Chapter Twenty-Three: Lucy
⚠️ 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
Lucy agrees to accompany Ben to the wooded spot where Savvy’s body was found five years before. She is still furious that the podcast episode revealed Matt had been seen leaving the wedding with a mystery person, and she confronts Ben about it openly at his hotel room, but he brushes off her demand for a heads‑up. On the drive, Ben quizzes her about the area. Lucy silently recalls the time her mother brought her here after the police finished their investigation: she collapsed in tears, and her mother coldly told her, “This is not how innocent people act.” At the site, Lucy sees a vase of yellow roses — Savvy’s favorite — that Savvy’s mother still leaves. Her memories and the oppressive Texas heat overwhelm her; Savvy’s voice in her head grows louder, and she briefly hallucinates Savvy standing behind Ben. The stress makes her faint. Ben catches her and then apologizes, his demeanor shifting from probing to genuinely contrite. Lucy refuses water, gets to her feet, and walks back to the car, rattled by both her physical collapse and Ben’s unexpected softness.
Key Events
- Lucy storms into Ben’s hotel room and calls him an asshole for broadcasting Matt’s exit with a stranger.
- She reluctantly agrees to visit the woodland crime scene for the first “on‑location” podcast interview.
- In the car, Ben asks whether she has returned to the site since the murder; Lucy mentally revisits her previous visit with her mother and the brutal criticism she received.
- At the spot, Lucy notices the yellow roses left by Savvy’s mother and feels an intense physical and emotional reaction.
- Savvy appears as a fleeting hallucination; Lucy’s vision goes black and she faints into Ben.
- Ben apologizes sincerely; Lucy gets up and retreats to the car, shaken.
Character Development
- Lucy: She tries to maintain her “Podcast Lucy” persona — calm, cooperative, and unbothered — but the location breaks through her defenses. The memory of her mother’s judgment underscores her fear of not performing innocence correctly. The fainting spell exposes the depth of her unresolved trauma and her inability to control her body’s response to the past.
- Ben: His smug, unapologetic attitude when Lucy confronts him shows he is willing to weaponize information without warning. However, his genuine alarm and repeated apology when Lucy collapses hint at a more complicated character beneath the podcaster’s drive for a story.
- Savvy (voice/specter): Savvy’s presence in Lucy’s head escalates, now urging her to kill her husband. The brief visual hallucination at the crime scene illustrates how thoroughly Savvy has colonised Lucy’s psyche.
- Lucy’s mother (mentioned): Her remembered words reinforce a lifelong lesson: Lucy’s natural reactions are suspect, deepening her self‑doubt.
Themes, Symbols, or Motifs
- The oppressive heat: The Texas humidity and blazing sun mirror Lucy’s internal turmoil and make the scene physically unbearable, triggering her collapse.
- Yellow roses: Savvy’s favourite flower, placed by her mother, marks the spot as a site of enduring grief and ties Lucy directly to the personal loss.
- “This is not how innocent people act”: The refrain haunts Lucy throughout the chapter, crystallising the theme of performing innocence versus genuine emotional response.
- The dirt path and woods: The landscape becomes a repository for buried memories. Returning to it forces Lucy to confront what she cannot remember — and what she fears she might.
Why This Chapter Matters
Chapter 23 is the first time Lucy visits the crime scene on the record for the podcast, and it is the moment the investigation moves from a cerebral exercise into a visceral ordeal. The chapter demonstrates how deeply the past is embedded in Lucy’s body — her fainting is a physical manifestation of guilt, memory, and the pressure to appear innocent. Ben’s apology also complicates the reader’s view of him, suggesting that his methods may have a cost he didn’t anticipate. As the midpoint of the novel approaches, this scene raises the stakes: Lucy can no longer dodge the place where Savvy died, and her grip on her carefully constructed podcast persona is slipping.
Study Questions and Answers
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Why does Lucy agree to go to the woods with Ben even though she clearly dreads it?
Lucy doesn’t have a plausible excuse to refuse, and she wants to maintain the image of a cooperative, innocent interviewee. Saying no might look suspicious, so she forces herself to go despite her misgivings. -
How does Lucy’s memory of her mother’s remark influence her behaviour during the visit?
The memory of “This is not how innocent people act” loops in her mind and makes her hyper‑aware of every reaction. She second‑guesses her own feelings — wondering if an innocent person would remember the exact spot or cry less — and the pressure to perform innocence contributes to her physical collapse. -
What is the significance of the yellow roses at the crime scene?
The yellow roses are Savvy’s favourite flower, regularly placed by her mother. For Lucy, they are a tangible reminder that Savvy was a real person beloved by her family, not just a mystery to be solved, and they intensify the guilt and sorrow she feels at the scene of the death.