All Her Fault

Marissa is still on edge. She decides to take Milo for a walk to Brian’s house at the bottom of the garden. When they arrive, Marissa realizes she has not been inside Brian’s house in a long time. She is struck by how sparse it is. After they leave, Marissa realizes she cannot smell paint at all. She wonders why he would lie about having his house painted.

That evening in the main house, Lia tells Marissa that she finds Kerryglen very boring. When she sees old schoolfriends on Facebook, “they’re all having babies, and all the babies look the same” (255). She has no interest in domestic life. Lia mocks the moms for their pathetic nights out and shows Marissa a photo from Facebook of a friend on a night out at a bar as an example. Lia notices Colin in the background of the photograph. Marissa looks more closely at the photograph. She sees that Colin is clearly on a date with Carrie at the bar.

Marissa is stunned at the realization that Colin knew Carrie. She shows Peter the photograph. Peter tells them he just received a phone call from “an older lady” telling him that a man “close to us” had conspired with Carrie (259). They speculate that Colin’s bumbling demeanor was an act to cover up his true intelligence. Marissa calls Colin, but it goes to voicemail. Lia suggests they make margaritas to relax. Peter agrees to go out to buy tequila and burritos. Marissa feels betrayed by her friend and business partner of 20 years, Colin.

A month before Milo’s kidnapping, Carrie does her makeup before meeting Colin on their date. She borrows Jenny’s sparkly top for the occasion. She is going by the name of “Lena.” In her glam getup, she is unrecognizable as the mousy nanny Carrie. She goes to the bar to meet Colin for their date.

On Monday morning, Marissa calls Colin again but gets no response. She learns from her secretary, Shauna, that Colin called in sick to work. Marissa drives Milo to school. He is eager to return. After dropping Milo off, Marissa goes to the office. She quizzes Shauna about Colin’s activities while she was out of the office. Shauna reports that Colin has been seeing someone. Occasionally, he brings the woman back to the office. After their conversation, Marissa calls Detective McConville to report what she has learned about Colin and Carrie.

That afternoon, Marissa asks Shauna what Colin did with the Downey and Fenelon files. Shauna says Colin never collected them from the office. Before Marissa can review the files herself, she gets a call from the school. Mr. Williams says Milo got upset during “yard-time,” and Marissa needs to pick him up. Marissa wonders what has triggered Milo’s panic.

Sergeant Sheridan returns to the house to interview Milo. Milo tells Sheridan Carrie dyed his hair brown, dressed him in a red coat, and said he was now “a proper robin” (273). He reports that he could hear the sound of a schoolyard coming through the window where he was being held. When he heard it that afternoon at school, he was triggered.

That evening, Detective McConville arrives at the home to report that Danny Vaughn, the man murdered in north Dublin, is actually Kyle Byrde. Byrde’s body had been badly mutilated to hinder their attempts at identifying him. McConville says it is unlikely Carrie would have been capable of this, and there is therefore a third person involved in the plot.