The Summer Guests

Maggie and Declan drive to the spot on the highway where Zoe’s backpack was found. They stop at a restaurant en route and get a copy of its security camera to see who drove by in the time frame when the backpack was discarded. Then, they go to the police department, where Ingrid and Lloyd are already waiting. They hand over the security footage from the restaurant to Jo, who tells them Zoe’s phone has not been active since she disappeared.

Susan is distraught. Brooke comes in to show her a missing person poster the family made of Zoe to assist in the search. Brooke also reminds Susan that Goerge Conover’s memorial service is Thursday. Susan thanks Brooke for her assistance in the search.

Susan then goes into Zoe’s bedroom. She notices that Zoe’s pink and red dress is there but that her swimsuit and goggles are missing. Wondering if Zoe drowned while swimming, she tells Ethan they have to search the pond.

Susan tells Jo about the missing swimsuit and goggles. Brooke suggests that perhaps Zoe left her swimsuit out to dry on the dock, where it blew away, but Ethan argues that the goggles would not have blown away. Brooke says Zoe’s dress must have been in the laundry by the time Brooke started a load at 2:30 pm the day before. Based on this, Jo concludes that Zoe must have returned to the house and changed out of her dress after Luther dropped her off at noon. They wonder if she drowned, even though Zoe is a strong swimmer. However, Brooke points out that drowning would not explain how Zoe’s backpack ended up miles away.

Jo calls her brother, Finn, who works for the Maine Warden Service dive team, and asks for help searching the lake.

Maggie and the Martini Club watch the Maine Warden Service search the lake. It is boring, so they do some birdwatching while they watch. Suddenly, the wardens’ boat drops anchor, and two wardens prepare to dive.

Susan panics when she sees the divers going into the water. Jo attempts to reassure her that it only means the divers have found an anomaly on the radar. However, when the divers bring up a body bag, Susan sprints to the dock. The authorities try to hold her back but aren’t able to stop her from unzipping the body bag. Susan is shocked to see a skeleton—not Zoe—in the bag.

Jo and Finn meet with the chief medical examiner, Dr. Wass, at the morgue, along with the state forensic anthropologist, Dr. Volberding. Detective Robert Alfond from the state police joins them. Dr. Volberding tells them that the bones have been in the water “for some time” (100). She states the skeleton is likely that of a female between 18 and 35. The woman has a dental filling that the lab can analyze to more accurately date how long ago she died. Dr. Volberding points to a nylon rope found with the skeleton and speculates that it may have been tied to a bag of rocks to keep the body from surfacing during decomposition. Jo will search missing person reports to try and find the woman’s name.

On the day of George Conover’s memorial, Susan stays home alone, relieved to be away from the Conovers. She walks down to the lake, where she sees Reuben Tarkin staring at her from his cottage across the water. Spooked, she walks back into the house and sees the handwritten manuscript of Ethan’s new novel. She is shocked to see that it is a murder mystery clearly based on Moonview cottage and the Conover family. 

Then, there is a knock on the door. To Susan’s surprise, it is Reuben Tarkin. He tells her to pass a message from him to the family and Arthur Fox: “I haven’t forgotten what they did” (108). She wonders what the message means.

After the memorial, the Conovers, Arthur, and Hannah eat a meal at the house. In the middle of the meal, Susan asks who Reuben Tarkin is. The question shocks the family, and they are also outraged to learn that Reuben came to the house while they were away. They tell Susan that Reuben harassed Kit’s nanny, Anna, until she quit without giving notice. They think he resents the Conovers because they are wealthy and he is poor. They also tell her that Reuben’s father, Sam, “went bonkers one day” and killed people (113).

Then, Jo calls Susan to tell her they need to do a DNA test: The investigators have found something.

Callie asks Maggie if Maggie thinks Zoe is still alive. Maggie is unsure. While they talk, Maggie notices the police pulling up to Luther and Callie’s farm next door. Jo arrests Luther, leaving Callie distraught. Maggie tells Callie to finish taking care of Maggie’s chickens while Maggie goes to help Luther.