Not a Happy Family

Rose visits her mother. Ellen rants about the detectives visiting and is certain Rose is safe from scrutiny because she did not know about the will. Rose admits that she has something to tell her.

An officer approaches Reyes and Barr, “excited.” It is not specified what they are shown by this officer, but Reyes says, “I’ll be damned” (286).

Ellen is horrified over Rose’s actions. Now, in addition to facing fraud charges, she could be investigated for murder. She still does not know that Rose knew she was in the will. Ellen, reflecting on Audrey’s psychopathy theory, once again wonders if one of the Merton children murdered Fred and Sheila. She realizes that if one of them is convicted, Rose will get a larger portion of the inheritance.

At the station, Rose admits to knowing she was in the will. However, she insists she didn’t murder Fred and Sheila.

Catherine finally tells Ted she is pregnant. Ted hugs her, and though Catherine “can’t see his face” (291), she feels the moment is “perfect.”

After telling Catherine he’s happy about the baby, Ted goes out. He is not happy about the news: He doesn’t want a baby with Catherine, nor does he want to raise a child in “the murder house” (291). He visits Lisa: He needs something to confirm that Dan is indeed guilty because he has come to suspect Catherine. She’d described Sheila’s earrings to him, but he can’t remember ever seeing her wear that pair.

Lisa cannot reassure him. She confesses she has her doubts, and Ted admits the same about Catherine. He knows Sheila wanted to talk to Catherine about something that night; maybe, he reasons, she told Catherine of the plan while they were alone. Ted mentions the earrings but warns Lisa not to tell Dan.

Thursday morning, Reyes and Barr re-interview Jake Brenner. This time, they tell him that they know he did not spend Easter night with Jenna: Surveillance cameras recorded him going back to New York alone on a train. Jake admits Jenna asked him to lie for her. He tells the detectives about the fight at dinner and explains that Jenna didn’t leave like the others. Jenna and Fred shouted at each other, and Fred said he was changing the will to leave half to Audrey. This confirms Jenna knew about the impending change.

The detectives are at a dead end. All of the kids are equally suspect: They’re “roughly the same height, right-handed, and physically capable of committing the murders” (298). Reyes wonders if all of them—the three siblings, Rose, and Irena—are manipulating him together.

Jenna gets a call from Jake. He tells her what he told the detectives and says, “Just stay away from me. I don’t want anything to do with you” (299).

Jenna drives to Catherine’s. Catherine and Ted mention the earrings, and Jenna “gives her sister a long, contemplative look” (301). She mentions the detectives want to re-interview her because Jake lied for her and Catherine comments that all of them are liars. Jenna insists she was at home. They agree Dan likely killed Sheila and Fred; Jenna then tells them about her fight with Fred, the will change, and Jake’s confession. Catherine says only that things don’t look good for Jenna.

That night Catherine cannot sleep. She remembers the look on her mother’s face while Catherine took the diamond earrings off her body: “Her mother had been wearing a different pair at Easter dinner. […] No one will know” (302).

Dan wonders if the police are going to arrest him. He cannot stop fidgeting and eventually tells Lisa he is going for a drive. He ends up at Rose’s home, where he turns off the engine and watches the house.

Rose gets home and notices the car parked in front her house. She can’t see who is inside, so she panics and runs to get inside her house. Eventually, around one o’clock, she sees “the car is gone” (305).

The next morning, Reyes and Barr tell a nervous Jenna and her lawyer that Jake sold her out. Jenna says Catherine likely knew about the will change, too. They mention Audrey’s poisoning, and Jenna is flippant.

Ellen runs into Janet Shewcuk downtown. Janet apologizes and confesses to telling Rose about the will.

The detectives execute a search warrant at Jenna’s cottage studio. They find nothing incriminating. However, as they are departing, Jenna sees Audrey sitting in a car in front of the cottage and snaps at her to leave.

The next morning, Audrey stews at home, certain that whichever Merton kid killed their parents also tried to kill her. She suspects Jenna, but she has no evidence.

Ellen ponders the new information about Rose. She can’t tell if she’s “stupid” or if Rose is a good liar. Audrey’s story about Fred has her worried that “there is an unknowable darkness at the center of her daughter” and she fears she can’t ever look at Rose the same (311).

With some reluctance, Audrey heads to Irena’s home for help. Even as the two engage in small talk over coffee, Audrey wonders how to make Irena her ally.

Reyes and Barr get a tip about the pick-up truck with the flames. The house they arrive at is in a poor neighborhood; the residents would have no reason to go to Brecken Hill. A man named Carl Brink, living with his mother, says the truck is in his garage. He swears he was with his mother Easter night, and his mother agrees—but the detectives suspect the two are lying and want him to come to the station.

Carl Brink gets a lawyer. He reveals that he was in the Mertons’ neighborhood to negotiate a small-time drug sale and that, near midnight, he saw a car parked at the end of the driveway of the Mertons’ house. It had a vanity license plate with Irena’s name.

The detectives head out to Irena’s house to arrest her for the murders of Fred and Sheila Merton. The detectives believe Irena played them all along and wanted her $1 million. With her attorney, Irena denies everything and tells the detectives she did not even know about the money until after the killings.

The Merton siblings and their spouses learn of Irena’s arrest. They meet at Catherine’s. Everyone is relieved. They agree to say nothing to anyone, not even the press, ostensibly to protect Irena. But Lisa thinks they are all thinking the same thing: “Thanks to Irena, we’re all going to be rich” (325).

The next morning, Irena requests a meeting with the detectives. She tells them she was on the phone with a friend Easter night and that phone records will confirm that. She tells them any of the Merton kids could easily take her car—they knew that she kept the spare keys on her patio and that she keeps that car on the street.

Audrey is shocked by the news. She doubts Irena is the killer.

When phone records confirm Irena’s alibi, the detectives release her. They are back where they started: four suspects, no alibis, and no evidence.

Catherine receives a call the following morning from the detectives: They found some incriminating physical evidence. They are requesting DNA samples from each of the siblings. Both Lisa and Catherine suspect they found the bloody clothing.

The narrative shifts back to Easter Sunday, 11:02 pm. Sheila tries to sleep but cannot. She wishes her husband was not intent on changing the will: “He’s been such a bastard” and “always wants to hurt the kids” (332).

The doorbell rings. She heads down the stairs, Fred slow to follow. She opens the door but only sees a figure in some kind of hazmat outfit. She notices the electrical cord in the figure’s hand and tries to run. She is not fast enough. She feels the cord squeeze her neck as she grabs for her cell phone, but she can’t reach it.

Two days after the detectives request DNA samples from the siblings, they bring in Jenna. Jenna “has no intention of confessing” because “[t]hey had it coming” (333). She’s confident they have no solid evidence. Reyes asks her to explain why a strand of her hair was recovered from Irena’s car. Jenna claims she hugged Irena before Irena left Easter night; the hair must have come off then. The detectives point out that they know Irena was home that night, but Jenna’s lawyer dismisses the hair as flimsy evidence. Jenna smirks as she leaves with her lawyer.

Audrey shows up unannounced at Catherine’s house. She tells Catherine that the police found DNA evidence that puts Jenna in Irena’s car the night of the murders. She says the detectives want to move on an arrest, but the hair is not enough. Catherine mostly wants the whole thing to be over; she’s relieved to know they don’t have enough to convict Jenna, because it means the whole scandal will blow over eventually. Audrey leaves, saying she wants Jenna convicted.

Catherine calls Dan. They plot to let Jenna know they know what she has done. Dan is reluctant but agrees.

That night, Catherine and Dan confront Jenna. They assure her that although they know she is guilty, they are not going to act on it. Jenna, however, denies it and throws suspicion back on her brother and sister, claiming they framed her. Jenna sticks to her story of being home and points out that both Catherine and Dan were out that night. Catherine panics internally.

Jenna drives home, reflecting on what happened Easter night.

Jenna drops off Jake at the train station. She is in a “murderous” mood (342) after what her father told her. She drives to Dan’s house and snatches a pair of the disposable coveralls and booties he used when he sprayed insulation in his attic. Then she drives to Irena’s house and takes the spare keys to Irena’s car, which she drives back to her parents’ house. When her mother opens the door, there is a moment of shock and recognition. Jenna strangles her. As she lowers her limp mother to the floor, Jenna “[feels] nothing.” When she hears her father coming, she goes to kitchen and grabs a carving knife from the wood block. She sneaks up on her father from behind. She registers only a flurry of blood spurting everywhere: “Something in her took over” (344).

Quickly, she grabs a garbage bag. She dumps various things inside: her mother’s rings, the electrical cord, some other jewelry, her parents’ wallets, and the family’s silver set. She goes to the backyard and strips off the bloody coveralls and booties, placing them into the bag too. Then she puts the garbage bag into a sturdy canvas sack she brought with her.

To get rid of the sack, she stops near a farm outside of town where she knows a friend of hers was getting ready to pour a concrete floor for a new outbuilding. She hastily buries the bag in the ground of the foundation where she knew the concrete would be poured the next day. She heads back to New York, certain the evidence will never be found. Jenna “feels a sense of satisfaction” whenever she drives past the building (345).

Jenna smirks as she drives home, thinking about the doubts she’s cast amongst her family members. She knows Catherine stole Sheila’s earrings off her corpse, and she thinks Dan’s tendency of driving at night is “classic serial killer behavior” (346). Jenna also wishes the antifreeze she put in Audrey’s iced tea had been enough to kill her.

Audrey is certain Jenna must have dumped the bloody clothes somewhere near the Merton house. For weeks she follows Jenna, until she sees her niece stop and have a casual conversation with a woman at a farm outside of town. Audrey notices construction on a new outbuilding for the farm. After Jenna departs, Audrey approaches and chats with an employee, who confirms the new construction. The woman tells her the foundation had been poured right after Easter.

Audrey goes to Reyes and Barr with her suspicion, but it is not enough to secure a warrant to rip up the concrete floor.

The case goes cold. A year goes by. The Merton estate is settled, and each sibling gets their inheritance. Catherine has her baby and she and Ted move into the old family home. Eventually, Audrey sees a “for sale” sign at the farm. Audrey, who has her inheritance, immediately calls a realtor to put in a very generous bid to buy the property.