly opportunity for sylvia to take it that direction.

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AMC wrote: "Wow and Wow, lady! Great points!"  LN Cronan wrote: "Fantastic observations, mrsmajessick, so much so I promoted the post to article status on the site."

 

Thank you so much Ladies. I can't tell you how much fun it is to discuss this with all of you. I learn something new every time and of course it leads me to more questions, but I love it. Such a great way to make the wait time pass.

 

Okay, so back to RIY. I am also really curious about Angus' statement to Eva "He knows when to stop." That has a really knowing and a bit ominous feeling to it. This isn't just a thought or a feeling he had, this is something he knows because he would have never left Gideon there if he believed otherwise. I wonder if Angus was instrumental in Gideon getting revenge against his abuser - if in fact he did? I wonder if it was Angus who may have taught him how to fight back in those early days and maybe at that time (from the sounds of Gideon's dreams) he took it to far and Angus showed him how to control and contain his anger.

 

I don't think Angus would have been able to do anything directly himself because he would have more than likely lost his job (I'm sure Elizabeth would have had a fit if she thought he was indulging Gideon in what she considered to be made up stories) so maybe he did the next best thing and taught the child Gideon how to stop the abuse and defend himself. Gideon takes MMA training with his personal trainer now, but that may be to stay up on his' skills.

 

The abuse had to end some way and I'm willing to bet Angus had something to do with helping Gideon to end it. What do you ladies think?

 

Hi Mrsmajessick,

I think it will be interesting to see how much of a role, if any, Angus played in Gideon's earlier life. I could imagine Angus going to pick Gideon from school and watching that boy get into fight, after fight, after fight, after fight. I could then see Angus talking to Gideon about his anger on the drive home. Gideon himself said that he was a very angry kid. I think that if other kids picked on him at school, etc. there may have come a point when he just finally snapped and started physically fighting his bullies. If you add the fact that Gideon was being abused at home, that could had added fuel to some serious rage in a kid who tried to go for help but wasn't believed. That could almost be a lethal combination for a kid who is strong and can beat up all manner of schoolyard bully. Just a thought.

Let's also remember that Angus was also Gideon's bodyguard so I find it highly suspect that Angus would know about the abuse. If he was told about it and did nothing (ie. have Gideon removed from the situation and the person causing the abuse), then I would find Angus to be morally reprehensible and derelict in his duty to protect his charge-Gideon. Angus would have had a legal and moral obligation to help Gideon and I really don't think that Gideon would have had Angus in his adult life if that was the case.

I also wanted to clarify that it would be absolutely despicable if Gideon told Angus about the abuse and didn't inform the authorities because he was afraid of losing his job. Again it would be like prostituting this child for financial security (which I don't think is the case). What you say about Angus teaching Gideon how to fight is plausible. It may have given the two of them an opportunity to connect and given Gideon a very useful tool (a manner in which to defend himself).

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Hi Jo-mama,

I just wanted to clarify that just because these women were affluent doesn't mean that Elizabeth Vidal would tell Magdalene's mother about Gideon's claim (false claims in her mind) of abuse. It would have left Elizabeth open to some very serious criticism from Magdalene's mother. I think these women probably shopped together, attended charity functions, and had each other over for dinner. Most people wouldn't disclose that kind of information to anyone other than a family member (if absolutely forced).

You are right in saying that Sylvia could the story any way she wants. That's true! After all these are her characters and she can do anything she wants with them. I just don't know if she would write the story that way. Who knows?

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<p>

Angus is the only adult from Gideon's childhood with whom he's close. He started out driving Gideon to school when he was still a kid. Gideon hired him away from Christopher Vidal Sr. as soon as he was old enough to do so (and wealthy enough too, but we know Gideon started accumulating his fortune as a young man.) And Gideon trusts Angus so much that he entrusted Angus to protect the person who means everything in the world to Gideon: Eva.

&nbsp;

Angus had to have done something monumental for him when Gideon was young to earn such trust. Remember, Gideon is a man with very serious trust issues, so serious that those issues kept driving Eva away and ultimately caused her end the relationship. My theory of the day: Angus was the only adult who had the courage to speak out that Gideon was being abused. The red flag went up not because Gideon said something to his parents, but rather, Angus did. And Angus remained the only person in that house who believed Gideon even after his&nbsp;own family concluded he was lying because he was messed up and desperate for attention.&nbsp;To this day, his mother still denies anything happened.

&nbsp;

Near the end of Reflected, Gideon finally began to reveal some details to Eva about what happened to him as a child. I'm certain that in Entwined, he'll continue to talk more with Eva about his abuse past and about his family, then and now. Certainly, Eva has questions she wants answers to, such as why did Gideon gain financial control of his stepfather's business.

&nbsp;

He shared only a few pieces of the&nbsp;story as he sat there in the car with Eva. But we have to assume that every word of what he did say was true. The only reason he was finally revealing such closely-held secrets to Eva was he at last believed she&nbsp;had ended things for good.&nbsp;She made it clear she would no longer&nbsp;tolerate him refusing to be honest. She told him point blank she'd already begun moving on with her life, a life that no longer included him. He became desperate that he'd lost her. And so he began to talk.&nbsp;

&nbsp;

A summary of what Gideon did reveal to Eva during that crucial conversation:

  • The abuser was a male&nbsp;doctoral candidate tagging along with&nbsp;a therapist, a woman,&nbsp;the Vidals originally hired to treat Gideon for anger issues. Gideon's anger issues were so bad that his younger half-brother, Christopher Jr., was starting to imitate his brother by throwing violent tantrums too.&nbsp;
  • Christopher was five at the time. Doing the math, Gideon would be somewhere&nbsp;between the&nbsp;ages of&nbsp;10-12.
  • The therapist was supposed to be treating Gideon, but she ended up instead spending her time with Gideon's mother, who was in the midst of a difficult pregnancy (carrying Ireland) and stressed with parenting two out of control&nbsp;boys (Gideon and Christopher).
  • Gideon increasingly was left alone with this doctoral candidate, and that's when the man started abusing him.
  • The behavior Gideon described started out as the man telling Gideon he needed to learn how to in order to relieve stress (this is "grooming" behavior). Then the man told Gideon he was doing it "wrong" and he began to "teach" Gideon how to do it the "right" way by touching him (now we're at the level of molestation.) And that every single time, the man forced Gideon to come so that the man could justify Gideon "wanted" it (a common means of keeping young victims from revealing abuse, brainwashing them into believing they're guilty).
  • At that point in the conversation, Eva had heard enough. She climbed out of her seat in the car and into Gideon's lap, holding him close and comforting him&nbsp;by shushing him and&nbsp;telling him he didn't need to say more. So Gideon didn't get into any of the things that happened next.&nbsp;But we can guess from his violent nightmares Eva witnessed, (moans of pain and even during one nightmare, him crying out&nbsp;"it hurts!") that forcible penetration of Gideon came next.
What I really hope we learn in Entwined, as Gideon continues to trust Eva, is he'll talk about some of&nbsp;things that did come next:
  • How did the red flag go up?
  • Who were the two pediatricians Elizabeth Vidal consulted to examine him?
  • What&nbsp;came next when his mother concluded he was lying. Did the abuser continue to have access to Gideon?
  • When did the abuse finally end?
  • How did the rest of his childhood and then his teens unfold?
  • How soon into young adulthood did he begin extracting revenge against his family by cutting them off (i.e. rarely if ever seeing them and refusing to step foot in the house again)?
  • Why did his revenge include gaining financial control of the Vidal family business?
  • The full role Dr. Lucas, a pediatrician,&nbsp;played? Sylvia has told us he was not the abuser. Gideon has told Eva two scraps of info: that Lucas alienated him from his family, and Gideon sought revenge by seducing Lucas' wife, getting her to fall in love with him, then dumping her and sending her back to her husband.
  • Most important of all: where is Gideon's abuser today, and what has Gideon done to get revenge against him?
&nbsp;

Hi LNCronan,

Something just struck me as odd; Elizabeth Vidal hired all these supposed experts to help her "troubled son" so then why did Gideon only get the doctoral candidate and not the psychiatrist himself? Yes I know that Elizabeth Vidal was having a hard pregnancy and all, but wouldn't the psychiatrist refer Gideon to a child psychiatrist or have another specialist come out to the house on the days that original psychiatrist was going to be there helping Elizabeth Vidal? Gideon after all is supposed to be very disturbed-he has made false claims of abuses that couldn't be verified. He is also acting out and very violent, so again why would Gideon only need a lowly "Grad Student" and not someone with the best qualifications? Seriously?!

Did anyone check Christopher Jr. to see if he was being abused? If not, then why?

I also just wanted to clarify that when the abuser started touching Gideon he was grooming him. He wanted to see what he could get away with before his contact with Gideon escalated. It will be interesting to see how this dealt with in the next book.

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