Chapter 15 Summary and Study Guide

⚠️ 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

Stevie picks the unused treehouse—the structure originally meant to be Nate's summer bunk—as the meeting spot. When Nate and Janelle arrive, Stevie explains that she knows who left the threatening message on their cabin wall and the box of dolls on Carson's path. Carson arrives in his signature orange harem pants and a Box Box T-shirt, and Stevie confronts him directly.

Stevie walks through her reasoning. The message was already dry when they found it, and there was paint under the bed, so it had been placed in advance. The cabin's screen windows have metal grates, the door locks from the inside, and the floor is concrete—but there is a small hole in one screen. The breakthrough came when she watched Dylan stuff an entire hot dog roll into his mouth: soft things can pass through small openings. She demonstrates with a reusable bag, pulling it through the circle made by her fingers.

Carson had used fabric with a photorealistic wood pattern from the Bounce House, painted the message on the wall, covered it with the fabric using tape, and run a string out through the screen hole. A tug at night pulled the fabric away, revealing the message. He also planted the box of dolls and claimed to find it on his run.

Carson admits it was all staged—he wanted to