Richard T. Doss

Richard T. Doss is a father and husband drawn into the investigation of Eldon Mate’s murder through his past connection to Alex Delaware and the death of his wife, Joanne. His sardonic voice, carefully composed appearance, and confident report that his family is doing well sit alongside a more uncertain reality: he has not discussed Joanne with Stacy, and he cannot say whether Mate’s death has brought her grief back to the surface.

Identity and First Impressions

Richard first reaches Alex by telephone. After the routing service connects the call, Alex recognizes his familiar voice: reedy, staccato, and marked by a hint of sarcasm. Richard, Alex observes, sounds as if he is mocking someone or something, though Alex has never determined whether that quality is intentional or simply a vocal quirk. Their brief greeting makes their prior acquaintance evident, while the sound of Richard’s voice establishes a manner that can make even an ordinary exchange feel edged.

That vocal impression has helped form Alex’s picture of Richard before they meet. Alex’s assumptions also draw on what Judy Manitow has told him and on five minutes of verbal sparring with Richard. He imagines an aggressive, articulate, dominant former fraternity man: a tennis-playing country-club member like Bob Manitow, with a tall, imposing, corporate appearance. The imagined suit, power tie, and polished shoes belong to Alex’s own projection, not to Richard’s actual presentation. The gap between expectation and encounter is part of how the book introduces him: other people’s descriptions and first impressions do not neatly explain the person standing before them.

In person, Richard is about five feet five, lean and square-shouldered, with a dancer’s build. Alex describes his weathered face as broad at the brow and narrowing to a pointed chin, his hands as oversized and carefully manicured, with clear polish on the nails. His deep tan and fibrous complexion suggest that he disregards warnings about melanoma. His long, kinky black hair evokes an earlier decade; a thin gold chain, black silk shirt with open top buttons, baggy gray tweed trousers, lizard-skin belt, and sockless loafers complete a look far removed from Alex’s imagined corporate uniform. The details make Richard’s self-presentation conspicuous without resolving what lies behind it.

Family and the Call About Stacy

When Richard calls Alex, his stated concern is Stacy. Asked whether he needs an alibi, he says he was not speaking literally and reports that the police have tried to talk to him. He assumes they may be working through a list of people, placing him near its bottom, or close to it, if they are proceeding sequentially. His response does not establish what the police suspect; it shows how he frames their attention and how readily the conversation turns back to Mate. Richard calls Mate a son of a bitch and says he murdered two more women after Joanne.

Richard then redirects the call to his daughter. He says Stacy is “Essentially fine,” but immediately qualifies what he can report: he has not noticed any troubling reaction to Mate’s death, and he and Stacy have not talked about Joanne since Stacy stopped seeing Alex. He also says that Mate has never interested Stacy and that the family has been fine. These assurances convey Richard’s account, not a detailed measure of Stacy’s inner state. His own admission that Joanne has not been a topic leaves a silence inside the very reassurance that the family is doing well.

He offers a concrete sign of family continuity in his description of Eric. Eric has returned to Stanford, finished the year with excellent grades, and is working with an economics professor on an honors paper. Richard plans to fly up to see him that weekend and may take Stacy along, giving her another look at the campus. The planned visit presents Richard as an involved father making room for his daughter in a trip to his son; it also contrasts with the unresolved absence of conversation about Joanne.

Mate, the Investigation, and Alex’s Boundary

The call changes when Alex tells Richard that the police have consulted him about Mate’s murder. Alex explains that he has consulted for the department before and that the primary detective is someone he has worked with; the detective has made no specific request, but wants open-ended psychological consultation. Richard responds that he does not understand why the police would consult Alex. The disclosure matters because Alex is not simply a former therapist being approached about Stacy: his professional involvement now touches an active investigation in which Richard himself has been contacted.

Richard’s hostility toward Mate is plain in his choice of language and in his insistence that Mate killed other women after Joanne. Later, while driving with Milo Sturgis, Alex is asked whether Richard is like everyone else and a great admirer of Mate. Alex declines to supply Richard’s opinion for him, saying he will leave Richard to express it. Milo answers that Richard did not like Mate. The exchange frames Richard as an obvious opponent of the dead man, but it does not by itself establish that Richard had any role in the murder. His antagonism is a relevant impression in the investigation, not proof of a crime.

Characterization and Narrative Function

Richard is presented through contrasts rather than a settled psychological explanation. His voice sounds mocking, yet Alex cannot tell whether the effect is deliberate. Alex anticipates a familiar image of corporate masculine authority, then meets a shorter, leaner man with flamboyant clothes and carefully groomed hands. Richard’s report of domestic well-being is similarly at odds with what it leaves unspoken: Stacy has not discussed her mother with him, and Richard can only say that he has noticed no untoward reaction.

These gaps keep the reader from treating Richard’s composure as complete knowledge. He supplies information about his family, reacts to the investigation, and makes clear that he despises Mate; the scenes do not settle what he knows beyond those statements. His function in this portion of the story is therefore both personal and investigative. He draws Alex back toward Stacy through a proposed visit, while his contact with police and hostility toward Mate place him within the field of suspicion and inquiry. The narrative preserves the distinction between Richard’s own account, Alex’s visual and vocal impressions, and Milo’s blunt judgment of his attitude.