Chap­ter 79 of We Solve Mur­ders delves into the rest­less minds of var­i­ous char­ac­ters, each deal­ing with insom­nia for dif­fer­ent rea­sons, which leads to reflec­tions on their per­son­al strug­gles and the upcom­ing events. Steve Wheel­er lies awake in bed, unable to sleep because his cat, Trou­ble, insists on lying across his chest. The cat’s pres­ence is a small com­fort after being away, but Steve’s mind is pre­oc­cu­pied with the ongo­ing inves­ti­ga­tion. He con­nects Max High­field to Felic­i­ty Wool­las­ton, rec­og­niz­ing the poten­tial dan­ger in their ties, espe­cial­ly with his upcom­ing trip to Dubai. While Steve is accom­pa­nied by Rosie for the jour­ney, Jeff stays behind, fear­ful of being dis­cov­ered. This con­trast between Steve’s need for com­fort and his anx­i­ety about the inves­ti­ga­tion paints a vivid pic­ture of the emo­tion­al weight he car­ries as he pre­pares for what’s to come.

Mean­while, Rosie D’Antonio strug­gles with her own inner con­flict as she lies awake in Steve’s spare room. She anx­ious­ly waits for Jeff’s knock, know­ing they share a mutu­al attrac­tion, yet grap­pling with the bound­aries she has set for her­self. Her thoughts drift to past rela­tion­ships and a con­ver­sa­tion with her ther­a­pist, who had point­ed out her lack of bound­aries, which now fills Rosie with doubt about pur­su­ing any­thing fur­ther. The uncer­tain­ty of whether to act on her feel­ings for Jeff or main­tain her dis­tance adds com­plex­i­ty to her char­ac­ter, as she nav­i­gates the desire for con­nec­tion while pro­tect­ing her­self emo­tion­al­ly. Her inter­nal tur­moil under­scores her need for reas­sur­ance and sta­bil­i­ty in the midst of her com­pli­cat­ed feel­ings, espe­cial­ly as she con­tem­plates what her actions might mean in the long run.

Else­where, Jeff Nolan strug­gles with his own inse­cu­ri­ties as he lies on the sofa, unable to find com­fort. His mind races as he reflects on his rela­tion­ship with Steve and the ten­sions between them, con­sid­er­ing return­ing to Lon­don and warn­ing François Lou­bet about their knowl­edge of Max High­field. He debates send­ing an email but ulti­mate­ly ques­tions its use­ful­ness, feel­ing uncer­tain about his abil­i­ty to make a mean­ing­ful impact. Jeff’s jeal­ousy toward Trouble’s bond with Steve sur­faces, reveal­ing his com­plex emo­tions and vul­ner­a­bil­i­ty. This small but sig­nif­i­cant moment high­lights the deep-seat­ed feel­ings he has, not only toward Steve but also regard­ing his role in the inves­ti­ga­tion. It adds an emo­tion­al lay­er to Jef­f’s char­ac­ter, show­ing the chal­lenges he faces in bal­anc­ing his per­son­al feel­ings with the pro­fes­sion­al pres­sures he is under.

As the night stretch­es on, Henk van Veen lies awake, lost in his own thoughts, reflect­ing on his fam­i­ly and the issues of trust that have sur­faced with Jeff. These con­cerns con­tin­ue to weigh heav­i­ly on him, adding to his men­tal strain as he lies in bed. Bon­nie Gre­gor also finds her­self awake, think­ing about the logis­tics of pack­ing her bags and the notion of safe­ty and auton­o­my in the deci­sions she’s mak­ing. Mean­while, Eddie Flood strug­gles with sleep depri­va­tion, obses­sive­ly check­ing his alarm set­tings as he pre­pares for the next day. His com­pul­sive behav­ior reveals his deep-seat­ed anx­i­eties about the upcom­ing chal­lenges, high­light­ing his need for con­trol in an uncer­tain world.

In con­trast, across the globe in Dubai, Max High­field is indulging in a hedo­nis­tic night out, sur­round­ed by influ­en­tial fig­ures who affirm his place in the world of pow­er and influ­ence. He rel­ish­es the vices that come with his new­found sta­tus, embrac­ing the risky lifestyle that now defines him. The chap­ter con­trasts Max’s exces­sive, care­free atti­tude with the tense and anx­ious moments expe­ri­enced by the oth­er char­ac­ters, empha­siz­ing the stark dif­fer­ences in their cur­rent sit­u­a­tions. At the same time, Amy Wheel­er enjoys a peace­ful sleep, con­fi­dent in the knowl­edge that her safe­ty rests in the hands of her trust­ed allies. As the night unfolds, each char­ac­ter faces their own set of chal­lenges, anx­i­eties, and uncer­tain­ties, set­ting the stage for the com­pli­cat­ed events that are bound to occur in the near future. The chap­ter beau­ti­ful­ly inter­twines their lives, show­cas­ing the frag­ile nature of their emo­tion­al states as the uncer­tain­ty of tomor­row looms large over them.