Chapter summaries Becoming the Boogeyman Richard Chizmar

Chapter Nine Summary: The Disappearance of Peyton Bair

⚠️ Spoiler Warning: This guide contains detailed spoilers for the entire novel. Proceed only if you've finished reading or are comfortable knowing the plot.

Summary

Chapter 9 opens on Monday, June 6, 2022, with Peyton Bair, a sixteen-year-old lifeguard, arriving early at the Willoughby Woods Swim Club. She is excited to take her driver’s test in two days and has saved over $4,000 for a car. Meanwhile, the unemployed and broke Steve McLaughlin desperately wants to go fishing but needs bait and beer money. After failing to raise funds, he searches storm drains for loose change. In one drain he finds a money clip with $174—enough for supplies. That evening, while drunk and fishing, McLaughlin discovers the naked body of a young girl on a bridge over Winters Run. Police are called. The victim is later identified as Peyton Bair, who vanished from the swim club shortly after clocking out. Rich receives a call from incarcerated killer Josh Gallagher, who claims he called to apologize for the “turmoil” about to descend on Rich’s family.

Key Events

  • Peyton Bair works her shift as a lifeguard, planning for her driver’s test and daydreaming about her baby-blue Volkswagen convertible.
  • Steve McLaughlin searches storm drains for money; he finds a dead cat in one drain, but later discovers a money clip with $174.
  • McLaughlin buys beer, gas, and flowers, then goes fishing. While crossing a bridge, he stumbles upon a naked dead girl—Peyton Bair.
  • Peyton’s mother, Kristine Bair, arrives to pick her up at 6:10 p.m. but finds no sign of her daughter. She eventually calls the police at 6:54 p.m.
  • A gas station cashier calls 911 after McLaughlin reports the body; police arrive six minutes later.
  • Rich receives a phone call from Josh Gallagher, who claims to know about the murder and apologizes for the coming turmoil.

Character Development

  • Peyton Bair is portrayed as a responsible, hardworking teenager with a tough reputation. She is focused on her goals (driver’s license, college lacrosse, career in oceanography) and has no interest in boys. Her “golden child” image is balanced by typical teen flaws—messy room, hot-water hogging, competitive nature.
  • Steve McLaughlin is introduced as a down-on-his-luck drunk, but the narrative does not paint him as a villain. His journey through storm drains evokes childhood nostalgia, and his discovery of the body shocks both him and the reader.
  • Rich (narrator) shows increasing paranoia and exhaustion. He rewinds security footage looking for a hidden figure, and his anger toward Gallagher reveals his frustration with the ongoing horror.
  • Josh Gallagher remains a manipulative presence. His phone call suggests he takes grim satisfaction in having inspired a copycat—or at least in knowing the chaos he has caused.

Themes, Symbols, or Motifs

  • Innocence and ordinariness – Peyton’s everyday concerns (driver’s test, college, Netflix) make her fate more tragic. The chapter emphasizes that evil can strike any ordinary life.
  • Storm drains as underworld – McLaughlin’s descent into drains mirrors a journey into the subconscious, where he finds both treasure and horror. The drains symbolize the hidden, decaying underbelly of the town.
  • Copycat killer – Gallagher’s call hints that the new murder mirrors his M.O. but with “inconsistencies,” reinforcing the theme of inherited evil and the legacy of violence.
  • Media circus – Rich observes the early arrival of news vans and a crash between a MSNBC van and a sheriff’s SUV, presaging the chaotic coverage to come.

Why This Chapter Matters

Chapter 9 is a turning point in the narrative. It introduces the second victim (Peyton Bair) and deepens the mystery of the copycat killer. By humanizing the victim and her family, the chapter raises the emotional stakes. It also strengthens the parallel between Rich’s domestic life and the encroaching nightmare, as his wife Kara’s question (“When is this going to end?”) echoes Peyton’s own internal question from the chapter’s epigraph. The chapter ends with Gallagher’s cryptic promise of impending turmoil, leaving the reader unsettled.

Study Questions and Answers

1. How does the chapter build suspense before the discovery of the body?
The narrative alternates between Peyton’s ordinary day (her excitement about the driver’s test, her lifeguard duties) and McLaughlin’s search for money. The reader knows something terrible is coming, but the author delays the discovery by focusing on banal details—Peyton wiping tables, McLaughlin finding coins, the Bair family’s growing panic. The sudden switch to McLaughlin’s drunk, disjointed viewpoint at the end disorients the reader and makes the discovery more shocking.

2. Describe the characterization of Steve McLaughlin. Why is he portrayed as a sympathetic figure?
McLaughlin is broke, unemployed, and lazy, but he is not a predator. He is driven by a simple desire to fish, and his scavenging in storm drains is almost childlike. The narrator notes that even the police consider him “too dumb and lazy” to be the killer. His genuine fright at finding the body and his earlier attempts to find loose change make him a pitiable, even comic figure—a stark contrast to the violence he stumbles upon.

3. What is the significance of Josh Gallagher’s phone call?
Gallagher calls to say he is “sorry” for the turmoil Rich’s family is about to endure. Rich angrily accuses him of inspiring copycats, and Gallagher replies that Rich hasn’t learned a thing “after all this time.” The call confirms that Gallagher is aware of the new murder and that he sees himself as a mentor or cause of the violence. It deepens the psychological horror: the killer literally reaches out from prison to haunt Rich, and his words imply a plan yet unfolding.

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