Astrid

Astrid is a mime whose public performance becomes the means by which Jarret exploits and endangers her. Known in the scene as Medusa for her snake-covered headdress, she is turned from a performer into an unwilling prop in Jarret’s plan; her call to Paul Darac, made despite the paralysis, exposes the attack while it is still unfolding.

Identity and Introduction

Astrid is identified as a mime and is present among the crowds gathered for the Tour de France. Her Medusa appearance is marked by a headdress of writhing snakes, an image striking enough to make Jarret shiver when he spots her. The costume makes her recognizable within the spectacle, but it also gives Jarret a way to disguise violence as an extension of her act.

Jarret’s Attack and the Staged Performance

Jarret injects Astrid in the arm in full view of a hundred people. The drug is lancuronium, a paralytic; unlike the earlier use of the drug described in the scene, this dose contains no delaying agent. Jarret removes her skates, sets up her plinth, and stands her on it as though she were a non-living statue. The spectators respond with appreciation to what they take to be a novel twist in the routine, unaware that the performance has been imposed on her by force.

He then unpacks her headdress and puts it back in place. Astrid stares straight ahead while Jarret makes a show of whispering in her ear. He tells her that he is sorry to have made her a victim, but insists that he has something to accomplish that must not be stopped and declares that she has died for a just cause. His words cast her unwilling victimization as sacrifice, while the theatrical staging converts an assault into apparent entertainment for the crowd.

Resistance and Significance

Astrid is not merely an object in Jarret’s spectacle. At the same time as the attack is being carried out, she is able to contact Paul Darac. When he answers, she identifies herself as Astrid, the mime, and says that she has seen the bearded man. Darac immediately turns the call into a speakerphone conversation with the squad room listening, treating her sighting as urgent information.

After Jarret injects her, Astrid reports plainly that he has just injected her. The contrast between the crowd’s misreading of her motionless body and her brief, direct report gives the performance its cruel double meaning: outwardly, she is presented as a statue; in the investigation, her words identify the attack and the attacker. Her call establishes that Jarret’s attempt to silence and instrumentalize her has not prevented her from communicating what he has done.