A Good Girl's Guide to Murder, #3
As Good As Dead
by Holly Jackson
Contents
Twenty-Seven
Overview
Jason Bell reveals himself as the DT Killer and takes Pip to Green Scene’s storeroom, where prior victims were held and killed. He disables alarms and CCTV, tightens her restraints, and taunts her with confessions, including drowning her dog. After silencing her attempts to provoke him, Jason tapes over Pip’s mouth, ears, and eyes, leaving her faceless and isolated.
Summary
Pip recognizes her abductor as Jason Bell, the DT Killer, as he drags her from the car into a fenced industrial site she identifies as Green Scene Ltd. Jason keeps her controlled with calm threats and a keyring, unlocking a storeroom filled with chemicals and industrial shelving while Pip searches vainly for escape.
Inside, Jason explains that Tara Yates triggered the security alarm during her captivity here, but he returned in time and later learned to disable alarms and CCTV, which he has now done for the weekend. He tightens Pip’s bindings with duct tape, fixing her wrists to a shelving post and rewrapping her ankles, then grants her a chance to speak.
Pip confronts Jason with her deductions: Andie recognized him as the DT Killer after seeing him with Julia, planned to escape and later report him, and Becca hates him. Jason responds with controlling justifications, claiming women must “listen,” listing victims, and blaming Pip for being “too loud” and costing him a compliant wife. He admits he stopped killing after Andie vanished until Pip’s investigations “tested” him.
Jason delivers a final cruelty: he followed Becca in the woods and drowned the golden retriever later known to be Pip’s dog, Barney, to punish Becca. Enraged, Pip curses him, but Jason proceeds to “teach” silence by methodically wrapping duct tape over her ears, mouth, and finally her eyes, forming a suffocating mask.
The chapter ends with Pip immobilized, cut off from sound, speech, and sight in the Green Scene storeroom, fully at Jason’s mercy and unseen by anyone until Monday.
Who Appears
- Pip (Pippa) Fitz-AmobiKidnapped protagonist; taken to Green Scene, bound, confronts Jason with deductions, then is gagged, deafened, and blinded by duct tape.
- Jason BellRevealed DT Killer; controls Pip, disables security, recounts prior murders, admits drowning her dog, and tapes over her face.
- Andie BellDiscussed by Pip; suspected her father, planned to flee and report him, a key cause of Jason’s actions.
- Becca BellMentioned; resented Jason. Her secret dog walk led to Jason drowning the dog as punishment.
- Tara YatesPast victim; triggered Green Scene alarm while tied up, which Jason later corrected for future crimes.
- Melissa DennyPast victim; her hairbrush became Jason’s trophy later given to Andie.
- JuliaPast victim seen with Jason; sighting helped Andie realize Jason was the DT Killer.
- BarneyPip’s late dog; Jason confesses to drowning him, devastating Pip.