The Bourne Identity Chapter 17 Summary

How It All Goes Down

  • We're at a table with Bourne and Lavier.
  • Bourne lets Lavier know he knows she was involved in the attempts on his life (though he doesn't reveal his identity to her), and she is thoroughly freaked out.
  • But Bourne double bamboozles Lavier, telling her he represents folks who hired Bourne for a kill, saying that Bourne then stiffed them.
  • Bourne tells Jacqueline he knows that she works for Carlos, and he says that the people he works for will destroy both Les Classiques and Carlos if they don't back off.
  • Lavier says Bourne is nuts. Various threats go back and forth.
  • Bourne asks why they're after Bourne. Lavier says Bourne is Cain. Bourne has a weird flashback when he hears the name.
  • This is the first time Bourne's heard it, so it should be a big deal, but we've been bouncing around so much with so many people talking about Cain that the moment is sort of anticlimactic. Oh, well.
  • Lavier tells Bourne he chose the wrong assassin. Bourne is upset because now he thinks he's an assassin.
  • On the other hand, Bourne was thinking about killing Lavier just a few pages back, so it's not clear why the news that he's killed other people should be quite so upsetting.
  • Anyway, Bourne asks Lavier to tell him more about Cain. She says he (Cain) was in Medusa. He hears the word Medusa and gets all shaky.
  • "My impatience makes me impatient," (17.140) Bourne says. Shmoop appreciates the snappy banter.
  • Lavier tells Bourne that Cain is an American, and that Carlos has bought a guy in Washington who confirmed it.
  • Carlos is great; Carlos is cool; yay for Carlos. Lavier burbles on. Bourne has a headache.
  • Lavier says Carlos killed Leland, and Cain tried to take credit.
  • Apparently some folks set a trap for Cain down in Marseilles and said they killed him; that's how Bourne ended up shot in the water with amnesia.
  • Bourne is getting more and more agitated as all the memories come back. He lets Lavier go to the bathroom.
  • There's a bright light: the staff has taken a picture of Bourne.
  • Lavier told the staff that the she and Bourne were engaged to be married and that she wanted a photo in memory of the occasion.
  • Lavier leaves a note indicating that she suspects Bourne is Cain, that she'll notify Carlos, and that Bourne is done for.
  • Bourne races out of the restaurant, determined to have one more canoodle with Marie—and then leave her, because he's an assassin and he's bad for her, baby.