Killers of a Certain Age

Everyone has a last meal together before Billie leaves for the auction in London. During dinner, Billie remarks on the presence of potatoes, which foreshadows their future use as bombs stuffed with Taverner’s firecrackers. When the women find themselves alone, they toast Constance and their history together. The next day, Billie sends a text message before leaving her phone behind—clearly a signal that is somehow part of her plan. Vance will later reveal that she sent a text to Martin without turning off her phone’s location, leading her adversaries directly to Benscombe.

Taverner drives Billie to the train station for her trip to London and informs her that Minka is practicing her throwing skills with Akiko—another hint that the two will be instrumental to the trap for Vance. She reminisces about their relationship, which was passionate and happy until he began to propose marriage to her because he wanted children. True to her nature, Billie chose her career instead. She asks Taverner if he has regrets, and he says his marriage was happy and he could not have been fulfilled in life without children. Billie says she has had “[E]xactly the life I wanted for myself” (309).