A Good Girl's Guide to Murder, #1
A Good Girl's Guide to Murder
by Holly Jackson
Contents
Fourteen
Overview
Pip and Ravi confront Natalie da Silva, who confirms Andie bullied her and reveals she wrote the threatening note found in Andie’s locker. Natalie denies killing Andie and gives herself an alibi, but the conversation shifts suspicion toward Natalie’s brother, Daniel da Silva, a local police officer with past links to Andie and hostility toward Ravi.
The chapter broadens the suspect pool while strengthening the theory that Sal may have been framed by someone with police knowledge. Pip also keeps Ravi in the dark about recent threats against her, showing how her determination is pushing her into riskier secrecy.
Summary
Pip goes to Ravi’s house after school and asks him to come with her as backup while she interviews Natalie da Silva. Pip explains that Natalie and Natalie’s brother are both potential suspects connected to Andie Bell, though Pip deliberately hides the forest figure and the warning note because she fears Ravi would tell her to stop investigating.
On the drive, Pip tells Ravi what Naomi revealed about Andie’s bullying of Natalie. Ravi notes how easily Little Kilton believed Sal was the monster despite Andie’s cruelty. At Natalie’s house, Ravi initially stays out of sight because he worries that being Sal’s brother will make Natalie refuse to talk.
Natalie tries to shut Pip down as soon as Pip mentions Andie, but Ravi accidentally trips into view. Natalie recognizes him and softens because Sal had once been kind to her, even offering to tutor her. Natalie bitterly condemns the town’s worship of Andie and explains that Andie’s abuse still affects her; Natalie’s current ankle tag is from assaulting a university housemate after the conflict reminded her of Andie.
When Ravi asks whether Natalie wanted Andie dead, Natalie admits she did and reveals she left Andie a threatening note in her locker after the leaked video humiliation. This connects Natalie to the death threat previously mentioned by the journalist. Natalie mocks the idea that she killed Andie, saying she was home playing Scrabble with her parents and sister-in-law that Friday night, while her brother Daniel was out drinking with police friends.
After Natalie slams the door, Pip and Ravi realize Daniel da Silva is a local police officer. Ravi recognizes Daniel as the officer who dismissed Ravi’s questions about Sal and later targeted Ravi for “loitering.” Pip and Ravi consider that someone with police knowledge could more easily frame Sal and stage his death as suicide, and they connect Daniel to the rumor that Andie slept with him when she was fifteen, raising the possibility that Daniel was Andie’s secret older man. They leave with multiple possible suspect combinations involving Natalie, Daniel, and Naomi, then decide to pause and get ice cream.
Who Appears
- Pip Fitz-AmobiInvestigates Natalie with Ravi, withholds threats against herself, and identifies Daniel as a new suspect.
- Ravi SinghActs as Pip’s backup, helps Natalie open up, and recognizes Daniel as hostile police officer.
- Natalie da SilvaAndie’s former victim; admits writing a death threat but claims she was home that night.
- Daniel da SilvaNatalie’s brother, local police officer, rumored Andie connection, and possible person with framing knowledge.
- Andie BellVictim whose bullying of Natalie and possible relationship with Daniel drive new suspicions.
- Sal SinghRavi’s deceased brother; remembered by Natalie as kind and increasingly seen as potentially framed.
- Naomi WardAbsent source whose information led Pip to Natalie, angering Natalie for talking.