Too Old for This

Lottie strikes Plum twice, bags her head with plastic, and cleans the kitchen floor. She finds Plum’s phone and laptop in her car and recognizes the risk of tracking.

She drives Plum’s car to the Salem airport, crushes the electronics under the wheels, and discards them in a public trash can. She takes a taxi home. Back in her garage, she moves Plum’s body into a chest freezer and plugs in her rechargeable chainsaw.

The next morning, a brief feeling of regret vanishes after Lottie listens to a voicemail Plum left earlier. She cleans the kitchen floor again before going to the garage to begin dismembering the frozen body.

Her son, Archie, calls to announce that his younger girlfriend, Morgan, is pregnant and they plan to wed. Lottie claims she is gardening and ends the call, then returns to the dismemberment.

Lottie wraps the remains in butcher paper, labels the packages as cuts of meat, and stacks them in the freezer. She burns Plum’s belongings in her fireplace but keeps a file from Plum’s bag labeled with Lottie’s birth name, Lorena Mae Lansdale. She reads the first page of the file, which describes her life as tragic, before stopping to take a nap.

That evening, Lottie begins burning Plum’s remains, noting the patience and practice it takes to do so correctly. A voicemail arrives from Cole Fletcher, Plum’s boyfriend. Lottie calls him back and lies that Plum left around nine o’clock, mentioning she was leaving town. She resumes burning the remains, adding rosemary to the fire to mask the odor.

Days pass, and Lottie worries she missed something. She pulverizes the last bone fragments into ash and puts the residue into a metal bucket. That evening she attends her regular Thursday church bingo to settle her nerves.

Glenda, the event coordinator, criticizes her spinach dip. Lottie joins her friends, Sheila and Bonnie, who spike her punch. Lottie shares Archie’s news, and the women compare their children’s choices while she maintains her composed facade.

After bingo, Lottie finds no news about Plum. On Sunday, Cole Fletcher knocks on her door. Before answering, Lottie retrieves a walker from a closet to appear frail. She invites him in for tea and cookies.

Cole says police found Plum’s car at the airport and now view him as a suspect. He describes Plum’s mission to help the wrongly accused. Lottie expresses concern and asks gentle questions to gather details while reinforcing her harmless image.

That evening, Lottie reviews Plum’s file and an old, unflattering newspaper photo of herself. The photo triggers a flashback to 1985 Spokane, where Detective Kenneth Burke interrogates her as Lorena Mae Lansdale about three murders. He shows her graphic crime-scene photos and mixes up details to trip her, but she remains silent.

When Burke asks about her son’s father, Lottie reacts with revulsion but still says nothing. The police let her go. In the present, she regrets only that she did not dispose of those bodies more carefully.

The following week, Lottie visits Sheila’s house to test potluck recipes. The smell of cooking meat reminds her of the recent burnings. She reflects that she had retired from killing because it became a chore, but Plum forced her back. They also discuss a birthday gift for Noah, Lottie’s grandson.

After they finish, Lottie gives Sheila a tin of ashes from her fireplace, calling it fertilizer for the lawn. The ashes are Plum’s remains, and Lottie leaves, satisfied she has disposed of more evidence.

A week or two after Plum’s disappearance, a news report announces the official investigation. Detectives Rey Tula and Kelsie Harlow arrive at Lottie’s house. Using her walker, Lottie repeats a careful timeline. To steer suspicion toward Cole, she adds that she just remembered a bruise on Plum’s temple.

Lottie also claims she noticed Plum’s earrings, adding a concrete detail. Tula and Harlow take notes and thank her. Lottie is satisfied that her performance has guided their focus.

Immediately afterward, Lottie refines her lie, adding a curling-iron burn on Plum’s arm. She excuses herself to get tea, offering to come back for more questions. However, the detectives seem to take her bait about Plum’s injuries and leave.

She takes a bath, replays the interview, and wonders if the detectives know her true identity. She recalls being cleared in 1985 and suing the city of Spokane. The settlement, which funded her house, can serve as proof of past innocence.

She makes a to-do list and resolves to call Stephanie, her ex-daughter-in-law. The act of planning calms her.

A frustrating grocery run with rude teenagers reminds Lottie of Gary. In a flashback to when she was 28, she meets Gary and goes to his house. After they shower, he mocks her for being unmarried and childless. Enraged, Lottie trips him, and he dies after striking his head on the faucet.

She stages the scene to look like an accident and leaves. Authorities rule the death accidental. Lottie feels relief, not grief, and discloses that Gary is Archie’s father.

While cooking, a telemarketer named Jax calls. Lottie flips through the 1985 evidence list from Plum’s file and recalls killing Marilyn Dobbs and Paul Norris. Marilyn was Archie’s substitute teacher who judged Lottie, insisting that Archie needed a “father figure” at home. Paul owned the local grocery store and used to follow her around, watching for her to steal something after Lottie was once short on money to pay for her groceries. Each time she killed, it was fueled by anger that wouldn’t subside. She confronts Jax about his predatory tactics, but he responds with ageist contempt and hangs up.

At bingo, her dish earns praise, but she keeps thinking about Jax. The unresolved anger lingers.

The next day, Lottie fails to reach Jax through an automated phone system. Detective Kelsie Harlow arrives alone, dressed in workout clothes. Lottie serves coffee and maintains her frail persona. Kelsie reveals a problem with Lottie’s story: Plum appears on no flight manifest out of Salem.

Kelsie says that without proof of a crime, the case stalls, and Cole remains the only suspect. She tests Lottie’s recall of the bruise and burn locations. She admits the visit is on her day off because the case frustrates her, then leaves.

Kelsie lingers in the kitchen before leaving, accepts more coffee, and scans the room. She reveals her tactic: She showed Lottie’s and Plum’s photos to airport staff, and no one recognized either. Lottie keeps her composure, recognizing Kelsie is just looking for a reaction from her. After Kelsie leaves, Lottie writes down her license plate number, reminding herself not to panic.

After a nap, Lottie calls her ex-daughter-in-law, Stephanie, in the afternoon. She vents about Archie’s new life and makes passive-aggressive comments about visits with the grandchildren.  The conversation exhausts Lottie, who thinks about how she will always be loyal to her son after everything they went through.

In a brief flashback, Lottie recalls changing their names after moving. A young Archie, bullied over his mother’s past, decided the bullies must have a mental disorder. The conclusion freed him from blaming her, and Lottie holds on to that loyalty.

A few days later, Lottie is beginning to relax after there are no more news stories about Plum. However, Kelsie then visits her again. She shows her a photo she took of Lottie walking in a parking lot without her walker. Lottie provides a quick excuse.

Kelsie drops the polite tone and produces an old newspaper headline naming Lottie as Lorena Mae Lansdale, the “Lady Psycho Killer.” She states she knows Lottie killed Plum to protect this secret. Lottie notes that Kelsie is operating alone, and Kelsie confirms it is a “shakedown.”

Kelsie demands $50,000 within one week or she will expose Lottie’s identity. After Kelsie leaves, Lottie imagines killing her and hears the remembered sound of her father hitting baseballs—the same sound Gary’s head made. Lottie starts to plan.

At Thursday’s church social, she fears exposure. She wins a raffle for a spa facial but turns away when Glenda tries to take her picture for the church newsletter.

During the week the money is due, Lottie can raise only $9,000. In disguise, she follows Kelsie and discovers she lives in her grandmother’s cottage. She learns the grandmother is in an expensive nursing home, which explains Kelsie’s need for cash. Lottie’s joints stiffen, and she cuts the surveillance short.

At home, she fields calls about Archie’s wedding and Bonnie’s family problems. Lottie decides she cannot count on luck to kill Kelsie away from home and needs a different approach that accounts for her age and Kelsie’s movements.