The Shards: A Novel

As Matt hasn’t been at Buckley for days, he’s officially missing. Matt’s parents, Ronald and Sheila, were unaware of his absences. Typically, Sheila would look at the pool house from the second-story master bedroom and notice lights from the aquarium. Over the weekend, there were no lights. Ron then realizes that Matt’s Datsun is missing.

Bret thinks Matt is the Trawler’s fourth victim, and Dr. Croft calls an assembly to address Matt’s disappearance. A ranger finds Matt’s bloody backpack at Crystal Cove State Park. Neither Robert nor Ryan asks about Matt, which bothers Bret.

On Saturday morning, the Kellners’ gardener notices the return of the Datsun, which is bloody. There’s a beheaded cat nailed to the column of the pool house, and Matt’s extremely mutilated body floats in the pool. Authorities create a “clean version” of events and claim that Matt was high and fell into the pool, so his death was an “accident.”

Ryan stops going over to Bret’s house, but he and Debbie worry about how Matt’s death impacts Bret. Debbie and Bret have sex while Bret thinks of Ryan. Susan delays her party for Robert, and Bret reflects on his and Susan’s multilayered bond. Bret tells Susan that he and Matt “hooked up.