Fox

There is a local legend that in 1937, Romulus Healy, the grandfather of Marcus and Demetrius, caused the famous explosion of the German airship Hindenburg by shooting its hull with a rifle. Though this story cannot be confirmed, it gives the Healy family “a kind of dark glamour” (71). This story allows Francis Fox to gain 13-year-old Mary Ann Healy’s attention when he starts teaching her in September, pointing out how she might be perceived as special. Her shyness arouses him, and he compares her to the paintings of Balthus, contemplating her as a target. He tells Mary Ann to come to his office and tells her that he will “give [her] a journal to write in—a special journal, just for you” (75).

The people of Wieland speculate on the demise of the man in the car wreck. As the public gains more information, it becomes clear from the position of the tire tracks on the hill that it’s unlikely to be an accident. Identifying the remains is difficult, but the white Acura is traceable to Francis Fox.

Detective Horace Zwender of the Wieland Police Department comes to talk to P. Cady, the headmistress of Langhorne. Cady immediately remembers her dog’s discovery of