Reno

Reno is a geographic point of departure and return in the novel’s account of Max Darrow: he once lived in nearby Raleigh Heights and, as a retired Las Vegas police officer, later resided in the Reno area. Its distance from East Orange, New Jersey, sharpens the mystery of his connection to a Catholic school there; elsewhere, the prospect of running again gives Reno’s surrounding landscape an association with escape that cannot simply be repeated.

Darrow’s Nevada connection

In a conversation with Loren, Steinberg identifies Darrow as an outsider to the local area and says he lived in Raleigh Heights, Nevada, near Reno. Loren immediately measures that distance against the Catholic school in East Orange, recognizing that Darrow’s Nevada home is far removed from the New Jersey institution. Steinberg adds that Darrow used to be on the job, turning the exchange from a matter of geography toward his former occupation.

The location resurfaces when Thurston asks about the second body. Darrow is identified as a retired Las Vegas police officer residing in the Reno area. These references establish a consistent Nevada connection while distinguishing his former home in Raleigh Heights from his later residence in the broader Reno area.

Distance and investigation

Reno’s importance in these passages comes partly from the distance it measures. Darrow’s residence there sits in sharp contrast to his association with the Catholic school in East Orange, and Loren’s response makes that geographic mismatch an investigative question rather than incidental background. The later identification of Darrow as a retired officer adds another dimension: his past work and his Nevada residence accompany the inquiry into how he became connected to the school.

Escape and its limits

In a separate conversation, Matt offers to run away with Olivia, but she says she does not think she can run again. The exchange does not identify Reno as their destination; instead, it gives the novel’s language of flight a limit. Against the Nevada place-name already associated with Darrow’s history, Olivia’s weary refusal makes escape feel less like a fresh beginning than a course she cannot repeat. Reno’s significance therefore rests in two distinct threads: a concrete clue about Darrow and a wider geography of distance, relocation, and the difficulty of starting over.