Open Season Chapter 16: Summary and Analysis
Spoiler Warning
This summary and analysis contains spoilers for Chapter 15 (Chapter 16) of Open Season. Continue reading only if you have finished the chapter.
Summary
The chapter opens on Friday afternoon after Alex finishes custody interviews. He calls Milo to share a theory: Paul O'Brien may have dumped previous victims near Culver City hospitals, using his old comfort zone from living there with Marty Kehoe. Alex suggests checking for women left impaired but alive—cases that might not appear in police files. Milo initially dismisses the idea because Sean and Alicia found no priors, but he takes the short list of local hospitals Alex provides.
Milo updates Alex on the investigation: Marissa's car was found stripped in South L.A., phone records show no direct contact between her and O'Brien, but both called the same pop-up PR events company. Neighbors reported a skulking figure near O'Brien's building the night of the sniping, but descriptions are vague. Milo also mentions that no progress has been made on the Boykins and Parmenter leads.
Alex spends the rest of the afternoon searching online for overdose victims left at or near health facilities, expanding from L.A. County to the entire state. He finds nothing beyond Marissa's case. He then contacts Dr. Lee Falkenburg, a pediatric neuropsychologist with a clinic near Culver City, to ask if she has heard of any dumped patients. Lee agrees to inquire at Cal Culver but warns that confidentiality agreements may block information.
Later, Milo calls with a breakthrough: a .308 sniping in Ventura County from four months ago has been matched to O'Brien's rifle. The victim was a woman in a rowboat. The case officer brought the evidence to the L.A. lab personally. Milo invites Alex to view the scene the next day.
Key Events
- Alex proposes that O'Brien used Culver City as a dumping ground for survivors, not just Marissa's body.
- Milo reports Marissa's car was stripped, her phone had no postmortem activity, and a joint phone link to a PR events company exists.
- Neighbor reports of a skulking man near O'Brien's building yield no solid leads.
- Alex searches statewide databases for prior dumping victims but finds nothing.
- Alex calls Lee Falkenburg, who runs a clinic near Culver City, to ask about any known cases.
- Milo receives news of a .308 sniping in Ventura that matches O'Brien's weapon; the victim was a woman in a rowboat.
- Alex and Milo plan to visit the Ventura crime scene.
Character Development
- Alex Delaware: Demonstrates lateral thinking by connecting O'Brien's residence history with potential prior crimes. He uses his professional network (Lee Falkenburg) to probe areas police might miss. His persistence contrasts with the bureaucratic limitations of the official investigation.
- Milo Sturgis: Shows willingness to act on Alex's suggestions despite initial skepticism. He is up-to-date on the investigation's mundane details and expresses frustration with slow progress. When new evidence surfaces, he quickly involves Alex.
- Lee Falkenburg: Briefly appears as a resourceful colleague who is happy to help but aware of legal barriers. Her friendly banter hints at a long-standing professional relationship with Alex.
- O'Brien (off-screen): Remains the primary suspect, with the Ventura connection suggesting a longer pattern of violence than previously known.
Themes, Symbols, or Motifs
- The Hidden Underbelly: Milo jokes about L.A.'s "surreal, reeking underbelly." The chapter underscores how routine violence and drug overdoses can escape official records, especially when no criminal investigation is opened.
- The Fragility of Evidence: Details like a stripped car, disconnected phone numbers, and vague witness descriptions show how physical and digital evidence decays or becomes useless.
- Networks and Connections: Alex's suggestion to examine the PR events company and his call to Lee illustrate how solving the case depends on linking disparate social and professional networks.
- Persistence Pays: Despite multiple dead ends, the chapter ends with a fresh lead—the Ventura sniping—rewarding Alex's and Milo's refusal to give up.
Why This Chapter Matters
This chapter significantly expands the geographic and temporal scope of the investigation. The .308 sniping in Ventura, four months before the Parmenter murder, suggests O'Brien may have been active longer than previously believed. It also introduces a new victim profile (a woman in a rowboat) and forces the detectives to look beyond L.A. County. Alex's focus on Culver City hospitals, though fruitless in the chapter, sets a precedent for considering how victims might have survived and where they might have been found. The chapter reinforces the theme that crucial evidence can be overlooked, even by competent police work, and that outside perspectives are valuable.
Study Questions and Answers
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Why does Alex think O'Brien might have dumped other women in Culver City?
Alex recalls that Marty Kehoe said O'Brien lived in Culver City. If O'Brien had prior emergencies with drugged women who survived, he might have returned to a familiar area to dump them. The presence of several hospitals there could mean some victims were found alive and treated, leaving no criminal record. -
What does Milo report about Marissa's phone records, and what does it suggest?
Milo says Marissa's phone shows no activity a couple of hours before her likely time of death and no postmortem calls. This suggests that O'Brien disposed of her phone. He also notes that both Marissa and O'Brien called the same online PR events company, hinting at a possible connection through party planning or door work. -
How does the Ventura sniping change the investigation?
The Ventura case involves a .308 bullet that matches O'Brien's rifle, but the murder occurred four months earlier and in a different county, so it was not initially linked. This forces the team to consider that O'Brien's violence predates the Parmenter shooting and extends beyond L.A. County, requiring coordination with other jurisdictions and possibly reopening old cases.