Chapter 33

Summary

• The protagonist revisits Theo’s journal entries and muses over previous misinterpretations of his writings.
• She gets a cryptic message from Theo wanting to meet in 30 minutes.
• The protagonist leaves Rebecca, who's cleaning the kitchen, without revealing her destination.
• The protagonist guesses Theo may want to meet at Lakeside Tavern, the location where Bethany was found. She goes there and finds Theo waiting.
• Theo implies that he saw the protagonist and another girl dragging a dead body to the lake, but the protagonist asserts it wasn’t her.
• Theo doesn’t confirm or deny any of her allegations directly but tells her he saw a girl, resembling her, dragging a man's body to the lake. He indicates that the other girl arrived in a car, was panicking while the first girl remained calm.
• The protagonist processes Theo’s revelations and tries to understand how Bethany got involved in the murder of James Finley and the disappearance of Emmy.
• Returning home, the protagonist shares the story of her controversial article and the subsequent complications with her sister Rebecca.
• Rebecca inquires about the possible legal consequences which, according to the protagonist, may be complicated and might include Paige, Aaron’s widow, filing a civil suit.
• The protagonist confesses having gone to Paige’s house to warn her about her impending story, and shying away from telling the police about her accusations against Aaron.
• Rebecca accepts that it might be impossible for her sister to go back to her prior life but also makes light of the situation by admiring their house's square footage.