All Good People Here

Margot wants to believe that Jodie is wrong, but stops when she hears Jodie say, “Your uncle killed Krissy” (266). Margot scoffs, saying that not only did Krissy die by suicide, but that Luke did not know Krissy at all. Jodie reveals that not only did Luke know Krissy, but that he is the father of Jace and January. She explains that they all grew up together in Wakarusa, but that, as teenagers, Luke went by a nickname, “Dave,” because of his last name Davies. She explains that January and Jace were conceived the same summer Krissy and Billy got together, and that Krissy pushed Luke away so that no one would ever discover her secret. Years later, Krissy finally told Luke the truth, and she was dead 24 hours later.

Margot interrupts, stating that Luke did not kill Krissy when he learned about the twins because he already knew. Suddenly, Luke’s attendance at January’s dance recitals makes sense to Margot. She realizes that Luke kept this a secret because he did not want to hurt his wife, Rebecca, who was unable to get pregnant, and Margot, who “was young and already felt unloved by her own parents’’ (269). Relief washes over Margot as she understands. Even Luke’s cryptic statement about being afraid that Margot will find out the truth makes more sense considering this revelation: Luke was worried that knowing her best friend had died from murder would traumatize Margot, and, due to his illness, he thought that she was still a young child.

Jodie is unconvinced of Luke’s innocence but says that she does not think he killed January. Jodie says she still believes, as Krissy did, that the murderer is still out there somewhere, but that Krissy messed up the crime scene so thoroughly to protect Jace that the real killer was able to walk free. Margot’s mind goes to Wallace. She tells Jodie of her theory and says she knows how to find Wallace, if Jodie is willing to help her.

Margot and Jodie drive to Wallace’s storage unit. Margot explains that she cannot break in, however, due to the thick locks on the outside of the unit. Jodie hesitates, then drives them to her house in South Bend to grab bolt cutters.

Back at the storage unit, they disguise themselves with baseball caps and jump the fence to the unit. As they work together to cut the lock off the unit, Margot feels the weight of wanting this lead to yield a result so that she can create a more stable life for herself and Luke.

When they finally break into the storage unit, they split up and begin looking through the boxes contained therein. For two hours, neither of them finds anything but clothes and books within the boxes. Margot begins to lose hope until she opens the last box and calls over to Jodie. Jodie hurries over and the two women survey the contents of the box in horror.

Inside the box are a series of plastic containers, each with a name written on the top: “Natalie, Hannah, Mia, Polly” (281). Margot puts on a pair of latex gloves before she opens the first box, Natalie’s, her eyes stinging with tears as she looks at the contents: hair clips, stickers, and Natalie’s water bottle. Margot also finds a series of photographs clipped together, which feature Natalie on a playground and were taken from far away. The contents show that Wallace stalked Natalie for a long time before kidnapping her.

As Jodie and Margot sift through the boxes, which are stacked in chronological order, they see that each box corresponds with a girl from states where Wallace had lived, like North Dakota, Illinois, and Nebraska. Margot finally reaches Polly Limon’s box. Jodie searches the names of each girl, and they discover that seven out of the 14 girls were missing and then found, murdered and abused, later. The others survived. When they reach the bottom of the box, Margot finds the name that she was searching for all along: January.

After leaving the storage unit, Margot calls the state police’s tip line and reports what they have found. Margot spends the rest of the night writing an exposé on Wallace and his crimes, then sends it to Adrienne. Adrienne calls Margot and tells her that the police have arrested Wallace. Margot says that she would like the newspaper to run the story, and that she wants her job back and a raise. Margot requests to stay remote so that she can properly care for Luke and says that she wants to be the one to cover Wallace’s trial.

Margot goes to the kitchen and sees Luke sitting at the table. She knows now for certain that while her uncle has made mistakes, he’s a good man at heart. Margot prints a copy of her article to take with her to Billy. She resolves not to tell Billy the truth about his children’s parentage, knowing that it would only hurt him further. Billy thanks Margot for bringing Wallace to justice. Margot gets up to leave and invites Billy to come by to see Luke, knowing that they were friends in their youth. She notices Billy’s eyes darken at the mention of Luke’s name and he gives a noncommittal “[m]aybe” in response (293).

On her way out, Margot stops when she notices a picture of January on the wall. In her hand, she clasps a small scrap of fabric—a remnant of her well-loved baby blanket. She points this out to Billy, who says that he would tell January to squeeze it when she was scared. Margot suddenly remembers that Jace had found January holding that scrap of fabric when she died, and she says so aloud. She finds this odd because, with the way January died, it would have been difficult or impossible for her to keep holding onto her blanket. Margot’s heart begins to race as she realizes the truth: Billy’s eyes darkened at Luke’s name because he knows Luke is the twins’ true father and hates him. She realizes it was Billy, not Wallace, who killed January.

Billy stands in front of the door when Margot tries to leave. He breaks down crying and says that he loved January, and that killing her was an accident. He admits to killing Krissy after she found out that he killed January. He says that he tore Krissy’s note to Jace and disposed of the bottom part, which said that she had found something out about Jace’s father—Billy—after talking to Luke.

Margot tries to flee, but Billy grabs her. Billy drags her to the basement door and swings it open. Margot thinks about all the girls who have been in similar situations because of dangerous men. Even as he drags her toward the basement, Margot resolves to fight to prevent Billy from making her another lost girl, another statistic.

Billy recalls a night in 1994 when Dave (Luke) calls him. They go on a drive together, and Billy notices that Dave is unusually quiet. Dave suddenly asks how Billy’s kids are doing. When Billy asks how Dave is doing, he breaks down in tears, confessing that Rebecca had a miscarriage earlier that night. Billy realizes that Dave asked to see him after all this time because he wanted comfort, and his sympathy changes to resentment as he thinks about all the times that Dave was not there for him. Billy sips his beer and says, “Wow. That sucks” (302). Dave tells Billy that he does not realize how lucky he is and comments that Dave “really [has] no f*cking idea” (303). Billy doesn’t understand, and Dave finally asks if Billy ever wondered why Krissy ended their friendship, and whether he notices how the twins look like Dave.

Back at home, Billy seethes with anger, thinking about going upstairs to his “lying, cheating wife” (303). When he enters the house, he hears a noise in the basement and assumes it is Krissy. A vision forms in his mind of causing Krissy to fall down the stairs, breaking her head open on the basement floor as payback for what she has done. He tells himself that he does not want Krissy to die, but that he does want to teach her a lesson. As he listens to footsteps ascend the basement stairs, Billy swings the door open. He hears the person fall backward down the stairs and land with a sickening sound. Billy opens the door and feels panic spreading inside him when he sees that it is not Krissy, but January.

January begins to cry, saying, “You hurt me, Daddy” (307), and calls for Krissy. As her cries escalate, Billy remembers that January is not actually his daughter at all. He repeatedly tells her to shut up, and then slams her head down against the floor. Horror fills Billy as he realizes what he has done. He looks down at January, thinking that he must make her death look like an accident. As he begins to ascend the stairs, he sees January’s scrap of baby blanket, which she must have been retrieving from the laundry. He puts the scrap of fabric into her hand, hoping that “maybe, just maybe, it could bring her some peace” (309). Then, he turns away from January and climbs the stairs, already preparing to hide, forever, what he has done.