Chapter 27: Summary, Analysis, and Key Themes

⚠️ 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 in Glasgow, May 2024, with Clem and Quinn sitting in silence after Stephanie's visit. Clem downloads the TikTok app and begins watching Erin's videos, her mind reeling from the fragments of information she's gathered—Beltane, a man named Paul, and the mysterious group called the Triskele. Quinn scrolls through the content on his own phone and shows Clem a clip from October: Erin and Arlo in their flat, letting Freya paint their faces. Clem is moved to tears by the wholesome family moment, but Quinn notes bitterly that the detective showed no interest in that side of Erin.

Quinn then plays a video from March. Erin is in her dark bedroom, cheeks wet with tears, Freya sleeping in the background. She says flatly, “He's dead. Oh my God, he's dead.” The clip ends without explanation, and the comments from followers ask who she means—some even ask if Arlo is dead—but Erin never replies.

Clem fetches Erin's notebook, the one with the owl cadaver on the front. She shows Quinn the page where Erin wrote “Triskele = scholarship.” Quinn notices a missing page, and Clem admits she tore it out to keep the police from seeing it. The page read: “Arlo's hands need to be bound.” Quinn is stunned, especially given that Arlo's hands were bound when he died. Clem insists she doesn't believe Erin killed Arlo and Senna, but she knows the police are pursuing that theory. Quinn points out that Erin telling the detective she didn't care that Arlo was dead didn't help her case. Clem suggests Erin is traumatized from the fire, and Quinn wonders if the fire was a ritual that went wrong.

Clem declares they need to go to Orkney. Quinn googles “Triskele” and finds a Wikipedia stub mentioning an ancient clan and Orkney. Clem searches “Fynhallow” and finds drawings of a witch trial on the bay where Erin was found. She has a strange, unsettling sense of recognition—a flash of a woman being burned—but decides she can't tell Quinn about it. Quinn finds a blog post saying the Triskele meet on the Orkney mainland, not Fynhallow. They agree to travel before the police conclude Erin murdered Arlo and Senna. Josie agrees to watch Freya.

They fly from Glasgow to Kirkwall, a little over an hour. Clem downloads Erin's TikToks and takes notes. Erin mentions “weekenders”—trips she took with Senna every weekend for about six months, three years ago, which Erin had described as “camping with friends.” Erin also mentions Paul again, and Clem feels sick, wondering if Erin was seeing someone else and whether Paul pressured her into something that led to Arlo's death.

In Kirkwall, they rent a car and head to the ferry terminal. Quinn shows ferry workers the blog post about the Triskele and photos of Erin and Senna. The workers don't recognize Erin, but one points to missing posters of Senna—her face with the word “Missing” in red letters. No one knows anything about the Triskele. They buy tickets for the Gairsay ferry, but the last sailing has already left, so they check into a B&B for the night.

The B&B owner, a friendly older woman with pink hair and magenta glasses, warns them that Fynhallow is hard to reach and that police are all over the area. Quinn explains they're the parents of one of the teenagers in hospital. The owner mentions a boy died too, and Clem chokes up. Clem asks about the Triskele; the woman's smile fades and she calls them “an odd lot” but says she doesn't know where they meet. She gives them the name and number of a local boatman who has been taking police directly to the bay.

That night, Clem dreams of towering orange flames, screaming, and her daughter's voice—but she can't see Erin or help her. She wakes nauseous and takes two pills, then a third. In the morning, Josie sends a video of Freya saying good morning, which calms her. Clem reflects that Erin hasn't once mentioned Freya since the incident, and she knows Erin adores her daughter—whatever happened on Orkney has affected her more than anyone can fathom.

Quinn also had nightmares of fire. They contact the boatman, Ivan, a retired ferry worker who sails them to Fynhallow. Quinn shows him photos of Erin and Senna and asks about the Triskele; Ivan says he hasn't seen them but will ask around. The sea is calm, and Fynhallow appears with its half-moon bay and milky sand. Police tape flutters at the jetty, but the forensic work is evidently complete and the beach is deserted. Ivan agrees to wait one hour.

Clem and Quinn search the cliffs and find a cave opening. The smell of burning is overwhelming to Clem, though Quinn doesn't notice it at first. Inside, they find charred wood and black sludge. Quinn kneels and confirms it smells like fire—this is likely where the fire occurred. Clem imagines the walls turning bloodred, Arlo's clothes catching alight, his screams. They share a long look, both knowing this discovery changes nothing but brings them a step closer to understanding.

Clem swings her phone light toward the ceiling and spots something out of place: a carving about ten feet above the charred wood. Using her camera zoom, she makes out a large spiral, then another, then a third—three spirals clustered together. Quinn asks if it's a trinity. Clem shivers; the cave suddenly feels cold. She wonders who would go to the trouble of carving into solid granite on the ceiling, and why.

Key Events

Clem and Quinn watch Erin's TikTok videos, including a March clip where Erin says “He's dead.”
Clem reveals she tore a page from Erin's notebook that read “Arlo's hands need to be bound.”
They decide to travel to Orkney before police conclude Erin killed Arlo and Senna.
At the Kirkwall ferry terminal, they see missing posters for Senna; no one knows about the Triskele.
A B&B owner describes the Triskele as “an odd lot” and provides contact for a local boatman.
Clem and Quinn sail with Ivan to Fynhallow and find the cave where the fire occurred.
They discover a carving of three spirals on the cave ceiling—the Triskele symbol.

Character Development

Clem is the emotional center of this chapter. She is wounded that Erin kept the Triskele a secret from her, and her guilt over hiding the notebook page weighs on her. Her nightmares of fire show how deeply the trauma has penetrated her subconscious. Yet she is also decisive: she pushes for the trip to Orkney, manages the logistics, and takes the lead in investigating. Her decision not to tell Quinn about the strange vision she experienced—the witch trial scene she felt she knew—shows she is still guarding her own secrets even as she uncovers Erin's.

Quinn emerges as a pragmatic partner in the investigation. He is bitter about the detective's narrow focus on Erin's guilt, but he is also methodical—googling the Triskele, showing photos to ferry workers, and pressing Ivan for information. His shared nightmares of fire suggest he is processing the trauma in parallel with Clem, even if he expresses it differently.

The chapter also deepens the portrait of Erin through her videos: a loving mother playing with Freya in October, and a shattered young woman in March saying someone is dead. The contrast underscores how much changed in her life in a few months.

Themes, Symbols, or Motifs

The Triskele / Three Spirals: The carving on the cave ceiling is the chapter's central symbol. Three spirals clustered together evoke the trinity—a motif that recurs throughout the novel. The symbol connects the ancient clan history, the witch trial drawings Clem found online, and the modern group Erin joined. Its placement on the ceiling, hidden without torchlight, suggests secrecy and deliberate concealment.

Fire: Fire appears both literally (the charred wood, the burning smell) and psychologically (Clem's and Quinn's nightmares). The imagined scene of Arlo's clothes catching alight ties the fire to the witch trial imagery Clem saw earlier, linking past and present persecution.

Secrets and Hidden Evidence: Clem's torn notebook page, Erin's cryptic TikTok, and the concealed ceiling carving all reinforce the theme of hidden truths. The chapter asks what people hide from those who love them, and why.

Parental Investigation: Clem and Quinn's decision to investigate themselves—rather than trust the police—reflects a broader theme of parents fighting for their children when institutions fail them.

Why This Chapter Matters

This chapter marks the transition from passive worry to active investigation. Clem and Quinn stop waiting for answers and travel to the scene of the tragedy themselves. The discovery of the Triskele carving on the cave ceiling is a major plot development: it confirms that the symbol Erin wrote about in her notebook is physically present at the site of the fire, linking the group directly to the events on Fynhallow. The chapter also deepens the mystery around Erin's March TikTok (“He's dead”) and the torn notebook page, raising questions about what Erin knew and when. Finally, Clem's unsettling sense of recognition regarding the witch trial scene hints at a deeper connection between past and present that will likely unfold in later chapters.

Study Questions and Answers

1. Why does Clem tear the page from Erin's notebook, and what does this decision reveal about her state of mind?

Clem tears out the page because it contains the words “Arlo's hands need to be bound,” and Arlo's hands were indeed bound when he died. She doesn't want the police to see it because she fears it will strengthen their case against Erin. The decision reveals her protective instinct toward her daughter, but also her anxiety—she is willing to destroy evidence to shield Erin, even though she insists she doesn't believe Erin is guilty.

2. What does the March TikTok video reveal about Erin, and how does it complicate the timeline of events?

In the March video, Erin is crying and says “He's dead,” but she never names who. Followers ask if she means Arlo, but she doesn't reply. This complicates the timeline because it suggests Erin knew about a death months before Arlo's actual death (or that the video refers to someone else entirely). It raises questions about whether Erin had prior knowledge of danger, or whether the video refers to a different person—possibly connected to the Triskele or Paul.

3. Why is the discovery of the three spirals on the cave ceiling significant?

The three spirals are the Triskele symbol, matching the name of the group Erin wrote about in her notebook. Finding it carved into the ceiling directly above the site of the fire proves the group's connection to the location and suggests the fire was not random—it was tied to the Triskele's activities. The carving's hidden placement (only visible with torchlight) also implies deliberate concealment, reinforcing the theme of secrecy.