Deceiving Looks
The opening paragraph has Walter Huff describing what has come to be known as the “House of Death” as a typical Southern California Spanish-style home that looks like so many others in the region. This sets the stage for recurring imagery in which looks are deceiving: the sociopathic serial killer Phyllis looks like a blonde angel, Huff disguises himself to look like Mr. Nirdlinger, the murder is designed to look like an accident, etc.
The Insurance Industry
The inner workings of the insurance industry is made tangible by Walter in his narration as background information related to various points. His experience in selling insurance is what alerts him immediately to the sinister motivations of the sexual enticements made by Phyllis. That experience also informs the strategy that must be devised in order to exploit the indemnity clause. More interesting, perhaps, is the later imagery that Walter is able to provide stemming from privileged access into the investigation at which he unknown to others is as the center. Walter’s revelations that his insurance company is less concerned about justice and legal accountability than about protecting their investment and reputation serves to introduce a level of ambiguity into the narrative not typically found in crime stories at the time.
The Bride of Death
The image of Phyllis—doubly described by Walter as a witness and by Walter informing us about what Lola saw—with her face painted chalky white, her lips smeared with bright red lipstick and her head enshrouded in red material—is the true image of the sociopath inside. This ghastly physical realization of herself as what Phyllis earlier described as a kind of beautiful bride of Death is the ultimate personification of the recurring images of looks being deceiving. This image is that of the psychologically damaged Phyllis revealed without the mask of angelic deception.
The Moon
In Chapter 10, Walter describes being at a park near Santa Monica where the topography of the coastline is such that it affords the unique opportunity to actually watch the moon rise over the Pacific Ocean. Here is yet another individual instance of where appearances are deceiving as one would naturally not expect to be able to see a moonrise over that particular body of water. In that moment and in that place where things are not as they should be—where appearances really are deceiving, Walter is content if not happy. This image is then presented in direct contrast to the final words of the novel in which things are set right again and appearances are exactly as they should be with Walter and Phyllis doomed together on a ship as Walter writes his final words before the two of the apparently commit to their suicidal pact: “The moon.”
