Chapter 28: The Confrontation and the Video
Spoiler Notice: This page contains a full summary and analysis of Chapter 28. If you haven’t read it yet, be warned — major plot points are revealed below.
Summary
After only a few hours of sleep, Rhonda wakes with a determined plan: ambush Troy Hansen about the $250,000 deposit before he can invent a story. She wants the element of surprise. She drives to a café in Burbank where Troy has asked to meet. Arriving, she spots her ex-boyfriend, investigator Dave Summerly, leaning against the wall outside. He’s on his phone, notebook in hand. Rhonda debates whether to speak to him but Summerly sees her and ends his call.
He mentions that Brogan told her about Troy and Daisy’s windfall. Rhonda, who actually hadn’t known about the money until now, covers her surprise and says Brogan seems like a decent guy. Summerly agrees, noting his boss lets him run his own program. Then he steps closer, conspiratorial, and says he’ll “throw her a bone.” He has backend data from Daisy’s social media and will email it to her. She asks why. He says because she had a hard night, will have a worse day today, and because he cares and thinks she deserves the full picture. He insists Troy is a killer and that Rhonda should ditch the case for her and Baby’s safety. Rhonda flashes back to the man she had to kill the night before, and while she tells Summerly she doesn’t need his pity, she feels the burn of hypocrisy. She asks what he means by a worse time today. Summerly’s face twists. He tells her she hasn’t seen the video, then opens the café door for her with a parting shrug.
Inside, she finds Troy Hansen hunched in a corner booth, hoodie up, sweating and staring blankly at the menu. He mutters that she knows already. She confronts him about the quarter-million deposit two months ago, calling it clear motive and warning that the internet and Nancy Grace will have a field day. Troy looks startled, not by the money but by something else. He tells her to try to stay calm and then to take out her phone and google his name. The chapter ends on that tense cliffhanger.
Key Events
- Rhonda wakes determined to corner Troy Hansen about the $250,000 transaction before he can fabricate an excuse.
- She arrives at the Burbank café to find her ex, Dave Summerly, waiting outside.
- Summerly reveals that Brogan told her about the windfall; Rhonda conceals that she hadn’t actually known.
- He offers her Daisy’s social media backend data as a “bone” and warns her to drop the case for her own safety and Baby’s.
- Summerly hints at a video that will make her day worse than the night before, then leaves her to enter the café.
- Inside, Troy is visibly distressed and mutters that Rhonda already knows.
- Rhonda lays out the deposit as a motive; Troy’s reaction shows the situation is far graver.
- He tells her to stay calm and search his name online, foreshadowing a devastating piece of evidence.
- The chapter ends with Rhonda poised to discover the video’s content.
Character Development
Rhonda: She begins the chapter with a strong tactical mindset — planning the element of surprise — but quickly finds herself on the back foot. Her encounter with Summerly stirs unresolved feelings: she smells his familiar aftershave and keeps her eyes down, signaling lingering attachment. When she tells him she doesn’t need his pity, she recognizes her own hypocrisy because she is, in fact, relying on the tip he and Brogan provided. Her willingness to face Troy alone, even after the previous night’s violence, shows both grit and recklessness.
Dave Summerly: Summerly occupies a complicated middle ground. He’s protective, warning Rhonda out of genuine concern, yet also condescending — “throwing her a bone” and telling her to drop the case rather than treating her as an equal. His gift of the social-media files and his revelation about the video suggest he wants to help, but his detachment stings. He knows more than he’s saying, and that knowledge makes him a gatekeeper of devastating information.
Troy Hansen: Only a brief appearance, but it’s dense with implication. His physical state — hunched, sweating, staring — shows a man unraveling. He doesn’t defend himself against the money accusation; instead, he immediately accepts that Rhonda knows, then pivots to the greater threat of the video. His instruction to “try and stay calm” suggests the video will be deeply shocking, possibly incriminating in an even more direct way than the payment.
Themes, Symbols, or Motifs
The Element of Surprise: Rhonda sets out to use surprise as a weapon, but the chapter flips the script. Summerly surprises her with the video tip, and Troy surprises her with an even larger bombshell. The chapter underscores how unstable control is in an investigation.
Money as Corrosive Motive: The $250,000 deposit is positioned as an obvious, almost clichéd, motive — something Nancy Grace would pounce on. Yet the chapter immediately undermines that simplicity by introducing another, darker piece of evidence, suggesting money is only the surface.
The Pull of the Past: Rhonda’s history with Summerly intrudes on her professional duties. His aftershave “stirs” her; she can’t quite detach. This personal entanglement mirrors the way hidden pasts (Troy’s, Daisy’s) threaten to upend the present case.
Public Spectacle and Media: The mention of Nancy Grace doing “backflips” externalizes the pressure Rhonda feels. It’s not just about solving a crime — it’s about managing a narrative that will inevitably be devoured by the public, a reminder of the case’s high profile.
Why This Chapter Matters
Chapter 28 is a hinge point. The investigation has been yanked out from under Rhonda twice: first with the deposit, now with the video. This pattern of escalating revelations raises the stakes dramatically. The deposit hinted at financial motive; the video promises something far more visceral and direct — possibly visual proof of Troy’s involvement or another crime. The chapter also deepens Rhonda’s internal conflict: she’s caught between a protective ex who doesn’t quite respect her and a suspect who seems less like a calculating killer than a man buried by terrible secrets. The cliffhanger ending forces the reader directly into Rhonda’s perspective as she’s about to see something that will likely define the rest of the case.
Study Questions and Answers
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Why does Rhonda hide the fact that she didn’t already know about the deposit from Summerly?
She wants to maintain an air of competence and independence. Admitting she was in the dark would feel like weakness, especially in front of an ex who already sees her as needing protection. The moment also shows her growing discomfort with how reliant she is on information fed to her by the official investigation. -
What is the significance of Summerly’s warning that she’ll have “a worse time today” because of the video?
The warning frames the video as something more emotionally potent than the deposit — perhaps a direct recording of violence, a confession, or an act that leaves no room for doubt. It also establishes Summerly as someone who knows damaging details but doles them out conditionally, testing Rhonda’s resolve. -
How does Rhonda’s recollection of killing a man the night before color her actions in this chapter?
The memory flashes when Summerly tells her to drop the case. It contrasts her outward denial of needing pity with the very real trauma she’s carrying. She can’t “drop that case” because she’s already in too deep — morally and psychologically. This parallel heightens her desperation to see the investigation through, even as it threatens to break her.