The Five-Forty-Eight is one of eight tales in Cheever's collection The Housebreaker of Shady Hill and Other Stories, all of which are set in the fictional suburb of Shady Hill. The Five-Forty-Eight refers to the commuter train that carries office workers and executives between Manhattan, New York and the suburbs. The male protagonist, a business executive, is identified only by his surname, Blake.
The story begins with Blake exiting an elevator in the building where he works in New York City, on his way to catch the Five-Forty-Five that will take him home to Shady Hill. Blake is alarmed when he suspects he is being stalked by his former secretary, Miss Dent. Blake fears that she is seeking a confrontation with him. He decides to stop at a men's bar in an attempt to lose his pursuer. As he has a drink, he reflects on his relationship with the woman, and the reader is introduced to the backstory behind the mysterious woman. Miss Dent had been hired by personnel to be Blake's personal secretary several months before. Dent, a young woman of crushingly low self esteem, expressed her affection for Blake by presenting him with a rose, which he discarded in the wastebasket. The reader is informed that "Mr. Blake does not like roses." After working together for three weeks, Blake offered to buy her drinks after work. She invited Blake to her apartment where they had a drink and then had sex. The next day Blake waited until she was out for lunch before calling personnel and telling them to fire her. The front office is instructed to bar Miss Dent from the premises.
When Blake takes his seat in the train, he notes that Mrs. Compton, his next door neighbor and confidante to Blake's wife, Louise, is privy to the Blake family marital discord. Sympathetic to Blake's spouse, she glares at Blake and ignores him. Blake notes another neighbor, Mr. Watkins, a free-spirited resident of Shady Hills who rents, but does not own a home. Blake finds his long hair and sandals unsavory, and neither acknowledges the other. Blake looks up to see Miss Dent taking a seat beside him. Miss Dent informs Blake she has a pistol in her pocketbook, and will kill him if he tries to escape. Blake despairs that Mrs. Compton and Mr. Watkins are both utterly unaware or indifferent to his predicament.
Miss Dent explains to Blake how she tried to contact him, and begins to ramble incoherently. She urges Blake to read a letter she has prepared for him. The letter addresses Blake as her husband, details dreams she had and touches on her time spent in a mental hospital. Miss Dent questions whether she should kill him. The train arrives at Shady Hill.
Miss Dent escorts Blake off the train at gunpoint and orders him to his knees, assuring him that she doesn't want to hurt him, merely teach him the lesson he would otherwise be incapable of learning himself. She tells him to put his face in the dirt, Blake does so and begins to weep. Miss Dent, having fulfilled her revenge, explains that she can now wash her hands of Blake and departs. Blake picks himself up and walks home.[6][7]
