Contents
Chapter Seventy-Five
Overview
Stuart packs to leave Thornwood, overwhelmed by guilt as police excavate the hidden rooms. With Jessamine and Daisy still at the station, a wary officer shadows him. Stuart confronts his complicity by silence and departs with Hugo for his brother’s home, resolving never to return.
Summary
In the aftermath of the revelations at Thornwood, Stuart moves through the house in numb horror, methodically packing his belongings. He reflects on years of complicity by silence: serving Annie above the hidden victims, enabling Jessamine’s decline, failing to report Daisy’s disappearance, and ignoring damning evidence.
Meanwhile, police activity intensifies below, the sound of drills and jackhammers signaling excavation of the secret rooms. Officer Asif shadows Stuart and clearly distrusts him, which Stuart accepts as deserved given what happened under his roof.
Stuart notes that Jessamine and Daisy remain at the police station while he prepares to leave for his brother’s safe suburban home. He calls for the dog, Hugo, and, navigating police vehicles and onlookers outside, departs the Vale with Asif following.
As he exits, Stuart acknowledges the house’s long-held power over him—its entrapment, suffocation, and deception—and resolves that he will never return to Thornwood.
Who Appears
- StuartNarrator; packs to leave Thornwood, wracked with guilt over silence and inaction.
- AsifPolice officer overseeing Stuart as he packs; skeptical of Stuart’s role.
- Jessamine ValeAt the police station; her actions have triggered the current investigation.
- DaisyAt the police station; central to recent confrontations and revelations.
- HugoStuart’s dog; leaves Thornwood with Stuart.