Chapter 61 Summary: Cassie, 2017

⚠️ 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

The chapter opens with Lore retrieving a Ziploc bag from beneath the floorboards. Inside is the gold locket, its chain darkened and stained with Andres's blood. Lore explains that Fabian brought it back to her and she couldn't bring herself to wash it away. She then produces additional evidence—a Hotel Botanica notepad and pen with Andres's abandoned letter to her—and offers to confess to killing Andres so Cassie can secure her book deal.

Cassie is horrified. She reminds Lore that she didn't kill Andres, and that Mateo's confession proves Fabian is innocent. Lore argues that Fabian has been doing meaningful work in prison—helping inmates earn GEDs and learn English—and that he'll be released soon. She accuses Cassie of wanting to expose everything and make Fabian's sacrifice worthless.

Lore also admits to manipulating Cassie, having used knowledge of Cassie's family history to craft a sympathetic narrative about being a frightened pregnant woman. She says she's willing to claim she panicked after Andres pushed her, which did happen, and that she deserves to pay for everything.

Cassie refuses, insisting she has an obligation to the truth. She drives north to visit Fabian in prison. During the visit, she shows him the locket through the glass partition. Fabian initially seems hostile but softens when Cassie suggests he should call Lore. He then shares something unexpected: on the night of Andres's death, standing at the river, he felt proud—he had finally saved his family after years of failing them.

Cassie later contacts Fabian's former parole attorney and learns that Fabian had been in a fight the day before his second parole hearing, was denied parole, and never reapplied. She asks Fabian about the fingerprint he left at the scene, and he insists it was an accident, though the implication is that he may have left it deliberately to give police a reason to focus on him rather than other family members.

Cassie encourages Fabian to apply for parole again, telling him he's not doing his family any good in prison anymore. He nods in agreement.

After leaving, Cassie receives another call from her editor Deborah, who has been pushing for a marketable confession. Cassie also has a text from her father inviting her home for Christmas, saying her brother Andrew is ready to see her. The chapter ends with Cassie considering driving straight through to reach them by midnight.

Key Events

• Lore gives Cassie the blood-stained locket and additional evidence, then offers a false confession

• Cassie refuses the offer, prioritizing truth over her book deal

• Lore admits to manipulating Cassie's sympathies

• Cassie visits Fabian in prison and shows him the locket

• Fabian reveals he felt proud standing at the river the night Andres died

• Cassie learns Fabian was denied parole after a fight and never reapplied

• Cassie asks about the fingerprint; Fabian claims it was an accident

• Cassie urges Fabian to reapply for parole

• Deborah pressures Cassie for a marketable confession

• Cassie's father invites her home for Christmas

Character Development

Cassie undergoes significant growth in this chapter. Earlier in the book, she was drawn to the sensational aspects of the Rivera case, but here she firmly rejects Lore's offer of a false confession, even though it would secure her book deal. She articulates her obligation to the truth and refuses to let an innocent man remain imprisoned. Her empathy expands beyond the case itself—she begins to reconsider her harsh judgment of her mother and even imagines a path toward reconciling with her father.

Lore reveals both her manipulative nature and her capacity for sacrifice. She admits to crafting her story to appeal to Cassie's sympathies, but her willingness to take blame for a murder she didn't commit shows a profound commitment to protecting Fabian and preserving the family's secret. Her argument that exposing the truth would nullify Fabian's sacrifice is both self-serving and genuinely felt.

Fabian emerges as a more sympathetic figure. His admission that he felt proud standing at the river reframes his imprisonment as a deliberate sacrifice rather than a passive acceptance of fate. His work helping other inmates suggests he has found purpose in prison, but Cassie's encouragement to reapply for parole hints at the possibility of redemption.

Themes, Symbols, or Motifs

The locket as evidence and symbol: The blood-stained locket represents the physical trace of Andres's death and the weight of the family's secret. Lore's refusal to wash it shows her unwillingness to let go of the past, while Cassie pressing her thumb into it suggests her growing connection to the story and its people.

False confession and sacrifice: Lore's offer to confess to a murder she didn't commit echoes the larger theme of sacrifice for family. Both Lore and Fabian are willing to bear false guilt to protect the family unit, raising questions about whether such sacrifices are noble or destructive.

Truth vs. marketable narrative: Deborah's emails and calls, with the subject line