Two Can Keep a Secret

Malcolm wakes up to see Officer McNulty questioning Katrin about Brooke’s disappearance. Katrin says she texted with Brooke the night before, but that was all. Malcolm realizes with horror that he is about to repeat the same conversation that Declan had with McNulty about Lacey’s disappearance. 

Ellery and Officer Rodriguez move into the kitchen, and Ellery recalls everything she can about the previous night. She repeats as much of the conversation as she remembers and mentions of the paperclip. When she comes to Malcolm giving Brooke a ride home, she makes a point to say that the ride wasn’t planned; this information piques Officer Rodriguez’s interest until she reiterates that it was pure chance that Brooke needed a ride home from Malcolm. Officer Rodriguez heads back to the station, saying that it will hopefully all turn out fine; given Echo Ridge’s history, no one believes him.

Malcolm is still being questioned by Officer McNulty as a witness, though he knows he is being treated like a suspect. When McNulty asks Malcolm if anything was unusual about Brooke, Malcolm looks at Katrin and says he doesn’t really know Brooke well enough to say. Katrin blurts out that Brooke thought Malcolm was cute and that the other night she stayed over and slipped out of Katrin’s room for a while; Katrin assumed she was going to see Malcolm. Malcolm denies this, wondering why Katrin would say it in the first place.

McNulty presses Malcolm to tell him everything he can about Brooke, and Malcolm brings up seeing her with Vance. McNulty says Vance was in the “drunk tank” the night before, but he will check up on it. He then asks if there’s anything else; Malcolm knows McNulty would want to know that Declan is in town but decides not to tell him. 

Ellery is restless and pacing through the house, thinking of a story her Nana told her about Sadie breaking a figurine when she was 10. Sarah took the blame at the time, and Nana admitted that she was always harder on Sadie, a comment that causes Ellery to realize that Nana is also upset over Sadie’s current situation as “another cracked girl, broken and pieced clumsily back together” (159).

Malcolm texts and asks if he can come over, and Ellery agrees. While he’s on his way, she talks to Ezra about everything, and her true-crime brain can’t help but think of the possibility of Malcolm as a murderer. Ezra tries to be a voice of reason, but Ellery is still anxious over everything.

Malcolm arrives, and he asserts that he had nothing to do with Brooke’s disappearance. He also tells them about Katrin spreading rumors about a possible romantic involvement between him and Brooke, which he wants them to know about. When Ellery sees how scared and sad he is, she decides to believe him.