Tourist Season

Lukas comes over to clean Arthur’s gutters. Harper asks him to hide Nolan’s bag “somewhere [she] won’t find it” (103). Lukas gets anxious, demanding to know what’s going on. He doesn’t know the truth about Arthur’s past. Then Lukas reveals that a man is buying a piece of Lancaster land by Ballantyne River within the next three weeks.

After Lukas leaves, Harper panics about the land. She and Arthur have buried numerous bodies there. Alone, she tinkers with her chessboard and thinks about the past. She remembers the day that she and her late boyfriend, Adam, were kidnapped. She pushes the memories away and contacts Nolan for help with the Ballantyne property. He agrees to help her clear the bodies before the land is sold.

That night, Nolan and Harper make a plan for exhuming the bodies. Nolan can’t believe he is helping her, but “[t]here’s something about Harper” that keeps him from asking more questions (115). They head to the wooded property and start their search. While dredging the river, they share an intimate moment. Nolan can’t help feeling attracted to Harper.

Harper is exhausted four days into the corpse exhumations. She and Nolan are making progress, but she’s been distracted by her attraction to him.

One day, Harper returns home to discover that Arthur crashed his golf cart into a tree. He’s upset and confused and keeps asking Harper for his bag so that he can remember who he is. Harper tries to dissuade him, afraid he’ll kill someone without reason.

They sit together, and Harper reminds Arthur how much she cares about him. Then she tells Arthur about Sam and the drone. Morpheus the crow repeatedly calls out the word “murder” throughout their conversation. An anxious Harper takes it as a sign that Nolan must die so that she can protect herself and Arthur.

At the general store, Nolan buys supplies for the exhumations. He can’t stop thinking about Harper. Then he runs into her and gets upset when he notices her hands are burned. Harper’s defensiveness incites an argument. Nolan reminds her that he came here to kill her and again insinuates that Arthur is La Plume. Harper insists otherwise and leaves. Afterward, he runs into Sam, who badgers Nolan with questions about Harper.

Harper goes to the land near the Ballantyne River. In the rain, she is flooded with memories of her kidnapping, torture, and escape four years prior. She recalls being locked in a dank cellar with Adam and another of their captor Harvey Mead’s victims, Sloane Sutherland. After Harvey killed Adam, Sloane promised to destroy Harvey. Harper still wishes she could be more like Sloane.

Nolan arrives at the scene with hot chocolate and supplies. Annoyed by his attentiveness, Harper tells herself that he’s just trying to retrieve his bag. They sit together and chat before returning to work. Harper reveals that her parents were killed in a car accident when she was a kid. Nolan asks why she left him to die after she hit his car, given her parents’ deaths. She says she didn’t but doesn’t explain more.

A movement in the distance distracts Nolan. He thinks he saw Sam. Harper reveals that she secretly dosed his hot chocolate with magic mushrooms. As they take effect, Nolan becomes soft and affectionate, admitting his attraction to Harper. They hold hands as they creep out of the woods.

Harper drives Nolan back to her place, unwilling to leave him alone. He studies her belongings, overcome with the desire to be with her. They sit together and have an intimate conversation. Then they share a passionate kiss and agree to have sex. Harper insists that Nolan be rough with her; he gains her consent and obliges her request. Afterward, Nolan reflects on his feelings for Harper while watching her sleep.

Harper is missing when Nolan wakes up. He wanders around the cottage, chatting to Morpheus while he waits. He notices the  charm with curiosity before peeking outside to find Harper working on a soapbox race car. Then he hears Sam’s drone overhead. He races out and confronts Sam’s drone operator, Vinny, trying to direct his attention away from Lancaster Manor.

Nolan heads to the police station. He tells Sheriff Yates about Sam, the Sleuthseekers, and the drone, implying that Sam’s behavior is a breach of privacy. An unfazed Yates explains tourists’ obsession with digging up Carnage’s alleged secrets, but he promises to watch out for Sam. Nolan gets uncomfortable when Yates asks him questions about Ballantyne River and Jake.

Outside, Nolan reflects on his relationship with Harper. He wonders what would happen if they got together. He makes plans to meet up with her the next day. That night, he goes to Ballantyne River and opens the grave he dug for Harper when he first arrived in town.