Alternative Theory
Firstly, this is one of the greatest films I have ever seen, I loved it the first time I watched it. I sat transfixed to the screen enjoying every second......yada yada yada, yeah yeah so I liked it, join the fucking queue mate.
Some time afterwards I discussed it with a couple of people, well one actually. He banged on about how Patrick Bateman had imagined all his murders and fantasized everything. This is the conclusion that everyone here seems to have come to as well, and is probably the correct conclusion.
However, my reasoning was different and I had drawn a completely different conclusion (how many more times do you think I can fit the word 'conclusion' into this WU). Maybe because I hadn't read the novel beforehand, I don't know. My thoughts where this......
Patrick Bateman did actually murder all those people, Paul Allen included. He had managed to get away with it because he had used Paul Allen's flat to carry out most of the murders and store the corpses. Paul Allen's family then discover all the corpses in his flat and believe him to be responsible and thus, this is the reason why he has gone missing, to avoid imprisonment. His rich and influential family then organise a cover up, clean his apartment and put it on the market, at which point Patrick Bateman comes in. The suspicious way the 'estate agent' acts towards Patrick Bateman, asking him to "leave and cause no trouble" made me think this, honest guv.
My theory slightly falls apart when at the end of the film Patrick is trying to confess to his lawyer who says he can't have killed Paul Allen because he had lunch with him in London a couple of days ago. However, I have a back-up theory for this. There are points during the film in which people get mixed up as to who they are addressing. Patrick is mistaken for someone else about twice, so my theory is that his lawyer has mistaken someone else for Paul Allen.
So if you're sitting there wondering how I got from one case affairs to the other, ie what the fuck am I babbling about. Basically I'm saying Patrick Bateman got away with it because people thought that Paul Allen did all the murdering.
This is probably completely and utterly WRONG! But you gotta give me credit for putting forward another theory and make you think about it....no.....well screw you guys, I'm going home.