The Reappearance of Rachel Price
by Holly Jackson
Contents
Chapter Thirty-seven
Overview
Bel’s plan to monitor Rachel backfires when she finds Phillip Alves, not Rachel, inside the dark house. Phillip attacks Bel while revealing troubling claims about Charlie’s disappearance and a sixteen-year-old overheard argument that may undermine the old story of Rachel’s case.
Rachel returns in time to save Bel and drives Phillip away, showing fierce protectiveness toward her daughter. The chapter ends with Rachel telling Officer Winter that Phillip is the man who abducted her, sharply redirecting the investigation and complicating Bel’s suspicions.
Summary
Bel wakes at 2:04 a.m. to noises downstairs and assumes Rachel is sneaking out after two days of Bel deliberately shadowing her. Bel texts Ash to come with the camera, then quietly goes downstairs, planning to follow Rachel by bike or with Ash’s help.
In the dark living room, Bel sees a figure holding a framed photo of Bel and Charlie. When Bel turns on the light, the person is not Rachel or Charlie but Phillip Alves, the obsessive man under a restraining order. Phillip says he thought the house was empty and claims he saw Rachel drive away twenty minutes earlier.
Bel tries to keep Phillip calm while hoping Ash or Ms. Nelson will intervene. Phillip says he has been watching the house since Rachel returned, rejects Rachel’s basement-captivity story, and argues that Charlie’s disappearance proves the truth is being hidden. He claims he saw Charlie leave the house late on the night Charlie vanished, carrying a bag and driving away in his truck, though Bel points out the truck was still there the next morning.
Phillip then reveals he broke into the house sixteen years earlier while police were beginning to suspect Charlie. Phillip says he hid in Bel’s bedroom and overheard Charlie arguing with an unknown man about Rachel and the investigation. According to Phillip, Charlie said they had agreed on two o’clock and that the other man failed to keep to the time, which Phillip links to Charlie’s alibi and injured hand.
While Phillip is distracted, Bel tries to call 911, but Phillip catches her and grabs her wrist. Bel lies that she was going to show him evidence about Rachel, then shoves him and runs for the back door. Phillip chases her into the yard, pulls her down, and demands to know what evidence she has, but Bel refuses and fights back.
Rachel suddenly appears, tears Phillip off Bel, and threatens to kill him if he touches her daughter. Rachel swings a rake at Phillip, injuring his ankle, and Phillip flees into the trees. Rachel comforts Bel, apologizes for not being there, calls Officer Winter to report the attack, and then tells him Phillip Alves is the man who took her.
Who Appears
- Bel PriceWakes to a break-in, confronts Phillip, hears his claims, and survives his attack.
- Phillip AlvesObsessed stalker who breaks in, claims knowledge about Charlie, and violently attacks Bel.
- Rachel PriceReturns after leaving the house, protects Bel, and identifies Phillip as her abductor.
- Charlie PriceAbsent father whose disappearance and old alibi are challenged by Phillip’s claims.
- Officer WinterPolice contact whom Rachel calls after the attack to report Phillip.
- AshBel texts him for help before discovering Phillip in the house.