All the Dangerous Things

Isabelle sits beside her sisters’ graves for a long time before returning to her car, where she reads the contents of her mother’s envelope. It contains evidence of her mother’s postpartum psychosis diagnosis. Isabelle grows distressed as she reads about the hereditary nature of the condition, leading her to once again question if she is responsible for Mason’s disappearance. She thinks about Ben, remembering their conversation from the day before. She has a sudden spark of clarity and realizes that the man who interrupted her kiss with Ben at Allison’s memorial was Waylon. She pulls to the side of the road and does an internet search on her phone, discovering that Waylon is Allison’s younger brother.

Isabelle reads Allison’s obituary, confirming Waylon as her younger brother. She realizes Waylon believes Allison was murdered. She calls Waylon and asks if he thinks she killed Mason. He denies this claim, and Isabelle reveals she knows about his connection to Allison. She pushes him to talk about his opinion of Ben, and Waylon asserts his confidence that Ben killed Allison.

When Mason was six months old, Isabelle talked to Ben about going back to work; despite her love of motherhood, she felt part of her identity had been disrupted. She pitched a story to a local magazine, and they offered her a remarkable sum to write it. However, Ben’s coldness at Isabelle’s proposal led her to second-guess herself and feel like a bad mother for wanting to return to work.

Isabelle and Waylon meet at a café. They reconcile, and Waylon shares information about Allison and Ben. They met in high school, and he was a few years older than her. They were married by the time Allison was 21. Ben disapproved of her pursuit of a law degree, guilting her every time she brought it up. Isabelle recalls how she returned to work despite Ben’s disapproval and wonders if this was the beginning of the end of their relationship.

Waylon recalls stopping by a bar and seeing Ben out with another woman, whom he later recognized as Isabelle. He comforts Isabelle when she expresses guilt, claiming Ben manipulated her. He then shares that Allison got pregnant and died several weeks later.

Isabelle remembers her conflicting feelings when she realized she was pregnant; she admits to herself that the pregnancy was an attempt to fix her relationship with Ben, despite feeling trapped. Waylon repeatedly insists that Allison would not have hurt herself if she had been pregnant. At Allison’s memorial, Waylon saw Ben and Isabelle kissing from an upstairs window. He believed then that Ben had killed Allison, and after hearing about Mason, he suspected he had done something similar. He believes Ben targeted Mason because he could not have two wives die by suicide without arousing suspicion. Isabelle realizes how easy it would have been for Ben to get rid of Mason without leaving evidence.

Isabelle waits outside of Ben’s condo for him to leave for work. She watches Valerie bid him farewell as he departs. Isabelle is about to exit her car when Valerie emerges from the condo and gets into her own car. On impulse, Isabelle follows her. Valerie drives to her house in a different neighborhood. After Valerie goes inside, Isabelle walks up to her porch and knocks. Valerie is startled at her presence, but Isabelle makes vague warnings about Ben, and Valerie allows her inside.

Valerie apologizes for the suddenness of her relationship with Ben becoming public. Isabelle thanks her and then begins talking about Allison. She outlines her theory that Ben killed Allison and was involved in Mason’s disappearance. Valerie claims Isabelle is delusional, saying she is “exactly like [Ben] said [she was]” and that she is “practically unhinged” (294-95). Valerie’s vehemence surprises Isabelle and casts doubt on Ben’s culpability. She then sees pictures on Valerie’s wall, most of which are of Valerie and Ben. Isabelle realizes their affair has been going on for a while; Valerie confirms that she and Ben have been dating for two years. Valerie defends herself by citing Ben’s loneliness, claiming Isabelle’s freelance work was abandonment. Isabelle realizes Ben invited Valerie to their house, meaning she was around Mason. She believes Valerie did something to Mason and that Valerie’s resemblance to herself made the old man across the street believe they were the same person.

Isabelle accuses Valerie of being involved in Mason’s disappearance. Valerie tells Isabelle that some people are not meant to be parents and describes the many people who wish to be parents but cannot due to a variety of circumstances. She refuses to tell Isabelle where Mason is, simply stating that “he’s in a better place” (302)—which reminds Isabelle of the questionable online comments about her (Chapter 13). Isabelle flies into a rage and tackles Valerie. The two women fall onto a glass table; Valerie’s head shatters it.

Two days later, Isabelle disassociates as someone knocks on her door. When they call out to her, she answers the door and finds Detective Dozier outside. He questions her about a bandage on her hand; she claims to have cut herself on a wineglass. Dozier shares that the recent murder of Valerie Sherman, which was believed to have been a burglary gone wrong, was actually a staged murder. He briefly questions Isabelle about her relationship with Valerie before telling her that another member of Valerie’s grief counseling group gave him the name Abigail Fisher, a woman who used to attend the group because of her infertility. Abigail stopped attending after Mason’s disappearance. Isabelle recognizes the name as one of the attendees of TrueCrimeCon and shows Dozier a relevant picture from the conference.

One week later, Isabelle is escorted to the visitor’s area of a jail. She reflects on her conversation with Detective Dozier as Ben is brought to her. He looks haggard. Isabelle initially expresses sympathy, but when Ben tries to convince her of his innocence in Valerie’s murder, she reminds him that his DNA was under her fingernails and his signet ring was found under the couch. Isabelle planted the ring after Valerie died, intending to frame Ben.

Isabelle asks Ben how Valerie knew Mason’s baby monitor died and interprets his expression as proof of his involvement in the kidnapping. She then asks him about Allison; although Ben repeatedly claims her overdose was an accident, Isabelle reflects on their relationship and believes Allison was either murdered or manipulated into overdosing.

Isabelle wonders about the nature of stories, especially the stories she created about her life to cope with the loss of her sisters. She and Waylon finish recording a podcast episode detailing Allison’s murder. Detective Dozier intimated that the police long thought Ben was responsible for Mason’s disappearance but had no proof; much of Dozier’s harsh questioning of Isabelle was an effort to find cracks in Ben’s story. Dozier’s guilt made him willing to believe Isabelle’s story about Valerie’s death. During an interview for the podcast, Isabelle’s coworker Kasey provided eyewitness testimony of Ben’s controlling nature.

After Ben’s arrest, Isabelle’s neighbor Paul Hayes visited. He confessed that his father (the old man) was living with him, which is a violation of his parole because both he and his father have felony records. Because his father could only go outside at night to prevent detection, Paul spent the last year thinking Isabelle was guilty of killing Mason because of his father’s late-night interactions with Valerie posing as Isabelle. Isabelle has also begun to reconcile with her parents since Ben’s arrest.

Waylon packs up his audio equipment, and he and Isabelle bid each other farewell. Isabelle looks to her kitchen wall, which no longer has evidence taped to it. The ominous comment left on the online article about her speech was tracked to the IP address of Abigail Fisher. Valerie told Abigail stories about what a terrible mother Isabelle was, encouraging Abigail to take Mason and give him a good life. Isabelle’s frequent public appearances made Abigail doubt the story she was told. Isabelle walks down the hallway and opens the door to Mason’s nursery, where he sits up in bed and smiles at her.