Contents
Wednesday, 17 July
Overview
Alix’s investigation into Brooke Ripley’s disappearance deepens when she discovers Brooke vanished very near Josie and Walter’s flat. Josie pushes to remain in Alix’s home, secretly steals personal objects, and gives a disturbing account of Walter allegedly abusing Erin while Josie did nothing. The chapter shifts Alix from horrified fascination to active mistrust, especially as Josie’s claims and behavior become harder to reconcile.
Summary
Alix continues researching Brooke Ripley’s disappearance and studies a Facebook appeal posted after Brooke vanished on prom night. A comment from Mia, who saw Brooke shortly before she disappeared, says Brooke claimed she was going home. Alix considers contacting Mia but hesitates, then wonders why Brooke’s case was not more widely remembered.
Josie comes downstairs still wearing Alix’s borrowed clothes despite having clean clothes available. When Alix offers to collect more clothes from Josie’s flat, Josie firmly refuses. Josie then asks whether she can stay in the study when Alix’s sister visits, forcing Alix to confront how far Josie has crossed into her home; Alix delays by saying she must ask Nathan.
Needing space, Alix goes to Queen’s Park café and tries to recover a sense of normality, but thoughts of Josie, Walter, Brooke, Erin, and the blood-smeared key intrude. Meanwhile, alone in Alix’s house, Josie eats lunch, judges the untidiness of Alix’s kitchen, and steals small items: a bread tag, passport photos of Leon, and Nathan’s business card. A later Netflix documentary excerpt introduces Katelyn Rand, who knew Josie years earlier and says Josie recruited her for a mysterious “gig” that left Katelyn deeply involved.
Alix walks to Josie and Walter’s flat and looks through the windows. The flat appears tidy, sparse, and almost unlived in, with no sign of Walter. Alix notices that the place where Brooke was last seen, near Kilburn High Road and Maida Vale, is only a short walk from Josie and Walter’s home, which intensifies Alix’s unease about Brooke’s disappearance.
Back home, Alix records with Josie and asks directly what happened to Brooke. Josie claims she never heard from Brooke again and refuses Alix’s suggestion of contacting Brooke for the podcast. When Alix steers the conversation toward Erin, Josie says that after Roxy left and Josie stopped sleeping with Walter, Walter began going into Erin’s room at night and abusing her. Josie admits she never confronted Walter or Erin, wore earplugs, left food outside Erin’s room, and has not seen Erin for six months to a year.
Alix is appalled by Josie’s passivity and presses her on why Erin would contact Josie now after years of neglect and abuse. Josie insists Erin is at least free from Walter and says reporting the abuse is Erin’s decision. Later, Alix takes Fred to the school gates and park, overwhelmed by what she has heard. Remembering Walter’s warning that Josie is not what she seems, Alix feels torn between believing an abused woman and trusting her growing instinct that Josie is dangerous and unreliable.
Who Appears
- Alix SummerInvestigates Brooke, records Josie’s claims, and grows increasingly suspicious of Josie’s story.
- Josie FairOccupies Alix’s home, steals keepsakes, and alleges Walter abused Erin for years.
- Erin FairJosie’s older daughter, described as reclusive and allegedly abused by Walter.
- Walter FairAbsent from the flat; accused by Josie of abusing Erin after Brooke and Roxy.
- Brooke RipleyMissing girl whose prom-night disappearance appears geographically close to Josie’s flat.
- Katelyn RandDocumentary interviewee who says Josie once recruited her for a troubling gig.
- FredJosie’s dog, taken out by Alix as an excuse to leave the house.
- Nathan SummerAlix’s husband, invoked as a reason Josie may not be able to use the study.