Bag of Bones

Mike visits the Village Cafe in town and orders lunch from the ill-tempered cook, Buddy Jellison. Afterwards, he looks for Mattie’s number in the phonebook. He finds a listing for Lance Devore, whom he suspects is Mattie’s late husband. Mike soon realizes that they must be related to Max Devore, a successful, eccentric computer software tycoon who came from TR-90. Mike wonders why Max would allow his relatives to live in a trailer if they are indeed related.

Mike returns to the house and inspects the sign to assure himself there is no sticker like in his dream. When he feels adhesive on the sign, he goes through his garbage and finds the disposed sticker.

Later that afternoon, Mike gets a call from Max Devore. Max is aware of Mike’s encounter with Mattie, his daughter-in-law, and expresses his concern over her ability to raise Kyra. Mike denies that the encounter occurred as Max describes it, claiming that Mattie and Kyra were out picking wildflowers. Max sees through his lie, accusing Mike of protecting Mattie in exchange for some favor, and insists that the event demonstrates Mattie’s failure as a parent. Mike hangs up when Max presses him to tell the truth. Mike realizes that Max feels threatened by Mattie.

Later that night, Mike hears the child sobbing again. He tries to dismiss it as another dream.

The next day, Mike goes for a walk. He feels inclined to tell Mattie what happened, but decides it is a bad idea to involve himself in her family affairs. At the country club bar, Mike observes that he is being watched by a woman in her seventies who reminds him of both Mrs. Danvers and the figure from Edward Munch’s painting “The Cry” (likely referring to The Scream).

Mike remains bothered by the fact that Jo hadn’t suggested traveling to Sara Laughs before she died. He returns home and goes swimming again. He thinks he sees another woman watching him, this time pointing to a spot on the nearby street. It turns out to be a birch that he refers to as “The Green Lady.”

Looking through his home office, Mike finds a voice recorder and plans to use it the next time he hears the weeping child, so that he can share it with Bill. When he sees that Jo’s part of the home office has been cleared of her belongings, Mike angrily assumes that Brenda cleared them out. He then realizes that Jo could have cleared it out herself, but doesn’t think this likely. Mike feels a gust of wind move past him. He believes it is Jo’s spirit.

Mike visits Jo’s detached arts studio, which remains preserved. He is puzzled when he finds his old electric typewriter on Jo’s desk, unsure what she could have used it for. The only new object he notices is a printed photo of Sara Tidwell, whom he remembers had suddenly disappeared in the midst of her career as a blues singer. Although she lived in a time when she experienced racism as a Black artist, Sara’s discography had a tremendous impact on blues and rock over the next century.

Mike goes to buy his dinner from the store. He is met by an old man with a gold-headed cane. The old man recognizes him from his encounter with Mattie and Kyra, having watched them from the nearby garage. Mike struggles to remember the name of the old man, who insinuates something salacious about Mike and Mattie. Mike is offended, but doesn’t express it. The old man echoes Max’s assertion that Mattie is unfit to raise Kyra.

When Mike gets home, he notices that the fridge magnets have been rearranged to form a circle. He suspects that someone broke into the house, but finds no evidence. When he goes to bed that night, he leaves his voice recorder on. The next morning, he hears a voice whispering, “Oh Mike” several times on the recorder.

Bill visits Mike to see if he is settling in well. Mike is about to share his ghost voice recording with him, but Bill assumes that his problem is about the Devores, which he has already heard about from the man with the gold-headed cane, Royce Merrill. Bill cautions Mike against engaging with the Devores. Mike deduces that Max is trying to fight for custody of Kyra. Bill describes Max as obsessive in the pursuit of his goals. Max lives in California and hasn’t been in TR-90 in over 60 years, though Bill promises to explain why later.

Mattie, on the other hand, was born in the neighboring town of Motton to a working-class family, the Stanchfields. Mattie was working as a waitress at the country club—Warrington’s—when she met Lance Devore. Lance had a reputation as a nice young man, favored by all who knew him. This allowed many of the town residents to look at him apart from his mean-spirited father.

While Lance was studying forestry in college, Max tasked him with surveying lots he had purchased in TR-90. Lance was at Warrington’s playing softball when he met Mattie. Two months later, the two were married and expecting Kyra. Max was angered, having heard the news from his local spies, like Royce and Richard Osgood, a real-estate broker. Max attempted to stop Lance and Mattie’s marriage from taking place. Following Kyra’s birth in 1995, Lance took a leave of absence from his studies. Max retaliated by cutting off financial support for Lance.

Lance mailed a picture of Kyra to Max to gain his sympathy. Sometime later, Lance was installing a satellite dish on his trailer when lightning caused him to fall off his ladder, killing him instantly. Max returned to TR-90 to attend Lance’s funeral, relocating to Warrington’s to stay in town. He has been trying to claim legal custody of Kyra ever since. Mike asks if the strange woman he saw at the country club bar was Max’s wife. Bill clarifies that she is his assistant, Rogette Whitmore, whom many townspeople fear.

Mike disagrees with Max’s opinion of Mattie, but Bill stresses that it isn’t the point of his story. He wants Mike to stay out of their troubles and encourages him to look for Jo’s plastic owls, which she used to scare away crows. Mike is confused when Bill tells him that Jo bought the owls in 1993, since they hadn’t visited Sara Laughs that autumn. Bill assures him that Jo showed him the owls herself as she was unpacking them.

Mike wonders why Jo never told him about visiting Sara Laughs on her own. He considers the possibility that she did tell him and he had simply been too occupied with writing to pay attention. Mike calls his accountant and asks him to confirm Jo’s purchase of the owls.

While Mike is searching for the owls in the cellar, the door suddenly slams shut. Believing there is a spirit with him, Mike asks the spirit to answer his questions, tapping once for “yes” and twice for “no.” When Mike asks if the spirit is Jo, the spirit answers yes and no. The spirit tells him that the owls aren’t in the cellar, but that he should uncover their real location, which the spirit knows. When Mike asks if he is safe in Sara Laughs, the spirit answers “yes” and “no.” The spirit doesn’t identify as Lance Devore or the weeping child. Mike turns on the cellar light in the hopes of seeing the spirit. The spirit stops answering. Mike soon confirms that the owls aren’t in the cellar, just as the spirit said.

Mike’s accountant tells him that Jo had scheduled a soup kitchen board meeting around the same time she had gone to receive the plastic owls. This resolves Mike’s worries, though the “UFO voice” tells him to call Jo’s colleagues to confirm his theory. Passing by the fridge, he sees that the letters have been rearranged to spell out, “hel1o.” Mike returns the greeting.

The next morning, Mike is visited by a man who has come to deliver a folder. Mike is apprehensive about receiving the folder, so the visitor introduces himself as Deputy Sheriff George Footman.

The folder contains a subpoena from Elmer Durgin, an attorney who is Kyra’s court-appointed guardian—a lawyer who will determine Kyra’s best interests in the custody case. Durgin wants to conduct a deposition with Mike. Footman threatens Mike not to go against Max’s wishes. This angers Mike. 

Later, Mike sees that his fridge magnets have been rearranged again to spell out, “help r,” referring to Mattie. Mike calls Harold, explains his situation, and asks for help in hiring a custody lawyer. After the call, Mike realizes that he feels both terrified and more alive than he has in several years.

Mike is referred to a young lawyer named John Storrow. Storrow clarifies that he will be representing Mattie in the case. Mike hesitates because he hasn’t told Mattie about contacting a lawyer yet, so Storrow advises him to inform her immediately. Storrow worries that Max may have bribed Durgin to sway his opinion on Kyra’s guardianship. He promises to find a local attorney to represent Mike at the deposition. Finally, Storrow advises Mike to be seen in public by Mattie to ensure her protection.

Their discussion ends on the topic of Max’s phone call with Mike, which Max likely recorded on tape. Storrow points out that Mike had lied to Max about his encounter with Mattie and Kyra, which could hurt his credibility during the deposition. He advises Mike to report the exact truth of his encounter with Durgin and discredit the phone call as a false statement.

Before he calls Mattie to tell her about Storrow, Mike takes a walk along Tidwell’s Meadow and recalls its history. At the turn of the century, Sara Tidwell had lived there with a community of Black residents, among them her musical group, the Red-Top Boys. The township’s white residents protested the formation of Sara’s camp, believing they would build a shanty town. Instead, the Black residents built cabins and a multi-purpose hall, where Sara and the Red-Top Boys rehearsed for their state tours. 

Sometime in 1901, the Tidwell clan moved on from TR-90. The cabins in Tidwell’s Meadow were burned down in 1933 in a summer fire. Later on, Sara’s name became attached to the house that Mike would eventually buy.

Mattie invites Mike to her trailer for dinner to thank him for saving Kyra’s life. Mike buys extra fridge magnet sets for Sara Laughs and for Kyra. Kyra is initially shy when Mike arrives at their trailer, but she warms up to him when he reads her the story of Cinderella after dinner.

After Kyra falls asleep, Mattie acknowledges Mike’s awareness of her life story because it is an open secret around TR-90. She senses that most of the townspeople side with Max because he offers them financial support. He usually appears at local softball games because he enjoys watching the violence of the sport. Mattie talks sentimentally about her courtship with Lance and the social circle she kept at the time, which has faded away ever since Lance’s death.

Mike admits that he has returned to TR-90 because of his writer’s block. He thinks he has no more stories to tell, though Mattie doubts this explanation. They share their fears about the future. Mattie is afraid of remaining in town and has started to feel a presence in her bed, as well as the sound of someone crying. Mike nearly shares his experiences at Sara Laughs, but thinks better of it, knowing that Mattie has Max to worry about.

Mike instead brings up his upcoming deposition and offers to hire Storrow for Mattie. Mattie is dumbfounded that Mike would even do such a thing for someone he has just met. Mike opens up about the futility he has felt since Jo’s death, explaining that helping Mattie makes him feel like he is making a difference. Mattie accepts his answer but urges him not to root for her the way Max roots for his softball teams. Mattie thinks people will see her as a “lucky girl” for falling into the company of rich men who want to protect her. She doesn’t believe she is lucky because of her financial struggles and her difficult family history.

Mike learns that Kyra occasionally visits Max. Kyra seems to enjoy seeing Whitmore and her grandfather, though Mattie cannot tell Kyra that Max attempted to bribe her out of her marriage to Lance. This culminated in a final $2 million offer to buy Kyra from Mattie outright. Mattie tried to withhold the bribe offers from Lance, but when she eventually let it slip, Lance became so angry that he stopped talking to Max.

Lance’s funeral was the first time Max met Kyra. Kyra took to Max easily, though Max’s hungry stare made Mattie panic. Mattie allowed Kyra’s visits to Warrington’s because Max was the only family link she had to Lance. Soon, Kyra began to express anxiety about Max. Whenever Whitmore came to pick up Kyra for her visits, Mattie would become anxious that Kyra would never come back. Soon after Max started sending out his cronies to discredit Mattie, Mattie forbade Kyra from visiting Max. Max retaliated by initiating legal proceedings and sending his cronies to intimidate Mattie. Mattie tells Mike that Max has always been aware of him because their great-grandfathers were neighbors. Mike doesn’t believe this because his family came from the coast.

Before Mike leaves, Mattie asks him to explain the story Bartleby, the Scrivener by Herman Melville, which Mattie is reading for her literature circle. Mike explains that Bartleby is the earliest “existential character” of American literature, one who exists independently of his family or past. He starts resisting work as a way of interrogating its purpose. The more Bartleby refuses work, the less tethered he is to his world.

Finally, Mattie tells Mike that she had seen Jo once—at the ballpark the night she met Lance. Mike doesn’t believe this is true, considering the timeline of their last visit to TR-90. Mattie assures him that it was her, because her friends had identified her as Mrs. Noonan. Jo had been with another man that night, which upsets Mike. Mattie didn’t recognize the man. The man had put his hand around Jo before they left the field.

Mike tries to let it go, but cannot stop thinking about what he has learned on the way home. Considering that he and Jo had difficulties in conceiving and Mattie’s report happened so close to the discovery of Jo’s pregnancy test, Mike cannot help but draw a connection between the two events.

While retiring for the night, Mike argues with the voice, which reminds him that he could have missed her notice about the trip because he was so focused on writing. He refuses to believe this explanation. Later that night, the magnets have been rearranged to call Jo a liar.