All Her Fault

When Marissa regains consciousness, Esther calls Jenny on her behalf to find out what is going on. Jenny says she had not arranged a playdate for Jacob and Milo that day. Marissa tells Esther she had arranged the playdate by text with someone who had signed the message “Jenny.” Marissa phones her husband, Peter, to let him know of the emergency. Then, she calls the police.

Esther drives Marissa home. Marissa attempts to contact her Brazilian au pair, Ana Garcia, but she gets no response. Ana has the weekend off to go to Galway with her boyfriend, Seb. Detectives McConville and Breen arrive to investigate Milo’s disappearance.

Marissa gives her report to the gardaí (Irish police). She notes that Milo is “usually bright” and “always talking about the colour of things, even things we can’t see, like letters and numbers” (14), a condition known as synesthesia. 

The detectives question Marissa and Peter about Ana. They do not know much about Ana, including where she lives. They only know she is good at caring for Milo. Esther helps Marissa and Peter call the parents of the Junior Infant class of Kerryglen National School to ask if they have seen Milo.

Meanwhile, Jenny is in Paris for a work trip with her coworker Mark, with whom she has a slightly flirty relationship. Jenny calls her husband, Richie, a schoolteacher, to check in. He tells her he has not yet picked up their son, Jacob, from a playdate. Jenny is frustrated because “playdate pick-up is normally five o’clock” (21). She tells Richie that she got a strange call from Marissa looking for Milo. He does not think much of it.

Detective McConville tells Marissa they have not yet found Ana and her boyfriend, but they have a lead on their location. When Marissa calls Ana’s phone again, she hears it ringing in the garden. Ana has left her phone behind. Marissa feels increasingly panicked. Detective McConville questions Marissa and Peter about their background checks of Ana before hiring her. Marissa wonders if they were thorough enough.

Jenny calls Richie to see if there is an update on Milo. He reports that Milo is still missing. Jenny briefly talks to Jacob, her son. Richie tells Jenny they will be at his mother, Adeline Furlong-Kennedy’s, house when Jenny returns from Paris on Saturday afternoon. Jenny reflects on how she and Richie used to mock Adeline’s reactionary views, but now she thinks Richie agrees with his mother that she should work less and spend more time raising Jacob.

Jenny is at a work dinner when she gets a call from the Garda. The officer asks if she arranged a playdate for Jacob with Milo. Jenny says no. Jenny is “deeply unnerv[ed].”

One week before Milo’s disappearance, Marissa is dropping Milo off at school when he asks her if he can have a playdate with someone from his class. That evening, Marissa tells Peter she wants to arrange a playdate for Milo. A few minutes later, she gets a text from “Jenny,” asking to arrange a playdate for Jacob with Milo in a week’s time. “Jenny” gives her address as 14 Tudor Grove and says her nanny, Carrie, will be there to care for the boys. Marissa feels excited at the prospect of her son making a new friend and hopes she will become friends with Jenny as well.

Ana arrives at Marissa’s house. She is upset because she had a fight with her boyfriend and will not be going to Galway. She realized she left her phone at Marissa’s and has come over to retrieve it. She is panicked when she realizes Milo is missing. She did not pick him up from school because she had the day off.

McConville and Marissa interview the school principal, Mr. Williams. He says that Milo left school that day with Jacob Kennedy’s nanny, Carrie.

Jenny returns to her work dinner, but she is distracted by what she has learned about Milo’s disappearance. Mark agrees to cover for her absence, and she leaves. Richie calls her to report that the police are at their house looking for Carrie because they suspect Carrie kidnapped Milo.

The day after Milo’s disappearance, Irene Turner awakes to find her husband, Frank, reading the news. He tells her that there is a picture of her daughter, Caroline, in the paper. The police are looking for Caroline (“Carrie”) in connection with Milo’s kidnapping. 

Irene has not seen her daughter in nine years. Caroline is Irene’s daughter from her previous relationship with ex-con Robert Murphy. Irene recalls Caroline’s troubled teenage years. Irene tells Frank that she has not spoken with Caroline’s father, Rob, since he left them when Caroline was an infant. However, she has heard from Rob’s sister that he has moved to Cork and is living with a young blond woman named Sienna.

Jenny returns home to Kerryglen. Richie and Jacob are at Adeline’s. Before she can unpack, the detectives arrive. They question her about her nanny, Carrie Finch. Jenny tells them that Carrie came from Co. Wicklow. She is quiet and timid. Carrie had told her that both her parents were dead. Carrie said she had three brothers in America named Caleb, Scott, and Cole. She had references from a family in Galway. Carrie had no current boyfriend, but she had an ex-boyfriend named Kyle Bird. Jenny says she once thought Carrie was about to hit Jacob, but instead Carrie had been swatting a fly. Otherwise, Carrie was always gentle with Jacob.

After the detectives leave, Jenny feels guilty. Had she not hired Carrie, Milo would not have been kidnapped.

Five months before the kidnapping, Jenny interviews Carrie for the post of nanny. Carrie notices that Richie seems “disengaged” from the interview. Carrie presents herself as harmless and timid.

Richie and Jacob arrive home around three o’clock. Jenny tries to talk to Richie about her feelings of guilt over hiring Carrie, but he brushes off her concerns. Jenny goes into Jacob’s room, where he has written people’s names on his chalkboard, including that of “Kari,” the child’s rendering of Carrie. Jenny erases the name.

Richie’s mother, Adeline, arrives. She has Richie’s phone, which he left behind at her house. Adeline chastises Jenny for hiring Carrie from “an online agency” (62). She thinks they should not have a nanny at all and that Jenny should stay at home to care for Jacob. Richie does not stand up for his wife, and Jenny is hurt.

After Adeline leaves, Jenny searches Carrie’s room. Jenny finds one of her own tops in Carrie’s wardrobe. She also finds a picture of Kyle “Bird.” She searches online and finds his surname is actually spelled “Byrde.” He has a long criminal record. Jenny tells Richie about the photograph. She wants to reach out to Marissa, but Richie says it is better to distance themselves from blame. Annoyed, Jenny leaves.

Jenny goes to the Irvine residence. She is struck by the grandeur of their Edwardian home, Maple Lodge. She wonders how they can afford it. Marissa greets Jenny at the door. She seems anxious and keeps touching the “small scar on her chin” (70). Marissa shows Jenny in. She introduces Jenny to Peter, her husband. When he realizes Jenny hired Carrie, he is angry with her for not doing more thorough background checks. Marissa insists Jenny stay and tell her about Carrie. An hour later, Jenny leaves just as Marissa’s business partner, Colin Dobson, arrives.

Marissa feels grateful for Jenny’s visit and support during such a stressful time. She is also happy to see Colin, a bumbling but kind man. He agrees to help post flyers to raise awareness of Milo’s disappearance. Colin reassures Marissa that Milo will be found. She begins to cry. He tells her he will take over the Fenelon and Downey estates audits at work.

That evening, Irene and Frank watch the coverage of Milo’s kidnapping on the news. Frank is surprised that Irene is not more concerned about Caroline. Irene tells him that she feels no guilt for the “mess” in which Caroline has found herself. Frank says they should contact the police to tell them what they know about Caroline, but Irene refuses. Her mother had taught her “the guards are the enemy and you never give them anything” (81).

Irene searches Caroline’s remaining things. She finds a notebook with writing in it, reminding Irene of a rhyme Caroline had about “being blue on Mondays” (82). She is surprised to find a picture of herself holding Caroline as an infant and an article about Rob Murphy. She did not realize Caroline knew who her father was.

After a month of working for Jenny, Carrie decides to “ope[n] up a bit” (84) to Jenny to win over her confidence. She agrees to have a glass of wine with Jenny. She tells Jenny that she misses her brothers in America and that she does not have many friends. Jenny tells Carrie about her difficult relationship with her mother-in-law.

On Monday, three days after Milo disappeared, Jenny is having trouble focusing on her work. She is shocked by what people online are saying about Marissa and Peter. They criticize the Irvines for their wealth and suggest they played a role in Milo’s disappearance. Mark notices Jenny is upset. He comforts her.

Marissa awakes groggy. She has been taking sleeping pills to help her sleep. Peter tells her that the detective came over to show him a picture of Kyle Byrde, but he did not recognize the man. He tells her that many volunteers have been out posting the flyers his younger brother, Brian, has made. He reassures her that Carrie is taking care of Milo.

Marissa walks by the school as classes are letting out. The other parents are eager for gossip about the case. They criticize Jenny for having hired Carrie. Jenny arrives and tells Marissa she will help put out flyers for Milo. The other parents make snide remarks to Jenny about how she must more carefully vet her next nanny.

Two months before Milo’s disappearance, Jenny attends a school fundraiser. She is new to the area and the school. She meets “The Coven,” a group of gossiping parents who like to judge others. She is intimidated and offput by them. 

She escapes to the bathroom, where she runs into a woman wearing the same dress as herself. It is Marissa Irvine. Jenny is dazzled by Marissa’s charming and confident personality. When Marissa learns Jenny lives in Belton Heights, she tells Jenny the development was built by Dermot Downey. Dermot and his sister, Sinéad, a doctor, both send their children to the school. Marissa explains that her husband, Peter, works in financial management. The two women bond.

Three days after Milo’s kidnapping, Irene tells Frank that she has learned Caroline was aware that her father was Rob Murphy. She wonders if Caroline has been in touch with Rob. Irene calls Kathy, Rob’s sister. Kathy tells Irene that, as far as she is aware, Rob and Caroline have not been in touch. Frank again encourages Irene to contact the police, but she refuses.