Three months before the prologue

Three months before the prologue is the temporal marker that launches the novel’s earlier narrative. It places the opening account of police discovering something upstairs—and the speaker’s expectation of leaving the house in handcuffs—before the events that follow, turning the gap between discovery and its cause into a source of suspense.

Position in the Narrative

The prologue begins with officers already inside a house and with the speaker convinced that escape is no longer possible. A younger officer calls for Detective Connors to come upstairs, where something has been found. The account withholds what that discovery is and how it came about; the next part then resets the timeline to three months earlier.

Function of the Time Shift

The marker begins a retrospective movement rather than identifying a precise calendar date or a single event. By setting the earlier narrative against the prologue’s imminent arrest, the structure invites readers to follow the intervening story toward the scene already glimpsed. The discovery upstairs remains unresolved at the transition, giving the ordinary-looking time label a suspenseful function.