The Shadows: A Novel

The narrative returns to the present timeline. After the doll is pushed through his mother’s mail slot, Paul Adams checks into a hotel in Gritten. Haunted by the feeling of being watched, he leaves at dawn and finds himself outside the former home of his teenage girlfriend, Jenny Chambers.

Jenny exits the house, and Paul confides in her about the recent strange events: the knocks on the door, the figure in the woods, Billy Roberts’s death, and the doll. Alarmed, Jenny urges him to report everything to the police. She convinces him to stay in Gritten and see things through. After they part, Paul has a chilling realization: If the doll was his own original doll from Charlie, that means someone must have been inside his mother’s house.

The morning after Billy’s murder, Amanda reviews the autopsy report, which confirms that Billy was tortured. She realizes that her suspicion is most likely true: The killer was probably still in the house when she arrived. Her colleague, Detective Graham Dwyer of the Gritten police, dismisses her concerns, insisting that three local men already in custody are responsible. Amanda remains skeptical, noting there was only one set of bloody footprints.