Contents
Chapter 11
Overview
Matt Kellner is declared missing, then a bloodstained backpack surfaces before Matt’s corpse is found in his pool, staged alongside a mutilated cat. Buckley presents the death as an accidental drowning, but Bret distrusts the narrative and begins to suspect Robert’s involvement. Debbie hovers, Ryan withdraws, and Susan privately presses Bret, prompting a guarded admission about his past with Matt.
Summary
At lunch, Susan announces administrators have deemed Matt Kellner “officially missing.” Bret, secretly panicked, notes Matt’s car’s absence and tries to mask concern before the group, including Robert and Ryan. Susan relays that Matt hadn’t been seen for days and his parents, who rarely monitored him in the pool house, were unaware.
Details emerge: Matt’s routine independence, last sighting leaving school Friday, and no lights at the guesthouse over the weekend. By Wednesday, after the school’s call, Ron Kellner notices the Datsun gone. Bret, recalling ominous signs—silent calls, rearranged furniture, missing fish and cat—fears the Trawler, then doubts the pattern since Matt is male.
At assembly, Dr. Croft appeals for information. Ryan quietly asks Bret what he knows; Bret feigns calm. Soon, police in Orange County find Matt’s bloodstained backpack at Crystal Cove. Despite rising dread, campus life continues numbly; Bret self-medicates, withdraws, and avoids questions.
Saturday, a gardener discovers Matt’s naked body floating in the pool and the decapitated, crucified cat staged nearby; the Datsun is back with blood inside. On Monday, Buckley announces an accidental drowning, implying drugs. Relief briefly dulls Bret’s terror, but he quickly doubts the sanitized story and suspects staging or another party’s involvement.
Rumors of suicide circulate; Bret rejects them, imagining Matt fled because he felt targeted. The media barely notices; there’s no memorial. Debbie fixates on comforting Bret; Ryan grows distant yet worried. Bret increasingly suspects Robert Mallory’s role or influence around Matt’s final days.
In Susan’s car, an Icehouse song frames her private interrogation about Bret and Matt. Bret offers a partial truth—admitting a few hookups—while hiding the depth. When Susan cites Robert’s claim of a “falling out,” Bret, feeling betrayed, blames distancing on Debbie and begs secrecy. Susan postpones Robert’s party and agrees to keep Bret’s confession confidential.
Who Appears
- BretNarrator; panics over Matt’s disappearance and death, distrusts accident ruling, suspects Robert, and admits limited hookups with Matt to Susan.
- Susan ReynoldsStudent-body president; relays official updates, privately questions Bret about Matt, learns of hookups, promises secrecy, postpones Robert’s party.
- Matt KellnerClassmate; goes missing, bloodied backpack found, later discovered dead in his pool with a mutilated cat staged nearby.
- Robert MalloryCharismatic new senior; shares with Susan that Bret and Matt had a falling out; increasingly suspected by Bret of influence or involvement.
- Debbie SchafferBret’s girlfriend; overattentive after Matt’s death, seeks to comfort Bret, unknowingly central to Bret’s cover story.
- Ryan VaughnBret’s secret lover; quietly checks on Bret, grows distant after the death, expresses concern.
- Dr. CroftAdministrator; announces Matt’s disappearance and later an accidental-drowning narrative to the student body.
- Headmaster WaltersSchool head; part of administration informing Susan about Matt’s missing status.
- Ron KellnerMatt’s father; services Matt’s car, later notices it missing, reports information to police.
- Sheila KellnerMatt’s mother; notes unusual darkness at the guesthouse, aiding the missing timeline.
- AngeloBuckley security head; last at school to see Matt drive out on Friday.
- Gardener at Haskell AvenueFinds Matt’s body in the pool and the mutilated cat, triggering police response.