Killers of a Certain Age

Billie places the bomb in the ship’s engine room, to virtually guarantee the entire ship will explode. She also sets a fire in the ship’s library and her own cabin. Hector, Natalie’s favorite crew member, tries to come to their rescue and escort them to a lifeboat. To preserve their escape, Billie declares, “I don’t have time for this patriarchal bullshit” and punches him (82), throwing him overboard gently so other crew members will be preoccupied with his rescue. They jump from the boat to board the ship’s motorized raft. Helen acts as navigator, and they head toward the nearby island of Nevis.

This flashback chapter to January 1979 finds the four women at their training in the United Kingdom. They travel to Dorset and arrive at the Halliday estate, Benscombe, a “Victorian monstrosity of red brick surrounded by gardens and a big lawn that rolls down to the cliffs” (85), where they are met by the formidable Constance. The omniscient narrator recalls that Constance survived a concentration camp after being shot down in Germany. She has spent her life training the future agents of the Museum and now feels ready to train an all-female squadron as a tribute to her fallen comrades, the Furies.