Anansi Boys

Spider considers his attraction to Rosie and the way he feels being with her. However, he’s discovering that Mrs. Noah is resistant to his charms. She tries to trip him up about his “cousin” Daisy, but Spider deflects her questions. The narrative explores Daisy’s backstory and how her parents bonded over a recurring game of chess before marrying and becoming traveling academics. Daisy grew up always wanting to be a policewoman but is growing disenchanted with her work. She considers what she knows about the Grahame Coats case. She goes to see her boss, Camberwell, and requests to be taken off because she’s met Fat Charlie before; however, she is declined.

Elsewhere, Maeve goes to see Grahame Coats in person, riding up the ancient office elevator. She thinks about her dead husband and how she wishes she could speak to him. When she arrives, she tells Grahame Coats she’s had an audit done on his work and found his numbers don’t line up. Grahame Coats tries to blame Fat Charlie, but she brushes it aside; the discrepancies predate his employment. He instead offers to repay the money with interest if she keeps his secret. If not, they will go through a lengthy court battle in which her husband’s name will be ruined and she will get nothing. Maeve agrees, and Grahame Coats leads her into a secret vault full of money and jewelry. She examines a gold locket but sees his reflection in it as he attacks her from behind with a hammer. They fight until he kills her. Grahame Coats immediately packs his things, along with his fake identities, pausing to lick a drop of blood from his hand. After clearing out his computer data, he escapes.

Spider heads out to meet Rosie for lunch, resolving to tell her who he really is. Though they agreed to meet at her home, he finds her waiting for him on the street. They sit down in a restaurant and Spider confesses that he’s not Fat Charlie after all and asks Rosie to be with him instead. As Spider waits for a response to his heartfelt entreaty, a rush of birds pour from Rosie’s mouth. Spider realizes he’s sitting across from the Bird Woman. He fights her off by throwing a pot of hot coffee on her. The birds fly away, and Spider asks the restaurant owner if he came in with someone. The man does not remember. As Spider leaves the restaurant, he notices birds all around him.

Fat Charlie flies home to England on a much more successful flight, being given a first-class seat and winning a box of chocolates, which he takes home for Rosie. He accidentally speaks to Spider out loud and draws the concern of the flight attendant but doesn’t feel as embarrassed as he normally would. He transfers from the flight to a train and, on his way, sees the Bird Woman surrounded by crows. Meanwhile, Spider is leaving the restaurant and bumps into the real Rosie. He brings her home and the two of them encounter the real Fat Charlie. Even though the men look different, Rosie can’t tell which is which. Spider tells her to go home and take a nap, after which she’ll have forgotten about the encounter. Once inside, Fat Charlie and Spider begin to fight. Fat Charlie vaguely remembers the two of them fighting before as children. As they separate, the police knock at the front door. Daisy arrests Fat Charlie and they take him away.

Spider lays in his room and considers what to do next. He knows he can coerce Rosie into loving him, but only on the surface; inside she would know she was being manipulated, and it wouldn’t be real. He goes back into the apartment and finds it torn apart by police but convinces himself Fat Charlie did it in anger. Rosie returns and asks why Spider’s keeping all the curtains closed. He tells her he’s afraid of birds. Rosie tells him a story she heard on the news about a raven who saved a man’s life from a mountain lion by warning him the lion was nearby. Spider invites her into his room and tells her the truth about him and Fat Charlie. After she learns that she slept with him and not her fiancé, Rosie slaps him and tells him she doesn’t want to see either of them again. After she leaves, a flock of flamingos begin attacking Spider’s window and break in. As they attack him, Spider tricks them into flying back through the broken window. He leaves the room behind and wills it out of existence.

Rosie goes to her mother and tearfully explains what happened. She explains that Fat Charlie was taken away by the police and confesses that she doesn’t love him but has fallen in love with Spider instead. Mrs. Noah suggests they get away for a holiday. Fat Charlie’s been taken to prison. A guard helps him acclimatize to his new surroundings. Elsewhere, Grahame Coats has just landed on the island of Saint Andrews under the name Basil Finnegan. He considers Maeve’s murder and how freeing and satisfying it felt.

Fat Charlie impatiently passes away his time in prison. When the guard allows him out for an exercise break, thousands of birds gather and watch him until he calls the guard for help. He and the man both go back inside in terror. Meanwhile, Maeve falls in and out of consciousness in Grahame Coats’s vault until she finally dies. She takes out her cellphone and tries to call the police. The line is answered by a strange voice who tells her she doesn’t need the police. Maeve tries to call her sister, her bank manager, and her best friend, and each time meets the same voice. It tells her to wait until she’s collected. She decides to go find a police officer by herself. The elevator doesn’t come, so she goes down the stairs and discovers two officers at the bottom. She tries and fails to get their attention. After the police leave, her phone rings; it’s her deceased husband, Morris, trying to help her along. She grows impatient and her phone battery runs low, although Morris tells her she doesn’t have a phone battery or a phone. The phone shuts off and Maeve discovers she can pass through walls. She explores the building and discovers she’s stuck inside the Agency.

Fat Charlie waits in his prison cell until his solicitor unexpectedly arrives—it’s Spider in disguise. He takes Fat Charlie’s hand, and they magically travel to a small Italian town where they sit and drink hot chocolate. Fat Charlie admits to bringing the birds. A group of pigeons gather ominously, and Spider takes Fat Charlie’s hand again. Together they travel to a desert. Fat Charlie explains his bargain with the Bird Woman, admitting that he promised Anansi’s bloodline. Spider points out that it includes them both. Vultures begin to gather, and the Bird Woman appears. Spider and Fat Charlie travel again to Antarctica, thinking they’ll be safe. However, they encounter a frigate and a flock of penguins.

Spider takes them to a dark, empty coal mine. Fat Charlie tells Spider he should have left when asked. Spider admits that Rosie’s broken up with both of them. Spider awkwardly apologizes for the mess he’s made, and Fat Charlie apologizes for calling the Bird Woman. He remembers the feather he received in trade. He thinks it’s still with Mrs. Dunwiddy. He suggests they go see her, but Spider says he can’t be around her since he broke a gazing ball in her garden, just like Fat Charlie did. Fat Charlie admits his breakup with Rosie may have been for the best. Spider starts to feel they’re missing something about the deal with the Bird Woman. He takes Fat Charlie back to the prison cell where he’ll be safe.

Daisy and Fat Charlie meet in the interrogation room. Daisy asks him about Maeve and admits she doesn’t think he was responsible for her disappearance or the financial crimes at the agency. Fat Charlie tells Daisy about Grahame Coats’s secret vault. Together they drive to the agency. As they arrive, Maeve follows them. They discover the locked door to Grahame Coats’s vault. Before Fat Charlie leaves, he asks Daisy on a date. She sets a time and place for the following Sunday. Daisy has a locksmith open the door to the vault and they discover Maeve’s body. With her body taken from the building she’s now able to leave, so she wanders around Selfridges. She sees Morris on the TV screens, and he tries to convince her to come join him. She tells him she has unfinished business with Grahame Coats.

On Sunday, Fat Charlie meets Daisy for lunch. Daisy sidesteps his questions about Grahame Coats. He tells her Rosie and Spider have both left him. After their lunch, Fat Charlie meets Spider in a large square which, unusually, doesn’t have any birds in it. Spider is still convinced they’re missing a piece of the puzzle. He gives Fat Charlie money to go to Florida and retrieve the Bird Woman’s feather. Fat Charlie suggests Anansi may still be alive. Suddenly, a flock of birds arrives, and Spider sends Fat Charlie away just before the birds descend. Spider and the birds disappear, leaving only the Bird Woman. She tells Fat Charlie that she is delivering Spider to someone else.