Frieda McFadden
Summary altered from SuperSummary
PROLOGUE
Dr. Adrienne Hale -- the renowned psychiatrist whose mysterious disappearance incites the events on which the book will center -- begins the novel by stating, “Everybody lies” (5), but concludes in the Prologue: “I will know the truth. I always know. Never lie to me” (6).
1. PRESENT. Patricia is in the car with her husband Ethan on their way to visit a remote house in upstate New York that they are considering buying. A snowstorm has started, and they are lost. Ethan and Tricia are newlyweds and have been married for only six months. Tricia admits, “I’m still learning about Ethan. All my girlfriends scolded me for marrying him too quickly” (9-10). The two met in a coffee shop one day; Tricia tripped and spilled her coffee in front of him. Ethan and Tricia arrive at the property, expecting their realtor, Judy, to be there; there is a light on on the first floor, so they assume that could be her. Tricia has a sense of foreboding about the house as she thinks something terrible has happened there. Ethan convinces Tricia to go into the house.
2. PRESENT. Ethan and Tricia make their way through the snowy driveway to Adrienne’s house. Tricia is not wearing snow boots, so Ethan carries her on his back, which Tricia finds romantic. Once inside, Tricia and Ethan discover that there is nobody in the house—their realtor, Judy, is not there after all. Even stranger is that the house is completely dark, even though Ethan and Tricia both saw a light from outside. Ethan and Tricia do not have cell service in the remote area, so they cannot call Judy. Nonetheless, they start to explore the house. It is enormous but has not been lived in for some time—dust and cobwebs are everywhere. Again, Tricia thinks: “Something terrible has happened in this house” (20). Tricia is further perturbed when she finds a strange footprint in the dust; however, when Tricia shows the footprint to Ethan, he does not think much of it. Ethan suggests they stay the night and find something to eat in the kitchen. Tricia thinks, “That’s how Ethan is. He’s always so confident. I love that about him. So I follow my new husband to the kitchen” (28). As Ethan and Tricia explore, they discover a giant portrait of a woman. Tricia suggests the woman lived here. Ethan asks, “What kind of arrogant, self-obsessed person would put a gigantic painting of herself over the fireplace?” (22). Tricia discovers a bookshelf with the book The Anatomy of Fear by Adrienne Hale, MD. From the author photo at the back, she discerns that the woman in the portrait is Adrienne. Ethan and Tricia discuss the famous disappearance of the renowned psychiatrist, which occurred three years prior. Everyone assumed her boyfriend, Luke Strauss, killed her—although this was never proven.
3. PAST. Adrienne is at home in her house in upstate New York (the same house that Ethan and Tricia are in during the present day). Adrienne’s literary agent, Paige, is bringing Adrienne the proof of her manuscript for her book, The Anatomy of Fear. This is Adrienne’s second book; her first book was a bestseller. Adrienne dislikes Paige and rebuffs Paige’s attempts at false friendship, thinking, “I don’t have friends. I never have” (34). Paige expresses concern about Adrienne living so remotely as a woman alone. During their conversation, Adrienne realizes that Paige does not respect Adrienne’s work. She retaliates by telling Paige, an appearance-conscious woman, that her mascara is smudged. Adrienne further decides to fire Paige as her literary agent.
4. PRESENT. Tricia and Ethan are in the kitchen trying to find something to eat. Given the fact that the house seems deserted, Tricia is surprised when they find cold cuts and some other food in the fridge. Ethan prepares sandwiches for them; Tricia enjoys him pampering her and finds it romantic. However, her love of Ethan is marred by an undercurrent of anxiety as she thinks: “I just hope he feels the same way about me after he finds out about my revelation. I feel ill every time I think about it. But I can’t keep it from him much longer” (39). The revelation is yet unrevealed to the reader as well. Their impromptu meal is cut short when Tricia notices a glass of half-drunk water next to the sink, with condensation on the outside. She is now sure there is somebody else in the house and convinces Ethan to go with her to search for the person.
5. PRESENT. Tricia and Ethan search the empty house. They do not find anyone. While Tricia remains disturbed by the house, Ethan has fallen in love with it and wants to buy it. Tricia is unconvinced but does not share her doubts. When it comes to living in the house, she thinks, “Over my dead body” (48). As Ethan finishes preparing their sandwiches, Tricia looks through Adrienne’s office—and finds a tape recorder.
6. PAST. Adrienne is sitting in her office. She reveals that she sees patients in her house, which could be deemed risky. However, she also vets every patient personally—and she notes: “It is extremely rare for mental health workers to be killed by patients” (50). Adrienne gets an email from a woman named Susan telling Adrienne that Susan will no longer pay for her son’s therapy sessions. Adrienne thinks about Susan’s son, “EJ,” whom Adrienne has diagnosed with narcissistic personality disorder. Adrienne doubts she can help EJ and is relieved by Susan’s message. In this chapter, Adrienne also reveals that she started recording all her patient sessions, because “[t]ape recordings don’t lie” (54). On the cassette for each patient, she writes their initials, the number of the session, and the date.
7. PRESENT. Tricia reveals that Ethan does not have many friends and did not have many girlfriends before her; Tricia’s friends warned her this was a “red flag” (57). However, Tricia disregards her friends’ warnings. She is mostly worried that once she shares her secret, still also unrevealed to the reader, Ethan will react poorly. Tricia searches Adrienne’s bookshelves for something to read. When she tries to pull out Stephen King’s The Shining, the bookcase swings open, revealing a secret room.
8. PRESENT. Tricia enters the secret room and finds thousands of cassette tapes. They are the recordings of Adrienne’s sessions with her patients. Tricia sees a tape labeled “PL” and remembers that a patient by this moniker is referenced in Adrienne’s famous pop-psychology book The Anatomy of Fear. Tricia also notices a tape labeled only “Luke,” instead of with initials. Tricia remembers that Adrienne’s boyfriend, the one who was suspected of her murder, was called Luke. Tricia hears Ethan calling for her and leaves the secret room, taking the PL tapes. She does not tell Ethan what she has found: “There’s no reason not to tell him. But he won’t want me listening to these tapes. He’ll tell me it’s none of my business” (63). Ethan has found a bottle of cabernet sauvignon from South Africa in the house. Tricia notes that “he’s something of a wine expert” (64). Ethan pours them two glasses and proposes a toast to their new home—Tricia has yet to tell him that she finds the house creepy and cannot imagine living in it. Tricia cannot drink the wine, however, because of her secret—which she now reveals to the reader via an internal thought: She is pregnant. Tricia is terrified to tell Ethan because they have agreed to wait to have children. To cover her secret, Tricia pretends to sip the wine. As they drink the wine, Tricia looks at the portrait of Adrienne. Ethan tells her that the portrait is creepy, and he takes it down from over the mantel, setting it on the floor and turning it around. Tricia remains uneasy: “Even with the portrait turned around, I still feel Dr. Hale’s green eyes boring into me” (69).
9. PRESENT. Tricia reiterates in her mind how sweet Ethan is, thinking, “My friends were totally wrong about all the red flags” (70). Nonetheless, she remains reluctant to tell him about her pregnancy, especially when they are in an isolated house with no way to leave—a realization that surprises Tricia. Tricia maintains that Ethan is perfect; one of the few flaws she identifies is that “he’s a bit on the short side for a man” (71). Ethan goes to take a shower. While he is gone, Tricia seizes the opportunity to listen to one of the tapes she stole from Adrienne’s secret room. Tricia goes into Adrienne’s office, where she previously saw the tape recorder, and puts in one of the PL tapes.
10. The narrative provides a transcript of the recording of PL that Tricia is listening to in the present day, allowing the reader to “listen” along with Tricia. It is PL’s second visit with Adrienne. PL, age 25, tells Adrienne about the incident that caused her to seek therapy: PL was with her fiancé, Cody, and her two best friends in a remote cabin. PL describes how she woke up in bed to the sound of Cody screaming. There was a strange man in the room; he had stabbed Cody, as well as PL’s two friends. The man stabbed PL in the stomach: “I’ve got a scar on my belly to remember him by forever” (77). The man was never caught, and memories of the night continue to haunt PL. Adrienne is determined to help PL regain control over her life.
11. PRESENT. Tricia stops listening to the tape, worried Ethan will discover what she is doing, and goes to find him. Ethan has showered and taken some clothes from Adrienne’s closet to wear—the clothes of Adrienne’s boyfriend, Luke. Tricia wonders, “What’s worse—wearing the clothing of a dead woman or wearing the clothing of the man who killed her?” (82). Ethan convinces Tricia that they should sleep in the primary bedroom, Adrienne’s old bedroom, even though it makes Tricia uncomfortable. Ethan insists, saying that this is where they will be sleeping once they own the house. Tricia thinks, “Yeah, over my dead body” (83). Finally, Tricia acquiesces. As she drifts off to sleep, Tricia thinks about her family—and Ethan’s family. Tricia reveals that Ethan’s parents died before they started dating.
12. PRESENT. After falling asleep, Tricia wakes up at three in the morning. Ethan is asleep. Tricia explores the house and ends up in the secret room where Adrienne’s old tapes are. Tricia notices that Adrienne’s tapes are color-coded: The first session is labeled with blue ink, subsequent sessions with black, and the final session with red. There is one discrepancy to this order: Patient EJ has a regular series of tapes—blue, black, red—but then the tapes resume a week after the red tape (what should have been the last session). Further, Tricia notes that Adrienne was still seeing EJ when she disappeared. Tricia takes the red EJ tape to listen to. EJ’s mother, Susan, wrote Adrienne a message in Chapter 6 to discontinue EJ’s sessions. Adrienne was relieved, thinking, “I will never have to see him again” (55). However, according to what Tricia has found, Adrienne did end up continuing sessions with EJ. The question, unanswered for now, is: Why?
13. Trisha listens to the recording of EJ, age 29. He greets Adrienne casually. He tells her he brought her a gift—a bottle of cabernet sauvignon from South Africa. However, when Adrienne tells EJ that she can no longer keep treating him because his mother refuses to pay for his sessions, EJ tells her she will be sorry for kicking him out. Adrienne asks EJ to leave her house.
14. PRESENT. Tricia finishes listening to the recording of EJ, feeling uneasy. She notes that EJ was threatening Adrienne, and wonders if the police investigated EJ as a suspect after Adrienne’s disappearance. Tricia also notes, “There was something creepy about his voice. I can’t put my finger on it. Something creepy and also familiar” (96). Tricia also wonders if the South African bottle of cabernet sauvignon that EJ referenced in the recording was the same bottle Ethan found and opened earlier. Tricia wonders why Adrienne would have taken EJ back as a patient after this uncomfortable session. She goes to get the next EJ tape, wanting to listen and find out—but is interrupted by a crashing sound. Going into the living room, Tricia is horrified to realize the source of the sound: “The painting of Dr. Adrienne Hale. The one that Ethan took down and placed facing away from us. It’s back on the wall. And Dr. Hale’s green eyes are boring into me” (99).
15. PRESENT. Afraid, Tricia goes to wake up Ethan, telling him there is someone in the living room. Tricia tells Ethan that somebody moved the painting of Adrienne. Ethan replies that he moved it. Tricia is reassured. She convinces herself that the pregnancy hormones are making her anxious. She goes back to sleep.
16. PAST. Adrienne is on her way to a public health clinic where she volunteers, providing free mental health services. She is about to park her car when a man cuts in front of her vehicle with his and steals her parking spot. As the man walks in front of Adrienne’s car, she muses, “[A]ll I would have to do is switch my foot from the brake to the gas, and it would change his entire world. It would wipe that smirk off his face, that’s for sure. But I’m a civilized person. I will not mow down a pedestrian in the middle of a crowded parking lot” (107). Instead, Adrienne parks her car and goes into the clinic. Inside the clinic, Adrienne speaks with Luke. Luke is a tech guy who works for the electronic-medical-records company that serves the clinic, and he clearly has a crush on Adrienne. Gloria, a receptionist at the clinic, tries to play matchmaker: Gloria says Adrienne is not safe living alone in her remote home and suggests that Luke help Adrienne by installing a home-security system for her. Luke agrees that he would be happy to help. Adrienne politely declines, saying she will “think about it” but, internally, she thinks: “I won’t think about it. I am perfectly fine the way I am” (111).
17. PRESENT. Tricia wakes up and discovers that the snowstorm has worsened overnight; she and Ethan will be stuck in the house longer. Tricia finds Ethan in the kitchen, where he is making eggs. Tricia vomits at the smell of the eggs. Tricia realizes that it is time to tell Ethan her secret—although she still hesitates, thinking, “Tell him. Just tell him, you wuss. What’s he going to do—fly into a furious rage, murder you, and bury your body in the snow?” (115). Tricia tells Ethan she is pregnant. His reaction is unexpected, as he is absolutely thrilled. Tricia is relieved and happy. However, Tricia’s good mood evaporates when she learns that Ethan did not re-hang the portrait of Adrienne the previous night. They had a miscommunication: When Ethan told Tricia he had moved the painting, he had been referring to the initial instance earlier in the evening when he took it down from the wall. Ethan suggests that she is mistaken and did not really know what she was seeing, given that it was three in the morning and she was sleepy. Tricia starts to wonder if Ethan is right: “The more times he asks me about it, the more I wonder. It was the middle of the night. And the house is very dark. It is possible that I could have thought I saw it, like a mirage?” (118).
18. PRESENT. Ethan and Tricia are stranded, with no cell service, no landline phone, and no way to get off the property due to the snow. Ethan goes to the car to get his laptop. While he is gone, Tricia goes to the secret room and takes some more EJ tapes—the ones that were recorded after the red “final session” tape that was not a final session. She also takes the tape labeled “LUKE,” wondering if there might be some evidence on it. The police theorized that Luke killed Adrienne, although they never proved it. Tricia also takes a tape from a patient labeled GW.
19. Tricia listens to another tape. GW is Gail, “a 68-year-old widow who suffers from paranoid delusions” (123). Gail is worried that various people are trying to kill her—including the mail carrier, her pharmacist, and her son. Gail notes that her son will get a big insurance payout if she dies. Adrienne does not give Gail’s worries any credence, dismissing them as delusions. Midway through Adrienne’s session with Gail, Adrienne gets a text message and cuts the session short.
20. PAST. Adrienne has just told Gail to leave because of the mysterious text message she received. The text message was from EJ. EJ has video footage of Adrienne slashing the tires of the guy who stole her spot in the public-health-clinic parking lot. Adrienne realizes that if EJ shows the police the video, her career is over; EJ is extorting Adrienne. Adrienne asks him what he wants from her. He replies, “I’m outside your front door” (128). Reluctantly, Adrienne opens the door. EJ tells Adrienne he wants to resume their therapy sessions, telling her he wants just one hour of her time every week. He says, “I won’t ask for anything else. I promise” (131). However, as he says the words, Adrienne notices a telltale sign that he’s lying—the muscle under his right eye twitches. As an aside, Adrienne describes EJ thusly: “EJ is handsome—that is undeniable, although he's on the shorter side, which gives him a bit of a Napoleon complex” (130).
21. Tricia listens to another EJ tape. This is EJ’s first session back with Adrienne after she tried to stop seeing him. In the conversation between EJ and Adrienne, it is revealed that EJ’s parents are rich and he is living off their money. Adrienne suggests that EJ would like to earn his own money and become independent, but he is simply waiting for his parents to die so he can inherit their wealth. He mentions his mother driving into a semi truck or the breaks going out. During this session with Adrienne, EJ also reveals a fantasy he has: One day, while he’s playing craps at a casino, a pretty girl comes up to him, slides a drink in his direction, and then goes up to a hotel room with him to have sex, without ever even telling him her name.
22. PRESENT. The EJ recording stops. From the recording, Tricia knows that Adrienne did not want to treat EJ; Tricia suspects that EJ was using something to extort Adrienne, but she does not know what. Ethan interrupts Tricia as he returns from his trek to the car. When Ethan asks what Tricia was doing, she lies and says she was working on her résumé—she is between jobs. Ethan points out that if Tricia is about to have a baby, it may not be the best time to job-hunt—and offers to support her financially if she wants to stay home during the pregnancy. Again, Tricia thinks how lucky she is to have such a loving husband and wonders why her friends do not like Ethan: “Whenever we talk about him, they always say, this is a red flag, or that’s a red flag. But Ethan is a genuinely good guy” (140). Tricia knows that even Ethan’s offer to support Tricia financially will be met with skepticism by Tricia’s friends, who will suggest Ethan is trying to control Tricia financially. After Ethan leaves, Tricia is eager to continue listening to Adrienne’s tapes. Next, she picks the tape labeled “LUKE.” Tricia wonders, “Will the contents of these tapes reveal the secret of what really happened to Dr. Adrienne Hale?” (142).
23. PAST. Adrienne is at the public health clinic where she volunteers, offering free mental health services. Adrienne finds Luke and asks if she can take him up on his previous offer to install a home-security system for her. He agrees and comes by Adrienne’s house to install the system later that day. After Luke is finished, he and Adrienne start talking about her work and her upcoming book, The Anatomy of Fear. Adrienne reveals that she tapes her sessions. Adrienne asks Luke if he wants to have a mock therapy session with her: “The Dr. Adrienne Hale experience” (156). Luke agrees, reluctantly.
24. PAST. Adrienne starts her mock therapy session with Luke. However, the session is relayed as a transcript of the recording of “LUKE” that Tricia is listening to in the present day, allowing the reader to “listen” along with Tricia. Luke, age 36, reveals that he has been married once before and that his wife died. Luke does not want to discuss the incident with Adrienne. During the interview with Adrienne, Luke reveals that he has romantic feelings for her. Luke says, “The whole time, I keep thinking, what if I just got up off the sofa and kissed her [Adrienne]?” (160). Adrienne says, “You never know unless you try” (160).
25. PAST. Adrienne opens with: “I never expected to end up in bed with Luke Strauss” (161). Adrienne is pleasantly surprised by her experience with Luke. Afterward, Luke and Adrienne talk. Luke reveals that he got in trouble being a hacker as a teenager. Adrienne asks Luke again about his ex-wife’s death, but he again shuts down, just like he did in the mock therapy session. Luke realizes that Adrienne does not want him to sleep over and returns home. After he leaves, Adrienne thinks, “[M]aybe Luke could help me out with the EJ problem” (169).
26. PRESENT. Tricia has just finished listening to the recording of the “LUKE” session. Tricia thinks: “He liked her. He really liked her. I can hear it in his voice. […] Luke doesn’t sound like a killer” (170). Tricia puts away the tapes and tape recorder and goes to find Ethan. As Tricia is walking through the house, she notices a pull cord leading to a trapdoor into the attic. Tricia goes into the attic, which is mostly full of dusty old boxes. However, Tricia finds a sleeping bag that is clean and recently laundered—not covered in dust like everything else—as well as a clean pillow with a fresh pillowcase on it. Tricia realizes that somebody has been sleeping in the attic recently.
27. PRESENT. Scared, Tricia rushes to find Ethan and tells him about the sleeping bag and pillow in the attic. Ethan downplays Tricia’s fears: “We haven’t seen anything here. I haven’t seen any signs that there’s another person here” (176). Ethan tells Tricia that she is stressed, suggesting that this is to blame for her panic. Ethan manages to calm Tricia down and suggests he make them both lunch.
28. PAST. Adrienne and Luke have been dating for four months. Adrienne is watching Luke cook for her in her kitchen; Adrienne loves Luke but has not yet said the words. While Adrienne and Luke are cooking, Adrienne gets a text message from EJ: EJ demands an appointment with Adrienne first thing the next morning. Unable to turn him down for fear of his leaking the video of her, Adrienne agrees.
29. The narrative blends past and present together, continuing Adrienne’s point of view as she starts the next morning’s therapy session with EJ. However, the session is relayed as a transcript of the recording of EJ that Tricia is listening to in the present day, allowing the reader to “listen” along with Tricia. In the session, EJ demands that Adrienne write him a prescription for oxycodone, claiming he hurt his knee running. Adrienne resists—these are not the kinds of medications she would logically prescribe a patient, being a psychiatrist—but then, under pressure from EJ, she agrees.
30. PRESENT. Tricia and Ethan are having lunch together in Adrienne’s kitchen. They talk about the baby; Tricia suggests they could name the child after Ethan’s mom or dad, depending on if it is a boy or a girl. Ethan says that he was not close with his parents; when Tricia presses him for more details, he gets angry. Tricia thinks, “Obviously, there are some topics that Ethan feels he can’t talk about with me. But he’s wrong. I need him to see that he can tell me anything. Anything” (192). Tricia shifts the conversation to another topic. Ethan again reiterates that he wants to buy the house; Tricia finally reveals that she is not convinced. Ethan says, “I can just picture us growing old here and raising our children here. Can’t you?” Tricia doesn’t respond honestly: “‘Yes,’ I lie. ‘I can.’” (195).
31. Tricia listens to a recording of PL. In this session/recording, PL gifts Adrienne with a large oil portrait of Adrienne. It is a way to thank Adrienne for helping her. However, PL notices that Adrienne seems pale and unfocused during their session—unbeknownst to PL, this is due to Adrienne’s worries about EJ.
32. PAST. Adrienne is lying in Luke’s arms in bed, worrying about her EJ problem. She realizes: “He will keep asking for more and more. Pushing me harder and harder. I have to stop him” (199). Luke tells Adrienne he loves her. At this point, Adrienne confesses to Luke about the EJ problem—or partially confesses: Adrienne tells Luke that a patient is extorting her with a video but does not say what’s on the video, other than to confirm that it’s nothing sexual. Adrienne wants Luke to break into EJ’s apartment—Adrienne will procure a copy of EJ’s house keys—and erase all traces of the video from all EJ’s devices. Luke hesitates; he already got into trouble for hacking as a teenager, and Adrienne is technically asking him to commit a crime. Seeing Luke’s hesitation, Adrienne tells Luke that she loves him. Adrienne thinks: “It’s a cheap trick. He told me he loved me, and I’m only saying it back now that I need something from him. I do love him, I really do, but the timing of my declaration is more than suspicious” (204). Adrienne is surprised when her “shameless tactic” works, and Luke agrees to the plot.
33. Tricia listens to a tape of EJ. Adrienne is having a therapy session with EJ. Adrienne left out a bottle of red wine for EJ in her waiting room before their session. Minutes into the therapy session, EJ passes out.
34. PAST. Adrienne reveals that she drugged the wine for EJ with Ativan. Adrienne steals EJ’s keys and texts Luke. Adrienne gives Luke the keys and EJ’s address; while Luke goes to break into EJ’s home, Adrienne plans to keep an eye on EJ. Luke remains reluctant, especially as Adrienne insists that Luke should not watch the video himself before deleting it. Adrienne pushes Luke to do as she asks, even crying—she admits to herself that she is not sure if the tears are fake or not. Adrienne notes: “I believe that any human being is capable of terrible things if you push them hard enough. So is Luke” (212). On this note, Adrienne cites the Milgram experiment, an infamous psychological experiment in which participants were told to deliver electric shocks to another human—and obeyed, despite causing the other person pain (the shocks weren’t real, but the participants didn’t know this). Luke agrees to go through with the plan. Adrienne waits anxiously at her house for Luke to call and tell her it’s done; finally, he does. In her phone conversation with Luke, Adrienne can tell that Luke is angry with her. She worries: “I did this to get EJ out of my life. But I may have inadvertently eliminated Luke from my life as well” (214).
35. PRESENT. Tricia has just finished listening to the final EJ tape; she wonders why EJ sounded so sleepy at the end of the tape. As Tricia thinks about the strange recording, she toys with her wedding ring and accidentally drops it—it rolls under the couch in Adrienne’s office. Tricia cannot reach the ring and she cannot move the couch herself, so she goes to ask Ethan to help her. Ethan helps Tricia move the couch. Tricia and Ethan then realize that there is a trapdoor handle under the couch—and that the floor underneath the couch is hollow. Despite Tricia’s protests, Ethan opens the trapdoor. Tricia’s reaction: “And when I see what’s inside, my heart drops” (223).
36. PAST. Luke returns to Adrienne’s house after completing his mission at EJ’s house. Luke tells Adrienne that, despite her request, he did watch the videotape. Luke is shocked that Adrienne would slash someone’s tires. Still, he acknowledges: “I see why you wanted to get rid of that video. And… I’m glad I could help you” (226). Luke and Adrienne drive EJ, still unconscious, back to his house. Adrienne is relieved; she suggests that Luke move in with her. Later, Adrienne gets text messages from EJ: “You bitch. You broke into my house. […] I’m going to kill you” (228-29). Adrienne is unconcerned by the messages, thinking, “You don’t send somebody a text message expressing your intention to commit a crime if you’re genuinely planning to do it” (229). Adrienne does not tell Luke about the texts and blocks EJ’s number.
37. PRESENT. Tricia thinks that she is going to throw up. Tricia then reveals what was beneath the trapdoor: a body. The corpse is mostly rotted, but scraps of clothing, including denim pants, are still visible. Ethan says, “I guess we know what happened to Dr. Hale now” (231). Tricia and Ethan discuss not having seen dead bodies except at funerals. Ethan comforts Tricia, who wonders how he can be so calm in this moment. They are interrupted by a crash coming from Adrienne’s office. Tricia is now fully convinced that there is somebody else in the house with them.
38. PAST. Adrienne and Luke are grocery shopping. Adrienne is telling Luke about the psychological tricks stores use to keep shoppers buying when they bump into Gail/GW, one of Adrienne’s patients (referenced in a transcript in Chapter 19). Gail was paranoid that her son was trying to killer her. Gail now tells Adrienne that she took Adrienne’s advice and talked to her son about her fears, and that she is feeling better. Adrienne’s conversation with Gail is interrupted by a text message from EJ, writing her from a new number. He sends the video of Adrienne slashing the man’s tires—the video that Luke thought he had erased. Shocked, Adrienne asks EJ what he wants; EJ tells her he wants to talk.
39. PAST. Adrienne asks Luke to go home after their grocery-shopping trip, pretending to have a headache. Adrienne then meets with EJ. EJ reveals that his parents died in a freak car accident the month before; Adrienne realizes that EJ had a role in the accident, as he’d previously implied that he might do something like this to fast-track his inheritance. Adrienne thinks: “Even though I never liked EJ, I always thought he was harmless. I am ashamed that even as a psychiatrist, I completely misdiagnosed him, which may have been the most costly mistake I have made in my career. But now I know the truth. The man is a psychopath” (243). Adrienne asks EJ what he wants. He makes it clear that he wants to have a sexual relationship with her. Adrienne refuses and threatens to call the police. Adrienne even says that she will go to the police herself and let the extortion video of her slashing the man’s tires come out; she is willing to throw away her reputation just to get out of EJ’s clutches. Then EJ reveals that he has even more leverage now: EJ has a video of Luke entering his house. Adrienne realizes that she may have ruined Luke’s life by getting him involved in the EJ problem. Adrienne offers EJ anything—therapy sessions, pills… But EJ says: “All I want is you” (246). EJ tells Adrienne he’ll give her a few days to think about it. The chapter ends with Adrienne worrying, “What am I going to do?” (246).
40. PRESENT. Ethan goes to the kitchen to get a knife. Then Ethan and Tricia go into Adrienne’s office to investigate what the noise was. They find a man wearing blue jeans and a sweatshirt with holes; he has a scraggly beard and needs a haircut. The man explains that he does not have a place to live and needs a spot to sleep for the night; he had not expected anyone to be in the house. After a moment, Tricia recognizes the man’s voice and says, “You’re Luke. […] You’re Adrienne Hale’s boyfriend” (249).
41. PAST. Adrienne and Luke are cooking dinner at her house when Adrienne tells Luke that EJ has yet another copy of the tire-slashing video. Luke encourages Adrienne to simply let EJ publish the video, telling her, “Accept the consequences” (253), to which Adrienne replies, “So I should let him wreck my life?” (253). Adrienne then tells Luke about the other video—the one of Luke going into EJ’s home. Adrienne thinks of the Milgram experiment as she suggests to Luke, “If we got rid of him…” (254), implying that they should kill EJ. Luke refuses. When Adrienne pushes Luke further, he gets up and walks out of her house. Adrienne realizes that her relationship with Luke is ruined. She decides to deal with EJ herself.
42.PRESENT. Luke confirms his identity to Tricia and Ethan. Luke explains that his life was ruined after Adrienne’s disappearance, because he was the prime suspect. He was fired from his job, and his family deserted him. Luke is unemployed and broke, and he has been holed up in Adrienne’s house. Ethan does not believe Luke and suggests that Luke is Adrienne’s killer—and may be dangerous. Ethan holds Luke at knifepoint and demands Tricia duct-tape Luke’s arms and wrists together. Tricia reacts thusly: “A chill goes down my spine at the way my husband is taking charge of this situation. I never imagined how Ethan would react in a high-intensity situation like this. I’m impressed” (260). Ethan and Tricia then leave Luke in the office alone and discuss what to do. Ethan will walk to the main road, where he can flag down a car or get cell reception to call for help. Tricia will stay in the house. Ethan tells Tricia not to go into the room where Luke is bound. As Ethan is leaving, he passes the secret room with all of Adrienne’s recordings—but this time, the door is open. For the first time, Ethan knows about the room.
43. PRESENT. Ethan goes into Adrienne’s hidden room and discovers the tapes. When Ethan asks Tricia if she knew about the room, she first lies and says no. Ethan replies: “Don’t lie” (265). Ethan tells Tricia not to listen to any more tapes, telling her that they will have to tell the police about the tapes and adding, “That’s private patient information” (267). Tricia agrees. Ethan goes ahead with his plan to walk to the main road. However, Tricia then realizes that she left some tapes in Adrienne’s office. She needs to return the tapes to the secret room. If Ethan tells the police about the tapes and they find those tapes missing/moved, they will rightfully suspect that Tricia listened to them. To cover her tracks, Tricia must return to Adrienne’s office—where Luke is.
44. PRESENT. Tricia enters Adrienne’s office with a knife in hand. Tricia and Luke start talking, and Luke says, “I’m pretty sure that isn’t Adrienne under the floorboards” (271-72). Luke notes that Adrienne never wore jeans, while the figure under the floorboards was clearly in denim. Tricia realizes that Luke may be right; Tricia had previously gone through Adrienne’s closet and marveled at the fancy, expensive clothing—there were no jeans. Tricia asks Luke if he knows who the person under the floorboards is, and Luke says he thinks so, without elaborating. Luke reiterates that he did not kill Adrienne. Tricia ignores him. Tricia takes the last tapes from the office and returns them to their appropriate spot in the secret room—“Every tape is in the same place it was when I first walked in here. Every tape except one” (274).
45. The narrative provides the transcript of the one missing tape. It is session #185 with PL, the 27-year-old female suffering from PTSD after a brutal attacker killed her boyfriend and two best friends and left her injured. PL is getting ready to move to Manhattan. PL tells Adrienne that she still hopes the police catch the man who murdered her fiancé and friends, to which Adrienne replies “I don’t think so. […] The reason they won’t catch him is that he doesn’t exist” (276). Adrienne then tells PL that Adrienne is convinced PL made the whole thing up. Adrienne suspects that Cody, PL’s fiancé, was cheating on PL with one of PL’s friends. Adrienne reveals that the detective investigating the murder also suspected PL made it up but did not have proof. Adrienne then reveals to PL that she has a problem that she needs PL’s help with. PL asks what Adrienne wants PL to do, to which Adrienne replies: “Oh, I think you know, Patricia” (278).
46. It’s confirmed that Tricia is Patricia Lawton, or PL. Tricia reveals that Adrienne’s suspicions were correct: Tricia killed her fiancé, Cody, and her best friend, Alexis, because they were having an affair. The other girl, Megan, had to be killed too, to make Tricia’s story more plausible. Tricia explains how she murdered all three people, step by step, and then stabbed herself in the stomach before running for help. Following the incident, Tricia’s mother signed Tricia up for therapy with Adrienne. Until Adrienne called Tricia out on her fabricated story, Tricia had been certain that Adrienne believed her. Once Adrienne revealed what she knew, Tricia realized: “I had to do what she asked of me. I had no choice” (283).
47. PAST. Adrienne reveals that she figured out Tricia was lying early on and reveals Tricia’s tell—when she is lying, she crosses her right leg over her left. Now, Adrienne is at her house waiting for Tricia. Tricia arrives, with a drugged EJ. Tricia followed Adrienne’s instructions to lure EJ to a casino and reenact the fantasy of a strange woman approaching him at the craps table—a fantasy that EJ once told Adrienne about. Tricia asks Adrienne what she is going to do with EJ; Adrienne will not tell Tricia. As Tricia leaves Adrienne’s house, she tells her, “I can’t believe you hung that giant portrait of yourself right in your living rom. You’re just as arrogant as I thought you were” (290). Tricia leaves. Adrienne and EJ are left alone. Adrienne opens the trapdoor, rolls EJ into it, and closes it. She tapes up the edges, so that EJ will suffocate, and waits until there are no sounds coming from beneath the floor. She then says, “Goodbye, Edward” (294).
48. PRESENT. “I didn’t know for sure that Dr. Hale was going to kill Edward Jamison” (295). Tricia figured out that Adrienne had killed Edward later, when she saw that Edward had gone missing. Tricia was worried about her role in Edward’s disappearance, thinking, “[Adrienne] had already screwed me over once. I didn’t trust her. I lay awake at night, obsessing over Adrienne Hale. I finally couldn’t take it anymore” (296).
49. PAST. Adrienne’s new book, The Anatomy of Fear, has been published to great success. She went on a book tour to promote the book, which also gave Adrienne a chance to escape her home and the smell of EJ’s rotting corpse under the floorboards. Back from her tour, Adrienne is at the public health clinic where she works when she runs into Luke. Luke apologizes for running out on Adrienne; the two reconcile. Adrienne decides, “He’ll never know what I’ve done. I’m going to keep it that way” (302). That night, Adrienne gets home to find Tricia’s car parked in front of her house. Tricia tells Adrienne, “My mother always says the only way two people can keep a secret is if one of them is dead” (305). Tricia then murders Adrienne.
50. Tricia reveals that the first person she killed was a girl named Whitney Young when she was just 16—Whitney teased her. Tricia then killed Cody, Alexis, and Megan—and, finally, Adrienne. Adrienne’s body is buried off a deserted dirt road about two hours from Adrienne’s house. After killing Adrienne, Tricia’s plan was to find and dispose of Edward’s body to make sure she could never be linked to his murder—after all, casinos record everything, so there would surely be video of Tricia talking to Edward on the night she abducted him for Adrienne. However, she never got a chance to search the house; as soon as Adrienne went missing, police officers took over her house. Tricia started her life over in Manhattan and let the past go. She only learned by chance that Adrienne’s house was for sale, via her and Ethan’s realtor. Adrienne then orchestrated the entire situation with her and Ethan getting trapped at the house, picking the night of a blizzard to drive there and even canceling the snowplow service to the road. When Tricia found the hidden room of recordings, she realized that the tape of Adrienne extorting her would destroy her: “They would hold me responsible for her murder and Jamison’s. Nobody can ever hear this tape except me” (309). Now, Tricia knows that the body under the floorboards is Edward; but she is not sure she can move it. She also has the Luke Strauss issue to deal with; Luke knows about the dead body and that it is not Adrienne’s. Tricia concludes the chapter: “I have to plan my next move very carefully” (310).
51. PRESENT. Ethan returns to the house and tells Tricia a snowplow will come first thing in the morning. One was already booked for that morning, which Ethan finds surprising. Tricia says, “That’s strange” (313), but she is feigning surprise. Via internal monologue, Tricia reveals that she is the one who booked the plow for Sunday morning and paid for it in cash. Tricia also thinks: “Ethan has no idea that his wife is responsible for the dead body in the office” (314). Tricia is glad that she seized the tape that could incriminate her in Edward’s murder (the one where Adrienne extorts her) but is still worried about what to do about the dead body.
52. PRESENT. Ethan and Tricia are eating dinner when Luke starts calling to them from Adrienne’s office, asking for water. Ethan says no, and does not let Tricia help Luke either, telling her: “Don’t let him manipulate you. […] He isn’t a good person. He killed his girlfriend. He killed one of the people closest to him. What kind of person does that?” (317).
53. PRESENT. Tricia wakes up at two in the morning. Ethan is not in bed with her. Tricia finds Ethan in front of the fireplace, burning all the GW tapes—Gail Wiley was Ethan’s mother. Tricia reminds the reader: “GW was a patient of Dr. Hale for several years. She nursed paranoid delusions that somebody was trying to kill her, including her own son” (321). Tricia asks Ethan what he is doing. He stalls, trying to produce a lie. In fact, Tricia already knows that Ethan is destroying Gail’s tapes because he killed her. Tricia ran into Gail at Adrienne’s home/office, as their appointments were right after one another (Tricia once saw Ethan at Adrienne’s house when he was picking up Gail from therapy). Gail told Tricia about her concerns that her son was trying to kill her and about the insurance payout the son would get if he succeeded. Later, Tricia learned about Gail’s sudden death—she fell down a flight of stairs and broke her neck after too many drinks. Tricia became obsessed with Ethan. She orchestrated their “coincidental” meeting in the coffee shop. Ever since they got married, Tricia has been hoping Ethan would confess what he did; that is why she brought him on this trip to Adrienne’s house. Now, Ethan—knowing that Tricia listened to his mother’s tapes—confesses to Tricia: “I killed her” (323).
54. PRESENT. Tricia is exhilarated when Ethan confesses that he murdered his mother: “This is the other side of my husband. The one he never lets me see. A little thrill goes through me” (324). Tricia tells Ethan that she already knew about him killing his mother. Tricia then confesses to Ethan about killing her fiancé and her two friends; about becoming Adrienne’s patient; and about Adrienne finding out the truth and extorting Tricia to abduct Edward. Tricia also confesses to killing Adrienne. Tricia is momentarily worried after she confesses to Ethan, thinking he may turn on her. Instead, he says: “That guy Luke is going to be a big problem. He knows way too much” (327). Ethan takes a knife in his hand. Tricia throws the PL tape that would incriminate her into the fire. Then Tricia follows Ethan into Adrienne’s office: “Then I join my husband” (328). It is implied that Ethan and Tricia kill Luke.
EPILOGUE - TWO YEARS LATER
Tricia and Ethan are living in Adrienne’s old house, which they bought. They have a daughter, Delilah, a little over one year old. Tricia is pregnant again, with a boy. Luke is buried on the property. Ethan killed and buried Luke; Tricia says: “I’d never found him sexier” (333). Nonetheless, Tricia worries about Ethan occasionally; for a while, he would get so nervous when someone went into the garden, where Luke is buried, that Tricia worried he might crack. Tricia concludes: “Hopefully, that won’t ever happen. But if it does, I’m prepared to take care of the situation. After all, my mother always said that the only way two people can keep a secret is if one of them is dead” (334).