"The Girl on the Train" by Paula Hawkins Pt. 1 Quiz

Answer: Alcoholism

During her daily commutes, Rachel is focused on two things. One is a little pile of clothes that remain on the side of the tracks:

"There is a pile of clothing on the side of the train tracks. Light-blue cloth - a shirt, perhaps - jumbled up with something dirty white. It's probably rubbish, part of a load dumped into the scrubby little wood up the bank."

The second is a house in the neighbourhood where she used to live, inhabited by a couple she has named Jason and Jess (she doesn't actually know them, nor has she actually met them):

"I can't really see her, of course. I don't know if she paints, or whether Jason has a great laugh, or whether Jess has beautiful cheekbones... I don't know their names, either, so I had to name them myself."

Rachel is still in love with her ex-partner Tom, but cannot come to terms with no longer being together. He is now in another relationship with a girl named Anna. As a result, she uses alcohol to cope with her loneliness. Her alcoholism has taken a toll on her relationships and her overall health. During a return call from Tom he cautions her:

"Rachel? Are you there? I know things aren't good with you, and I'm sorry for you, I really am, but... I can't help you, and these constant calls are really upsetting Anna. OK? I can't help you anymore. Go to AA or something. Please Rachel. Go to an AA meeting after work today."

Answer: Nanny

Megan and Scott Hipwell are the couple that Rachel has characterized as Jason and Jess. Megan once worked as the owner of an art gallery, but it turned out to be an unsuccessful business:

"I carry on past the park and down towards Roseberry Avenue. If I turned right here I'd go up past my gallery - what was my gallery, now a vacant shop window - but I don't want to, because that still hurts a little. I tried so hard to make a success of it. Wrong place, wrong time - no call for art in suburbia, not in this economy."

Megan takes up a job volunteering to be a nanny for Tom and Anna. Initially she was hoping that it would be fun, but instead, she dreads going there each morning and eventually quits. For one, she doesn't really like Anna all that much:

"Nothing at all would be a step up from my conversations with Anna. God, she's dull! You get the feeling that she probably had something to say for herself once upon a time, but now everything is about the child..."

Secondly, she felt that there really wasn't any point to her being there:

"...and it just seemed ridiculous, there was absolutely no point in my being there. Worse than that, I felt uncomfortable, as if I was intruding."

Answer: Jess having an affair with another man

As the train passes the house of Jason and Jess (Scott and Megan), she witnesses Jess kissing another man:

"...and I look at him and realize that it isn't Jason. This man is taller, slender, darker... Jess walks towards him, she puts her hands around his waist and she kisses him, long and deep".

As a result of this encounter, Rachel is brought back to the reason that she and Tom divorced. She unexpectedly found a series of emails making it clear that Tom was having an affair with Anna.

"I read through the messages: there were dozens, hidden in a folder entitled 'Admin'. I discovered that her name was Anna Boyd, and that my husband was in love with her."

On the evening of July 13, Rachel, self-medicating with alcohol at Wheatsheaf, a local pub, came up with a plan to go and see Jason. Building up the courage, she took the train to her old neighbourhood. Waking up the next morning, bleeding, head throbbing and injured, Rachel does not recall any of the events from the night before:

"I lie down on the bed and crawl under the duvet. I want to know what happened... My fingers go to the wound on my head, to the cut on my lip. I can almost see it, I can almost hear the words, but it shifts away from me again. I just can't get a handle on it. Every time I think I'm about to seize the moment, it drifts back into the shadow, just beyond my reach."

Answer: Her therapist

In the novel, Megan's story and background begin a year prior to the events occurring in Rachel's life. Dr. Kamal Abdic began sessions with Megan in 2012 to help her figure out the root causes of her insomnia, anxiety and panic attacks. At first, the reasons are unclear, however, during a session on October 2, 2012, it becomes evident that she is having an affair on her husband Scott. Dr. Abdic suggests that she write in a diary, but Megan doesn't really want to as she feels her husband might read her entries and discover that she is being unfaithful again:

"I could never write down the things I actually feel or think or do... And I can't really be angry with him, because he has good reason to be suspicious. I've given him cause in the past and probably will again. I am not a model wife. I can't be. No matter how much I love him, it won't be enough."

The following evening, she goes to the movies with her friend Tara, who covers for her while she has a rendezvous at a hotel with another man. Though Megan knows it would be a disaster if they ever got caught, she also is "intoxicated" by the idea of having an affair:

"It won't be the last time. He won't say no to me. I was thinking about it on the way home, and that's the thing I like most about it, having power over someone. That's the intoxicating thing."

Answer: False

On the morning that Rachel came home injured and without recollection of what had happened the previous night, she got sick all over the carpet, leaving the flat a mess. When Cathy, her roommate/landlady returned that morning and saw Rachel's physical and mental status, along with the disgusting living conditions, she gave Rachel her notice:

"I'm sorry Rachel. I just can't have this. I cannot live like this. You have to go, OK? I'll give you four weeks to find somewhere else, but then you have to go."

The following morning, Rachel received her eviction notice:

"I thought she was going to tell me that she wasn't kicking me out after all, but instead she slipped a typewritten note into my hand, giving me formal notice of my eviction, including a departure date."

Answer: Gaskill and Riley

On July 16, 2013, Rachel takes the train to Witney in order to attempt to retrace her steps and see if she can jog her memory and discover what might have taken place to cause her injuries. Her landlady Cathy calls her just as she is arriving, to offer Rachel her flat back, saying that she felt guilty for evicting her. As Rachel is heading back to the flat, Cathy calls her again letting her know that the police are there and want to talk to her. Her first interview with police proves to be less than productive.

The following day, Rachel goes into the police station to try and clear things up. The interviews are conducted by Detective Inspector Gaskill and Detective Sergeant Riley. Rachel describes Detective Gaskill as "very tall and slightly stooped" and Detective Riley as "tall, slim, dark-haired, pretty in a sharp-featured, vulpine sort of way." The interviews bring up information that make Rachel seem suspicious and having tendencies of being a possible suspect.

During the initial interview, Rachel tells police that she employed at a company called Huntingdon Whitely. Feeling the pressure of the interview, she tells police the truth about her career:

"I don't work for Huntingdon Whitely any longer. I left three months ago. My flatmate - well, she's my landlady really - I haven't told her. I'm trying to find another job. I didn't want her to know because I thought she would worry about the rent. I have some money. I can pay my rent, but... Anyway, I lied to you yesterday about my job and I apologize for that."

It is also learned that Rachel was unable to have children with her ex-husband Tom:

"No doctor can explain to me why I can't get pregnant. I'm young enough, fit enough, I wasn't drinking heavily when we were trying."

For much of the interview, Rachel is on the defensive, but it is found that she has been harassing her ex-husband and his wife Anna on many occasions. As they live a few doors down from Megan, this makes Rachel look suspicious in the investigation. They question her about an incident in which she broke into her ex-husband's house and took their baby. Rachel claimed that she had done it to protect Tom and Anna's baby who had been screaming vehemently as she was walking by their house:

"Yes. Mrs. Watson was on the sofa, sleeping. The baby was in the carry-cot and was crying - screaming, actually, red in the face, she'd obviously been crying for a while. I picked her up to comfort her. That's all. I picked her up to quieten her."

At the end of the interview, Rachel tells police about the mysterious man that she saw Megan having an affair with while observing from the train, trying to direct suspicious away from herself:

"I told them about how last week I saw her with someone who clearly wasn't her husband, how I'd seen them kissing on the lawn."

Answer: Scott Hipwell

After reading in the newspaper that Scott has been "questioned under caution", meaning that the police think he is the reason Megan is missing. Rachel, hoping to provide him with information that might help him, sends him a brief email:

"My name is Rachel Watson. You don't know me. I would like to talk to you about your wife. I do not have any information on her whereabouts, I don't know what has happened to her. But I believe I have information that could help you."

A few days later, Scott sends her a return email. In the email, he wants to discuss the information with Rachel over the phone and provides a number to contact him at. Reluctantly, Rachel calls him and they decide on a time to meet.

Answer: It was her birthday

As Anna was waking up, she could see their daughter Evie smiling. She could also hear Tom singing coming up the stairs:

"Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you. Breakfast in bed, birthday girl."

Anna was happy the entire time until she saw Tom reading his emails. She realized that something wasn't quite right. During a moment of intoxication, Rachel had sent Tom an angry email the previous evening about Anna. Concerned, Anna responded:

"God, is she ever going to go away? Is she ever going to just let us be happy?"

As Anna was getting ready for a romantic night with Tom, she looked out the window and saw a woman she believed to be Rachel:

"She doesn't look up, but it's her, I'm sure of it."

Answer: Kamal Abdic

At first, Rachel suspects that Megan's friend Rajesh Gujral might be involved, however, Scott is adamant that it is not him:

"I can't see it. He's one of the artists who used to exhibit at the gallery. He's a nice enough guy, but... he's married, he's got kids."

Instead, Scott comes up with another possibility, Megan's therapist:

"Megan was seeing a therapist. His name is... Abdic. Kamal Abdic."

Upon Scott showing Rachel a photo of Kamal Abdic on his laptop, she leaned forward to get a better look at his picture:
"That's him, that's definitely him."

Answer: She has no money left in her bank account

As Rachel has not been able to hold down a job and has been spending most of her remaining money on alcohol, she has spent all her savings. Suffering from nightmares, depression and alcohol withdrawal, Rachel goes to take money out from the ATM to purchase yet another bottle of wine, only to be rejected.

The machine instead puts out the message "There are insufficient funds in your account."