Chapter 27: July 27, 2021 – A Trail of Disappearances

⚠️ 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

Emilio Herrera, a Jet Mart clerk, calls Holly with a new lead: a young man who frequented his store years ago, nicknamed “the bowling guy,” vanished around the time of Trump’s first presidential campaign. Holly traces the man’s distinctive moped to the Deerfield Park Thickets near Red Bank Avenue. At Strike Em Out Lanes, owner Althea Haverty identifies the missing employee as Cary Dressler, a talented worker who last collected a paycheck on September 4, 2015. Holly obtains a photo and the address of league captain Hugh Clippard. She now sees a pattern linking Cary, Ellen, Bonnie Rae, and Pete Steinman—all isolated individuals—and suspects a single predator is responsible. The chapter ends with Holly suddenly struck by a new realization.

Key Events

Emilio Herrera recalls a customer he calls “the bowling guy,” a stoner who bought candy, soda, and rolling papers and drove a noisy sticker-covered moped.
Holly contacts Yard McGuire, who remembers the moped sitting unclaimed at the impound for over a year; Jerry Holt confirms it was found in the Deerfield Park Thickets.
Holly visits Strike Em Out Lanes and meets owner Althea Haverty, who names the missing employee: Cary Dressler.
Althea shows Holly a photo of Cary with the Golden Oldies league team and provides the address of team captain Hugh Clippard.
Holly reflects that the predator likely had inside information about each victim’s isolation.
The chapter closes with Holly experiencing an abrupt, unexplained insight.

Character Development

Holly Gibney demonstrates growing confidence as an investigator: she pursues leads despite self-doubt, chases a hunch, and physically enters new settings (bowling alley). Her low self-esteem, she realizes, actually sharpens her attention to detail and keeps her skeptical of her own theories.
Althea Haverty is portrayed as a blunt, warm-hearted business owner who genuinely cared for Cary but holds strong political opinions (dismisses COVID-19 as “fake flu”). Her loyalty to her former employee provides crucial information.
Cary Dressler remains off-stage but is sketched as a kind, hardworking, popular young man who escaped an abusive stepfather. His sudden disappearance suggests he is another victim.

Themes, Symbols, or Motifs

Pattern recognition: Holly identifies a geographical and behavioral pattern—victims who lived alone, had strained family ties, and traveled near Red Bank Avenue. The moped found in the Thickets ties Cary to the same area where Bonnie’s earring was discovered.
Isolation and vulnerability: The chapter underscores how each missing person was “on his or her own,” making them easier targets for a predator who “had information.”
Memory and time: Witnesses recall events from years ago via specific triggers (a movie on TV, a joke about Trump). The five-to-six-year gap between disappearances tests Holly’s ability to reconstruct a timeline.
The detective’s psyche: Holly’s introspection about her own character flaws—low self-esteem, insecurity—reveals a paradox: these traits make her more thorough and less likely to jump to conclusions.

Why This Chapter Matters

Chapter 27 is the first moment Holly explicitly connects multiple disappearances to a single perpetrator she begins calling the “Red Bank Predator.” It transforms her investigation from a single missing person case (Bonnie Rae) into a broader hunt for a serial predator. The moped evidence physically links the crimes to the Deerfield Park Thickets, and Cary’s name gives Holly a concrete identity to investigate. Her final “aha” moment sets up the next phase of the story.

Study Questions and Answers

What initial clue leads Holly to suspect a pattern among the missing persons?
Holly receives a call from Emilio Herrera, who remembers a regular customer nicknamed “the bowling guy” who stopped coming around when Trump was first running for president. The man drove a moped that was later found abandoned in the same area where Holly previously discovered evidence related to Bonnie Rae’s disappearance.
How does Holly’s low self-esteem paradoxically help her as a detective?
Holly acknowledges that her insecurity makes her “perfectly aware that her suppositions … could be entirely wrong.” This self-doubt prevents her from locking onto one theory prematurely and keeps her open to alternative interpretations, a trait she considers a “character flaw” that ironically improves her work.
Why does Holly want to talk to Hugh Clippard rather than ask the Golden Oldies about Cary’s departure plans?
She does not believe Cary intended to leave—she thinks he was taken. Instead, Holly hopes to learn whether any of the older bowlers might be connected to the woman with sciatica who cleaned out Ellen’s trailer. She suspects the predator’s network may include an older female accomplice.