The London Eye Mystery

The London Eye, or Millennium Wheel, is a giant Ferris wheel located next to the Thames River in central London just downstream from the Big Ben clock tower and the British Parliament buildings. It looks like a giant bicycle wheel that spins slowly—about one revolution every 30 minutes—and it’s cantilevered, or suspended above the ground, held in place by an angled A-frame made of long steel tubes several feet wide and hundreds of feet long. The Eye opened in 2000 as part of the Millennial celebrations, and at nearly 45 stories it was the tallest Ferris wheel in the world. Each of the 32 air-conditioned capsules attached to the wheel can hold 25 people. The Eye is one of the tallest observation platforms in London, and as a prominent part of the city’s skyline, it’s well known and a natural meeting place.

The Eye not only is a critical part of the puzzle that Ted and Kat must solve, but also affects the main characters’ decisions. While gazing out at the tower of the Barracks public housing, Salim realizes he doesn’t want to carry out his plan to run away, but instead feels drawn to the doomed edifice. Ted and Kat ride the Eye to help them better understand Salim’s options on the day he disappeared. The Eye also represents a freedom and wisdom that comes from considering a new perspective. For Ted, who loves weather analogies, the giant wheel is the eye of the emotional hurricane caused by Salim’s disappearance.

Police officers appear several times at the Spark residence and bring with them anxiety for everyone other than Ted. For him, the police represent like minds, logic, and actionable responses. Ted relaxes when the police visit his home, as they symbolize logical deduction and deliberate patience in his chaotic world. Detective Inspector Pearce and her team work systematically in their search for Salim and remain respectful and patient with the distressed family members. Ted values their detached presence as a soothing balm to the emotional members of his family who submerge his own logical viewpoint in anxiety and fear. Detective Inspector Pearce is one of the only adults within the narrative who listens to Ted’s ideas and conclusions. Where Ted’s family cuts him off mid-sentence and brushes past him “[j]ust as if [he] didn’t exist” (257), the police submit to Ted’s solution as a viable possibility and immediately react to his insights about Salim’s disappearance. Detective Inspector Pearce and her team are also the few to acknowledge Ted’s value to their case and validate his means of using deduction over emotion to solve his problems.