A Good Girl's Guide to Murder, #3
As Good As Dead
by Holly Jackson
Contents
Thirty-Five
Overview
Pip infiltrates Max Hastings’s house on Tudor Lane, disabling his security cameras to make it appear he did so. With Jamie and Connor on standby, Nat distracts Max at the door. Pip prepares to tamper with Max’s water bottle, launching the crucial phase of framing him.
The chapter raises the stakes as Pip commits to irreversible actions, relying on tight timing and precise coordination.
Summary
Pip returns to Tudor Lane, determined to end what began years earlier at the Hastings house. She confirms Max Hastings is alone inside, his parents away, and notes his routine and blue water bottle—key to her plan to frame him.
Assessing the exterior, Pip identifies two front-door security cameras and approaches along their blind sides. She tapes over each lens, ensuring no footage of the tampering and intending it to look like Max disabled his own cameras.
Circling to a rear window, Pip spots Max playing video games in a brightly lit room, the blue bottle on the table. She dons latex gloves and readies a burner phone linked to the second burner held by Jamie and Connor waiting down the street.
Recalling Ravi’s concerns about unpredictable variables, Pip proceeds anyway, trusting the plan’s tight timing. Though Jamie first offered to distract Max, Nat insists on taking this role, framing it as her final goodbye before justice is served.
Pip texts “Ready,” and moments later hears a car door and the doorbell. As Nat engages Max at the entrance, Pip commits to the critical ninety-second window to enter unseen and move to tamper with Max’s water, advancing the frame.
Who Appears
- Pip (Pippa Fitz-Amobi)Protagonist; infiltrates Max’s property, disables cameras, coordinates the distraction, and prepares to spike his water bottle.
- Max HastingsTarget of Pip’s frame; home alone, gaming with his blue water bottle nearby, unaware of the intrusion.
- NatVolunteers to distract Max at the door, buying Pip critical time to act.
- JamieOn standby in the car; initially offered to distract Max but defers to Nat.
- ConnorOn standby with Jamie, holding the paired burner phone to coordinate timing.