Chapter summaries Jackal Erin E. Adams

Jackal Chapter 24 (Chapter Nine) Summary & Analysis

⚠️ 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

Liz Rocher drives to a church in Johnstown’s neglected Black neighborhood to meet Denise and other women whose daughters have gone missing. She observes the church’s cheap, modern construction—a relic of post-flood rebuilding. Beverly, a church elder, greets her suspiciously; Latoya arrives; Denise shows up late but hopeful. Tanisha, a sharp-dressed woman, joins, followed by Kylie, a tattooed young woman radiating anger. Five women share the names and dates of their lost girls: Alice (1985), Patrice (1988), Morgan (1994), Keisha (2002), and Kayla (next). Liz points out the pattern—all disappeared on or near the summer solstice—but Beverly notes that not all vanish on the same day. Kylie snaps that no one cares because the victims are Black. She describes a wolf-like creature—a shadow with knowing eyes—that called her sister’s name. Kylie also had a premonition about her own death. The women distrust the police; Tanisha suspects a single sick man, Beverly mentions “a funny man,” and Latoya is still searching for Morgan. Liz learns that Farrah, another mother, saw the same creature and has since lost her mind. Kylie shows her tattoo of Anubis, the Egyptian god of the dead, and suggests that if Liz has a gift for seeing endings, she should use it to end the predator.

Key Events

  • Liz arrives at the church before dawn and helps set up folding tables and chairs.
  • Beverly, Latoya, Denise, Tanisha, and Kylie each take turns naming their missing daughters.
  • Liz maps the girls’ last-seen and recovery locations; Kylie adds Kayla’s X.
  • The group debates the cause: trafficking, a lone predator, or a supernatural entity.
  • Kylie tells Liz about a “shadow” and a dog-like creature that looked “like it knew me.”
  • Kylie reveals that her mother committed suicide after Kayla’s body was found.
  • Liz notices a strange dark sensation on Kylie’s shoulder, then sees her Anubis tattoo.
  • Kylie theorizes that the victims have become what ate them, and that looking for the truth destroys the seekers.

Character Development

  • Liz Rocher: For the first time, she enters the Black community she has avoided. She listens without defensiveness and earns Kylie’s guarded trust. Her scar tingles, connecting her to the mystery.
  • Kylie Montrose: Introduced as angry and confrontational, she reveals deep grief and trauma. She is the most direct witness to the supernatural element and warns Liz not to look too hard.
  • Denise: Shifts from hungover to composed; she acts as a bridge between Liz and the mothers.
  • Beverly: The church matriarch whose polite facade hides pain. She refuses to share what happened to her daughter.
  • Latoya: Practical and skeptical, still searching for Morgan after decades.
  • Tanisha: Dismissive of supernatural explanations; she insists the culprit is human and police-connected.

Themes, Symbols, or Motifs

  • Institutional neglect: The women’s stories prove the police have ignored missing Black girls for decades. Tanisha notes that officers could have taken evidence but won’t “do shit.”
  • The shadow/dog as a predator: Kylie’s description of a creature that calls names and eats hearts evokes folkloric threats. The animal is both real and symbolic of systemic predation.
  • Community fracture vs. resilience: The mothers disagree on whether to believe each other, yet their presence in the church shows a fragile unity. The empty chairs represent families who left or gave up.
  • Anubis (judgment): Kylie’s tattoo is a deliberate symbol of reckoning. She wants justice before the end, implying the predator will face divine or karmic judgment.
  • Sight and knowing: Liz’s ability to foresee relationship endings is reframed by Kylie as a “gift” that can be used to stop the killer rather than merely predict loss.

Why This Chapter Matters

Chapter 24 is the emotional and informational core of the investigation. It transforms Liz from an outsider into a participant, crowdsources the map of missing girls, and introduces the supernatural lore (the shadow/dog) that will drive the climax. The women’s testimony implicates the police, deepens the mystery of the solstice pattern, and makes the reader feel the weight of decades of silence. Kylie’s confrontation forces Liz to accept that the truth may be monstrous—and that finding it will cost her something.

Study Questions and Answers

1. What pattern does Liz identify among the disappearances, and what exception does Beverly point out?
Liz notices that all the missing girls vanished on or near the summer solstice, every year since 1985. Beverly counters that not all girls go missing on the solstice itself—Caroline disappeared on June 18, not June 21—and that a 1995 case was labeled a runaway. This shows the pattern is real but not absolute, complicating the investigation.

2. Why do the mothers distrust the police, and how does this affect the investigation?
Tanisha accuses the police of refusing to collect evidence or open cases. Latoya says they “been doing shady work.” This systemic failure means the women have no official allies, forcing Liz to work outside the department. It also implies someone inside law enforcement may be protecting the abductor.

3. What does Kylie mean when she says “his victims have become what’s eaten them”?
Kylie believes that whoever looks for the missing girls (the mothers, Liz herself) becomes consumed by the mystery—losing their sanity, their family, or their life. She warns that the truth transforms the seeker, and that the predator’s shadow is a literal entity that “eats” people emotionally and spiritually.

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