Chapter 38 (Chapter 36): A Web of Disappearances and Deceptions

⚠️ 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

Sarah Morgan arrives at the Morgan Foundation under a swarm of reporters inquiring about Ryan Stevens’s death and Kelly Summers’s case. She deflects all questions, aware that silence is her best defense. Once inside, Anne informs her that the court has granted the appeal for Kelly Summers’s conviction, meaning the case will likely be reopened for a new trial. Sarah also updates Anne on her separation from Bob, revealing that he left their daughter Summer alone during a weekend trip, worsening tensions. Anne jokingly wishes Bob could have been the one killed instead of Stevens. Later, Sheriff Hudson calls Sarah to discuss Carissa Brooks, a former client whose protective order against her ex George Carrigan is about to expire. He discloses that Carissa is missing: her salon was ransacked, blood was found, but her belongings remained. Sarah urges him to focus on the abusive ex. After the call, Alejandro arrives to collect payment for a previous job. Sarah writes him a check and invites him to dinner at her house the following evening to make up for standing him up earlier.

Key Events

• Sarah endures aggressive questioning from reporters about Ryan Stevens’s death and her involvement.
• Anne reveals that the court granted the appeal for Kelly Summers’s case, setting the stage for a potential new trial.
• Sarah shares that Bob left Summer alone during a weekend visit, deepening the strain in their separation.
• Sheriff Hudson informs Sarah that Carissa Brooks is missing; her salon was vandalized with blood found but nothing stolen.
• Sarah presses Hudson to investigate George Carrigan, Carissa’s abusive ex-husband.
• Alejandro arrives to settle payment; Sarah writes a check for more than agreed and invites him to dinner at her home.

Character Development

• Sarah Morgan: Continues to project composure under media pressure, though her private life is unraveling. She shows selective empathy toward Carissa Brooks while maintaining her own guarded moral code. Her invitation to Alejandro hints at a personal shift—she is willing to be vulnerable outside her professional armor.
• Anne: Displays loyalty and concern for Sarah, but her dark joke about Bob dying suggests she shares Sarah’s pragmatic, even ruthless, worldview.
• Sheriff Hudson: Increasingly desperate, he reaches out to Sarah for help despite their adversarial dynamic, revealing his limited resources and the growing body count in town.
• Alejandro: His quiet persistence and Sarah’s overture toward dinner indicate a developing personal relationship beyond their professional agreement.

Themes, Symbols, or Motifs

• Media as Predators: Sarah describes reporters as “mosquitoes,” a motif that Roger literalizes by noting mosquitoes kill more people than any other animal. This frames the media as both a nuisance and a deadly force in Sarah’s life.
• The Fragility of Safety: Carissa Brooks’s protective order is about to expire, yet she is now missing—a brutal reminder that legal documents cannot always secure physical safety from an abuser.
• Performance and Morality: Sarah acknowledges a personal “moral code” she considers lax, yet she still feels righteous anger at wife-beaters. This contrast underscores her compartmentalized ethics.
• Missing Persons and Unfinished Stories: The chapter introduces two missing women (Stacy Howard off-page, Carissa Brooks currently) alongside two dead men (Ryan Stevens, Kelly Summers). The pattern suggests a wider conspiracy or a serial element Sarah may be connected to.

Why This Chapter Matters

Chapter 38 tightens the thriller’s central web. The appeal grant means Kelly Summers’s case will return to court, forcing Sarah to confront a case she may have deliberately left unresolved. Carissa Brooks’s disappearance adds another layer of mystery: is it linked to Stevens’s death, or is it a separate, unrelated tragedy? Sarah’s private dinner invitation to Alejandro signals a potential romantic or conspiratorial alliance. The chapter also cements Sarah’s dual life—public defender of abused women, private manipulator of her own troubled marriage.

Study Questions and Answers

1. Why does Sarah refuse to answer reporters’ questions at the start of the chapter?
   Sarah follows a lawyer’s instinct: saying nothing is safer than speaking truth or lies. She understands that any statement could be twisted or used against her, especially with an ongoing murder investigation.

2. What does the discovery of Carissa Brooks’s disappearance suggest about the safety of domestic violence victims in the novel?
   Despite a protective order, Carissa vanished from her salon with blood evidence but no theft. This implies that legal protections are insufficient when an abuser is determined, and it raises the possibility that a serial predator—or Sarah’s network—is targeting vulnerable women.

3. Why does Sarah write Alejandro a check for more than the agreed amount and then invite him to dinner?
   Sarah overpays partly out of generosity (she knows he needs the money) and partly to maintain control and goodwill. The dinner invitation is an unusual personal gesture for her, suggesting she both trusts him and wants to keep him close—possibly for emotional or strategic reasons.