59 pages • 1-hour read
The Things She's Seen
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Part 3Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Part 3: “Beth”
Part 3, Chapter 7 Summary: “The Truths”
Catching pauses her story, and Beth’s narration resumes. Beth is skeptical about the more fantastical elements of Catching’s story, but she feels that the girl’s account still has the ring of truth. Catching is now exhausted, so Michael plans to return on another day. He asks if Catching has family, but she tells him not to worry about her because she has “somebody” (52). As Michael and Beth leave, Beth senses that Catching is looking right at her.
A nurse tells Michael that Child Services has located the witness’s mother. The witness is a runaway from a rehab clinic, and her mother will come to retrieve her within the week. Beth angrily tells her father that the clinic cannot be taking proper care of Catching if they don’t even know that her mother is dead. Michael says that he does not believe that Catching’s mother is dead. In his opinion, Catching’s story reflects what she believes but is not objectively true. He explains that various elements of Catching’s story might be misinterpretations of reality due to Catching’s drug use and trauma over being forced into rehab.
Michael receives a call about the bank accounts of Cavanagh’s and Flint, the director and nurse of the children’s home. Both men have more money than expected, and Michael wonders if they were embezzling from the children’s home. He tells Beth that the investigation is a waste of time and that faulty wiring must have started the fire. He concludes that Flint was killed in the fire, and Cavanagh ran to avoid any subsequent investigation that would discover his embezzlement. When Beth tries to get Michael to stop somewhere and eat before returning to his hotel, he drives off in a huff. Beth feels more alone than ever, so she decides to return to Catching’s room.
Catching surprises Beth by looking directly at her and saying, “Took you long enough” (57). Catching explains that her mother could also see ghosts. Beth is excited to meet someone else who can see her, but she is taken aback when Catching asks if Beth is haunting Michael because he killed her. Catching calls Beth “stuck” and tells her to move on to the next part of existence. Beth suddenly remembers seeing brilliant colors just after she died, but the sound of her father’s crying called her back. Beth grows angry at Catching’s insinuations that her father is taking advantage of her, and her anger is so intense that a ceiling light explodes. This is the first time she has been able to interact with the physical world since her death.
After Beth calms down, she and Catching discuss Beth’s last name, Teller. Beth says that, in a way, her father is a “teller” because he tells right from wrong, but now that he has become so confused, Beth decides that she is the “teller” in their family. When Beth asks Catching whether spirits can touch people physically, Catching is disgusted and tells Beth to leave until she is ready to move on. Beth returns to her father’s hotel. Guiltily, she finds herself wondering about the possibility of moving on to a better existence but crushes the thought. She realizes that she does not feel like herself anymore.
Part 3, Chapter 8 Summary: “The Station”
In the morning, Michael’s boss, Rachel, calls and tells him that the unidentified corpse at the children’s home was stabbed to death with a curved blade. He also learns that Flint and Cavanagh had been making regular cash deposits for years and now suspects that someone was paying them off for an unknown reason. Beth is pleased to see her father really focusing on the case. She knows that he will likely want to talk to Catching again, but she hopes that Catching will not mention that she can see Beth. Beth also enjoys talking someone other than her father and begins to see Catching as a friend.
At the police station, Michael meets with the police chief, Derek Bell. Bell is initially cold toward Michael, but he softens when he learns that he and Michael are both the sons of small-town police chiefs. Beth notices Bell’s nervousness and realizes that her father is treating him as a potential suspect. Bell is especially concerned when Michael plans to talk with Alexander Sholt, the man whose charity founded the children’s home. Since Sholt is not at his city address, it is likely that he actually is at his local address. Bell states that the address will be hard to find and insists on sending one of his officers, Allie Hartley, to escort Michael. As Michael and Hartley leave the station, Beth lingers to watch Bell and concludes that the police chief is very afraid of something.
Part 3, Chapter 9 Summary: “The Missing”
On the drive to the Sholt house, Hartley tells Michael that the Sholt family had some money problems when Alex Sholt was a teenager. Alex’s grandfather, Oscar, believed that some kind of apocalypse was coming and used much of the family fortune to prepare by building an underground bunker and investing in a moon colony. Once Alex was an adult, he took over the family business and rebuilt their fortune; Hartley has heard that he was very lucky in the stock market. Beth suspects that Alex might have made the money by selling prescription drugs from the children’s home on the black market.
Hartley tells Michael how much good Alex has done through his donations to the local community. She mentions that although some people opposed the children’s home, others supported its presence from the beginning. Some community members even wanted to volunteer there, but Sholt told them that government regulations would not allow this. Beth realizes that this was a lie allowed Sholt was to keep people away from the home.
Hartley also tells Michael about her friend, Sarah Blue, who disappeared when both Hartley and Blue were teenagers. Hartley has never accepted the conclusion of the former police chief Gerry Bell (Derek Bell’s father) that Sarah was a runaway. Although Derek has repeatedly told Hartley that there is no point searching for Sarah after so many years, Hartley has never given up hope. She is pleased and grateful when Michael offers to look at Sarah’s file. As Michael pages through the file, Beth reads over his shoulder and sees that Sarah was an Aboriginal girl. Michael promises Hartley that he will help her investigate once he has finished investigating the fire.
At the Sholt house, Alex Sholt’s father, a thin, elderly man, states that Alex is not at home. Beth darts inside to search. She does not find Alex, but in an upper-floor bedroom, she finds a broken window and a few black hairs in the window frame. She reports this to her father and relates her theory that Cavanagh, who has black hair, must have fled here after the fire. Because Michael does not yet have enough evidence for a search warrant, he leaves a card and urges Charles to have Alex get in touch. As they return to the car, Hartley tells Michael that two more bodies have just been found; both victims were stabbed to death.
Part 3, Chapter 10 Summary: “The Deaths”
Hartley drives Michael to the site where the bodies have been found. The bodies belong to Flint and Cavanagh. They are in a pit that serves as access to a stormwater drain. The pit is surrounded by a high fence, and there is no indication that anyone has tampered with the gate. Derek Bell says that the men were clearly killed elsewhere. Michael moves away and calls Rachel, telling her that there is something strange about the case and asking her to send a team of investigators to assist. He agrees with Beth’s assessment that Bell is scared and clearly knows more than he is saying. Beth suggests that the children from the home might know something useful, but Michael says that they are refusing to offer any information.
Hartley approaches and tells Michael that it is a strange coincidence that they were just talking about Sarah Blue that morning, because the bus stop where Sarah Blue was last seen is very near where the bodies were found. None of the neighbors have admitted to noticing anything strange, except for one woman who claims that she heard “wings beating in the air above her house […] too large to belong to a bird” (92). Beth exclaims “Fetchers!” (93), but Michael shakes his head. Worried that Fetchers are nearby, Beth goes to the hospital to warn Catching.
Catching tells Beth that she has heard about Flint’s and Cavanagh’s deaths from the nurses. She tells Beth that the noise of wings could not be Fetchers and assures Beth that no one is pursuing her. Catching thanks Beth for her concern, and the two affirm their friendship. Beth asks Catching not to tell Michael that she can see Beth, and Catching agrees. She also tells Beth that she had a friend in the “beneath-place” who told her the truth about things, even when the truth hurt. Catching explains that she is telling her story not because she wants help, but simply because she wants to be heard. Michael arrives, and Catching resumes her story.
Part 3 Analysis
In this section of the novel, the author introduces complications to the broader mystery and to Beth’s relationship with her father, and as is typical for the mystery genre, these chapters are full of clues, red herrings, suspense, and foreshadowing. For example, Catching’s cryptic comment that she is not alone raises questions about who her unknown friend is. Combined with Hartley’s mention of Sarah Blue and the fact that Flint and Cavanaugh’s bodies are found near where Sarah disappeared, these details foreshadow the later revelation that Catching knows the missing girl personally. Additionally, when the nurse tells Michael that the witness’s mother will be coming to get her, Beth is understandably confused because Catching has just told them that her mother was killed in the flood; this discrepancy creates suspense and raises questions about Catching’s reliability as a narrator. (The narrative will later reveal that Catching is not actually the witness that Michael was looking for when he first entered the hospital.) While the novel’s early chapters introduce these and other discrepancies, the narrative deliberately focuses on other events to delay readers’ comprehension of clues that all is not quite as it seems.
These chapters also contain extensive foreshadowing, as when Derek Bell’s nervousness and his insistence on sending Hartley with Michael hint that he and Alexander Sholt are both involved with the crime in some way. Likewise, Hartley’s explanation of Oscar Sholt’s underground bunker will prove to be highly significant, as the bunker itself will later be revealed as an important setting in the broader mystery. In the meantime, however, the red herring about the Sholt family’s money problems distract Beth and Michael with a shrewd yet misguided theory about the diversion of prescription medications. As the two continue to investigate, Beth’s account of their activities mirror the conventional rhythm of a detective narrative, and her primary focus is upon gaining new clues and following leads, even if her supernatural status does lend the story a uniquely creative element.
Michael and Beth are also further developed as characters in this section, for although Michael shows gentle compassion toward Catching and genuine concern for Hartley’s distress about Sarah Blue, he is short-tempered with his own daughter. Similarly, he is initially apathetic about the investigation but later becomes focused and doggedly pursues answers via skillful interviews and keen observation. These contradictory behaviors emphasize the fact that Michael is still hampered by his intense grief over Beth’s death, and this struggle sometimes compromises his own ability to do what is right. Despite his overwhelming sadness, however, Michael’s solicitous behavior toward Catching and Hartley and implies that he is a fundamentally ethical and responsible person who cares deeply about others’ welfare.
Beth also reveals herself to be a dynamic character, for although she initially rejects the idea that her decision to linger near her father is misguided, her first conversation with Catching sows new doubts in her mind, compelling her to recall the first moments after her death and wonder whether she made the wrong choice. Although she feels “treacherous” for even considering the idea of leaving her father behind, her doubts about her current status will only grow, and her shifting attitude indicates that she, like Catching, is Finding a Voice through Storytelling. Even as Beth redoubles her efforts to ignore these doubts and help her father, she cannot long sustain her wistful fantasy about becoming a detective and helping Michael to solve all of his cases. As she is forced to admit, “Something didn’t feel right about that, but I ignored the feeling” (80). Thus, it is clear that although Beth knows she does not belong in the living world, she is still not ready to fully accept that she needs to move on.
Catching’s role in helping Beth to accept her destiny emphasizes the novel’s focus on The Role of the Community in Healing Grief. As Catching tells Beth, one of the functions of friendship is to tell the truth, even when the truth is painful. This quality of Catching’s friendship makes her support a vital catalyst for Beth’s growing acceptance of the need to leave her father behind. Likewise, Catching herself receives benefits from Beth’s companionship and Michael’s patient listening, for the very act of ensuring that er personal truths heard by others is critical to Catching’s recovery. Her need to share her story despite the pain it causes her demonstrates the broader importance of Finding a Voice through Storytelling.
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