Chapter 3 Summary and 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

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The chapter opens in September 2017 with Shea Collins back in her small condo after a stressful day. She changes into dry clothes, makes herself a tuna salad sandwich, and powers up her laptop. In a moment of reflection, she acknowledges that the one genuine upside of her divorce is the freedom to spend an uninterrupted evening at home in pajama pants, working on the project that has become her obsession: her website, the Book of Cold Cases.

The site is not an actual book but a collection of posts and articles Shea has written about unsolved crimes, both famous and obscure. It includes a private message board where fellow true-crime enthusiasts can post theories and newly discovered facts. Shea started the site nearly a decade earlier as a personal blog, but it has grown into a community of nearly two thousand paying members. She also sells occasional ads, and while the income is not enough to live on, it covers upgraded servers, occasional professional webmaster help, and—most importantly—research assistance.

Shea logs on and moderates the message board, reading lively discussions about a missing girl in Tennessee, a Michigan woman who claimed abduction without evidence, a revived Zodiac Killer thread prompted by a recent podcast, and a new theory about the JonBenét Ramsey case. She adds her own comments and watches for inflammatory or insulting posts, noting that even in a closed group, the internet invites name-calling, and people can get as angry about a twenty-year-old murder as about modern politics.

She then turns to the article she is currently writing: a Connecticut woman who left her house and vanished, leaving her two-year-old daughter alone in a playpen. Security footage showed the woman walking past a mall three miles away, but she left her car in the driveway. Cell phone records revealed a single call to 911 made four hours after she disappeared, but the call disconnected as soon as the operator answered. Shea wonders whether the woman was still alive and trying to call for help, or whether someone else used her phone—questions that could send her down a research rabbit hole for days.

She calls Michael De Vos, a private detective and former Claire Lake PD officer who occasionally works for her. Michael answers from a parked car, where he has been on a stakeout since noon. He jokes that his assignment is classified. Shea asks what he thought of the article she sent him. Michael praises the writing but gives a blunt assessment of the case: the husband did it, with the father's help. He insists the woman is definitely dead, that the mall footage is inconclusive and probably not even her, and that the killers caught a lucky break. When Shea notes that a husband and father working together is unusual, Michael agrees but says one of them will likely make a deal and give up the other.

Shea pushes back, mentioning that everyone described the couple as loving. Michael replies with a cynical line: everyone always says that, and everyone is always wrong. Shea calls him a cynic and says it is a good quality. Michael then mentions his ex-wife for the first time, and Shea jokes that his ex-wife could call her ex-husband, since they probably have a lot in common. Michael agrees they would get along fine. He spots movement and ends the call, telling Shea to put the article up.

After hanging up, Shea does a circuit of her condo, checking that the doors are locked and the windows fastened. She lives in the Singles Estates complex, which has a security guard at the entrance, but she does not trust that to keep out a determined intruder. She chose a third-floor apartment, installed a security system, and added locks on the windows, with no fire escape or easy-to-pop screens. She admits that one of the few things she misses about marriage is the everyday presence of a man in the house, keeping bad things away without even knowing it.

Satisfied that everything is in place, she sits back down at her computer, logs in to the Book of Cold Cases, and begins what she calls tonight's journey into the darkness.

Key Events

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Shea returns home and settles into her evening routine, reflecting on the freedom her divorce has given her.
She describes the Book of Cold Cases website: a true-crime blog with a private, paid message board of nearly two thousand members.
She moderates the board, reading threads on several cases and removing or responding to inflammatory posts.
She works on an article about a Connecticut woman who disappeared, leaving her toddler alone; the case involves mall security footage and a single disconnected 911 call.
She calls Michael De Vos, who is on a stakeout, and he gives his professional opinion: the husband and father are responsible, and the woman is dead.
Michael reveals he has an ex-wife, and Shea jokes about their exes getting along.
Shea performs a security check of her condo, locking doors and windows, and reflects on her fear of intruders.
She returns to her computer and resumes her work on the site.

Character Development

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Shea Collins is shown here in her element: alone, at home, and absorbed in her true-crime work. The chapter deepens our understanding of her isolation. She notes that her sister Esther, her parents in Florida, her coworkers, and her ex-husband do not really get her—only Michael does. This loneliness is paired with a pronounced paranoia: she lives on the third floor, has a security system, checks her locks and windows every night, and misses the presence of a man in the house to keep bad things away. Her fear is clearly rooted in something she has not yet revealed, since Michael knows about her paranoia but not the reason for it.

Michael De Vos emerges as a pragmatic, cynical counterpoint to Shea's anxious curiosity. He is a former Claire Lake PD officer turned private detective, described as good-looking with dark brown hair and eyes, and he gives off an old-school vibe. He is direct about the Connecticut case, dismissing the mall footage and insisting the husband is guilty. His brief mention of an ex-wife adds a layer of personal history, and his easy rapport with Shea—despite the fact that they have never met in person—suggests a meaningful professional and emotional connection.

Themes, Symbols, or Motifs

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True crime obsession: Shea's website is not just a hobby; it is a consuming project that fills her evenings and shapes her identity. The chapter shows how the obsession provides purpose and community but also feeds her anxiety.
Online community culture and internet toxicity: The message board is a space where like-minded people gather, but it also requires constant moderation because people insult each other as readily over old murders as over politics.
Domestic violence and the unreliability of appearances: The Connecticut case hinges on the gap between how a couple appeared—loving—and what Michael insists is the truth. His line about everyone being wrong underscores the theme that surfaces are deceptive.
Paranoia and anxiety: Shea's nightly security ritual—checking locks, windows, and her security system—reveals a deep-seated fear that shapes her daily life.
Isolation and loneliness: Shea's sense that no one in her life understands her except Michael highlights her emotional isolation, even within a community of two thousand true-crime enthusiasts.
Post-divorce freedom: Shea explicitly frames her divorce as giving her the freedom to live on her own terms, even as she admits she misses the safety of having a man in the house.
Research rabbit holes: The questions raised by the Connecticut case—how did she get to the mall, why the 911 call—illustrate how unsolved cases can pull an investigator in for days.

Why This Chapter Matters

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This chapter establishes the central framework of Shea's life: her true-crime website, her isolation, and her reliance on Michael De Vos as both a professional resource and a rare person who understands her. It also introduces the Connecticut case as a working example of how Shea approaches her research and how Michael's cynical expertise shapes her thinking. The chapter deepens the mystery around Shea's own past—her paranoia, her fear of intruders, and the unspoken reason Michael knows about it—while setting up the world of cold cases that will likely connect to the novel's larger plot. The final image of Shea logging back in to begin