A Good Girl's Guide to Murder, #2
Good Girl, Bad Blood
by Holly Jackson
Contents
Twenty-Three
Overview
Joanna realizes eyewitnesses may have seen Jamie in a black hoodie, implying he returned home before being spotted on Wyvil Road. She then finds Jamie’s grey jumper with small blood stains. Pip weighs timeline conflicts with Arthur’s return and preserves the jumper. After many attempts, Pip unlocks Jamie’s laptop with J0Mumma66, opening a critical new lead.
Summary
Pip arrives at the Reynolds home after Joanna calls with urgency. Joanna has re-listened to the Wyvil Road eyewitness interview and flags a clothing discrepancy: two witnesses likely saw Jamie from behind wearing a dark hoodie with pockets. Joanna and Connor confirm Jamie’s black zip hoodie is missing from the house.
Pip infers Jamie likely returned home between leaving the calamity party and the Wyvil Road sighting to retrieve the hoodie. This creates a timing conflict with Arthur Reynolds’s stated 11:15 p.m. return and Tom Nowak’s claim that Jamie visited Natalie da Silva at 10:50 p.m., raising the possibilities that Jamie didn’t go to Natalie’s, Arthur missed him, or Arthur is lying.
Joanna then reveals a grey jumper from Jamie’s laundry bearing several small dried blood drops and a smeared cuff. Pip notes the blood appears to have dripped from above and that the sleeve seems wiped against a source, possibly not Jamie’s. Joanna, distraught, questions who Jamie has become; Pip assures there must be a reason and instructs them to seal and store the jumper properly.
As Pip prepares to leave, she considers “Jomumma,” Jamie’s nickname for Joanna, as a password. After multiple variations fail, Pip finally succeeds with “J0Mumma66,” unlocking Jamie’s laptop. The family embraces, buoyed by this breakthrough that may reveal where Jamie went and why.
Who Appears
- Pip Fitz-AmobiInvestigates Jamie’s disappearance; identifies hoodie implication, analyzes blood on jumper, preserves evidence, and unlocks Jamie’s laptop with J0Mumma66.
- Joanna ReynoldsJamie’s mother; deduces hoodie return from eyewitness accounts, discovers bloodstained jumper, provides the “Jomumma” clue, and shares emotional doubts.
- Connor ReynoldsJamie’s brother; helps search the house, supports Joanna, and assists Pip during the password attempts.
- Jamie ReynoldsMissing; inferred to have returned home for his black hoodie; his grey jumper bears blood; laptop now accessible.
- Arthur ReynoldsFather; offstage. His 11:15 p.m. return complicates the timeline of Jamie’s possible home visit.