47 pages • 1-hour read
Nightshade
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Chapter 37-EpilogueChapter Summaries & Analyses
Content Warning: This section of the guide includes discussion of death, death by suicide, and racism.
Chapter 37 Summary
Stilwell visits Daniel Easterbrook, a Black Marlin Club member whose card was found in Moss’s possession. Easterbrook confirms that he was having an affair with Moss and that he left his family to be with her. He claims that he last saw Moss on Saturday the 17th (likely the day she was murdered) and that she planned to quit her job permanently and sail with him to Tahiti. Easterbrook provides an alibi for the rest of the day.
Chapter 38 Summary
That night, while unable to sleep, Stilwell begins reviewing cases in his head. He resents the fact that Sampedro and Ahearn will take over the Moss investigation but believes that Easterbrook will ultimately be cleared. His thoughts turn to his own suspension, and he wonders how Spivak and Terranova knew that the bloody saw handle was still on the island and not in custody on the mainland. He realizes that they must have a source inside the department. The next morning, he drives to Long Beach to confront Monika Juarez.
Chapter 39 Summary
Stilwell gets Juarez to confess that she leaked information about the buffalo-mutilation investigation to Terranova, whom she knew from their childhood in Bakersfield, California. She reveals that he has compromising photos of her and that he blackmailed and physically threatened her. Juarez explains that Terranova denied involvement in Henry Gaston’s death and promised to reveal the true culprit (implied to be the mayor) if he was guaranteed immunity. Stilwell tells Juarez to call Terranova in under the pretense of making a deal.
Chapter 40 Summary
Stilwell calls Sampedro to summarize his interview with Easterbrook and his belief in Eastbrook’s innocence. Before he can explain that Easterbrook’s interview contradicts Black Marlin Club manager Charles Crane’s claim that he fired Moss, Ahearn disconnects the call. Stilwell attends a mandated therapy session in which he affirms his decision to shoot Spivak and insists that he has no regrets about the incident. The therapist clears him to return to duty. Despite Stilwell’s worries, Dano insists that she wants him to stay on the island with her.
Chapter 41 Summary
On the ferry back to Catalina, Dano suggests that they go backcountry camping while Stilwell is still officially off-duty. Wanting to stay involved in the Moss case, Stilwell lies and claims that he needs to be available to the Internal Affairs investigators. Dano is annoyed and says that she’ll go anyway. Stilwell receives a call from journalist Lionel McKey, who asks for a comment on the report that Daniel Easterbrook, who died by suicide that morning, is the leading suspect in the Moss case. Stilwell refuses to comment.
Chapter 42 Summary
Furious, Stilwell calls Captain Corum, who seems to believe that Stilwell identified Easterbrook as the suspect. Although Stilwell insists that Easterbrook had an alibi, Corum accepts Ahearn and Sampedro’s report that Easterbrook killed Moss and then himself when Stilwell questioned him about her death. Corum warns Stilwell not to investigate further. When Ahearn calls, Stilwell promises him that he will find the real killer. He does not disclose his plans to Dano. Juarez texts with plans for Stilwell to meet privately with Terranova.
Chapter 43 Summary
Juarez, Stilwell, and Terranova meet on the mainland to discuss a deal. Terranova shares a recording of Allen admitting to killing Gaston in order to stop him from testifying in the buffalo-mutilation investigation. He also claims that it was Allen, not himself, who sent Spivak to kidnap Tash Dano. In exchange for evidence, Terranova demands total immunity in his role in Mayor Allen’s crimes. Juarez agrees to take the case to a judge and confirm the deal. Privately, Stilwell vows to convict Terranova on future crimes.
Chapter 44 Summary
Back on the island, Stilwell attempts to call Dano, who stormed out the night before when Stilwell told her about his plan to meet with Juarez and Terranova. Dano does not answer. Although not technically cleared to return to duty, Stilwell takes a police cart to find Leslie Sneed, Moss’s former roommate. He offers to recommend Sneed for all the reward money if she agrees to help him by sending a text and setting up a meeting. She agrees.
Chapter 45 Summary
Sneed texts Black Marlin Club manager Charles Crane, implying that she knows about his affair with Moss and involvement in her death. She demands a meeting, and Stilwell arranges hidden cameras and microphones around the bar to capture it. In the recorded conversation, Crane admits that he was sleeping with Moss and that he felt like she was only interested in money. He implies that he killed her after she broke up with him. Confident that the footage will secure a guilty verdict, Stilwell arrests Crane for Moss’s murder.
Chapter 46 Summary
In a formal interview, Stilwell suggests that Crane hit Moss in the head with the marlin statue out of anger when she broke up with him. When the impact broke the statue, he panicked and reported it missing, dumping it with Moss’s body. Stilwell lies and says that investigators are close to obtaining the statue and Moss’s phone. He implies that jurors will be so horrified by the recording of Crane’s conversation with Sneed that they’ll convict him without hesitation. Despite these ploys, Crane denies the accusation and refuses to speak without a lawyer.
Chapter 47 Summary
Stilwell leaves the interrogation room annoyed that Crane did not fall for any of his bluffs or interrogation tricks. He notices that he has three missed calls from Corum and calls him back. Corum demands to know why Stilwell authorized the case against Mayor Allen without informing him. Stilwell bends the truth and claims that the district attorney made the deal without him and that he has to testify because of a subpoena. Stilwell admits to Corum that he arrested Charles Crane in the Moss case.
Chapter 48 Summary
Stilwell testifies before a grand journey about his investigation of the buffalo mutilation, Henry Gaston’s confession, and Mayor Allen’s involvement in Gaston’s murder. As he leaves, he is confronted by Terranova, who is also testifying. Terranova gloats about the immunity deal he has been granted. Stilwell does not respond but privately predicts that Terranova will try to manipulate the jury with stories about his traumatic childhood in Bakersfield. As Stilwell leaves, he vows to prosecute Terranova next time he commits a crime.
Chapter 49 Summary
Stilwell returns to Catalina Island and waits for confirmation from Juarez that the grand jury has decided to indict Mayor Allen. He hopes to transport both Charles Crane and Mayor Allen to the mainland on the same police helicopter. He carefully prepares documentation and warrants for both arrests. When Juarez calls with the confirmation, she tries to ask casually about his personal life. He brushes off the question, knowing that he can never fully trust her again. Stilwell calls in his deputies for assistance at City Hall, not revealing his plans to arrest Allen.
Chapter 50 Summary
Corum calls with news that the investigation into Stilwell’s shooting has closed and that he has officially been returned to duty. Stilwell tells the captain that he plans to take a few days off after the arrest. When the other deputies arrive, Stilwell marches past Allen’s assistant and interrupts a meeting in order to arrest him. Allen insists that he is innocent and that Stillwell is the corrupt one. As Stilwell escorts a cuffed Allen out of City Hall, Lionel McKey appears with a video camera. Stilwell had tipped McKey off, hoping to embarrass Allen.
Epilogue Summary
Stilwell takes a boat out to Tash Dano’s favorite camping spot on the island. He finds her tent empty and her kayak on the beach. In her cooler is a large fish that seems to have been freshly caught. As Stilwell unloads his supplies from the boat, Dano appears. Stilwell promises that he can spend the whole weekend with her, and they embrace. Dano asks if she is safe and if the ordeal is over. When Stilwell answers yes to both, she invites him into her tent.
Chapter 37-Epilogue Analysis
This section of the novel highlights The Impact of Tourism on Communities by suggesting that reliance on tourism is demoralizing for locals, makes it difficult to ensure law and order, and can lead to corruption. Throughout these chapters, local women complain about the treatment they receive from male tourists. Tash Dano complains about “rich, entitled guys who treat you like you’re there solely to give them what they want” (287), while Leslie Sneed laments her years serving “tourists and sweaty golfers who think they’re funny” (313). Both women note that these interactions cause them to consider leaving their jobs. These complaints suggest that interacting with tourists is not always positive for local workers and can lead to burnout.
The novel also suggests that, for isolated places like Catalina Island, reliance on tourism can make it difficult to ensure law and order, as officials prioritize a good reputation over the pursuit of justice. Stilwell believes that Captain Corum “doesn’t care” about solving the Moss murder and is willing to rush through the investigation if it means that “he gets an easy clear on a complicated case” (294). Similarly, Stilwell accuses Ahearn of taking “the easy road” by pinning the murder on the deceased Daniel Easterbrook rather than on Charles Crane, a local (295). The police department’s willingness to cover up the truth in order to restore the appearance of peace suggests that reliance on tourism can have a negative effect on communities.
Finally, the novel suggests that the reliance on the tourist industry can lead to corruption. Terranova confesses that, from the moment he began to do business on the island, he was aware of illegal activity. When they first met, Mayor Allen told Terranova that “it could take there years or three months to get the operator’s license, depending,” and asked him “how [he] want[ed] to handle it” (301). The fact that Terranova’s tourist business on Catalina began with corrupt business practices reflects the novel’s stance that tourist money can lead to community-destroying greed in communities with few other sources of revenue.
The final section of the novel also reflects a thematic interest in The Dangers of Ingroup Biases through its depiction of Judge Harrell’s relationship with the prestigious Black Marlin Club. The club is comprised exclusively of wealthy mainlanders who mostly visit on the weekends, but Harrell was granted an honorary membership as a judge. Although the club members expected Harrell to visit the club only on the days when he heard cases on Catalina, Harrell began “using their moorings like a real member, not an honorary one” (289). This breach by an outsider—a non-club member—infuriated the club members, who kicked Harrell out of the club. Dano explains that the members of the club “don’t like outsiders acting like they belong” (289). This episode suggests that the Black Marlin Club members believe that their organization is so exclusive that they can reasonably embarrass and exclude a public figure as prestigious as an elected judge. Ingroup biases enables the club members to be exclusive in a place where they are not even locals.
In the final chapters of Nightshade, the novel engages in harmful stereotypes about Latino people through the eyes of Detective Stilwell, who sees them as inherently violent. In particular, Terranova is depicted as a violent criminal who is a constant threat to the people around him, even when he is in police custody. Despite the fact that the interview is conducted in a police station, Stilwell fears that Terranova might attack at any time, explaining that “there [i]s no telling how he w[ill] act if things d[o]n’t go his way in the next hour” (299). When Terranova reaches into his pocket, Stilwell “spr[ings] up from his chair, ready to go across the table at him” (302). Later, when he sees Terranova dressed up in court, Stilwell notes that “the suit [i]s sleek and expensive, but to Stilwell he still look[s] like a gangster” (327). He is willing to let Terranova take an immunity deal because he “kn[ows] that he w[ill] get another shot at him somewhere down the line” (327), suggesting that Stilwell believes Terranova will commit more crimes. Stilwell’s interactions with Terranova reflect his acceptance of a harmful negative stereotype associating Latino people with crime.
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