Never Lie

The narrative provides the transcript of the one missing tape. It is session #185 with PL, the 27-year-old female suffering from PTSD after a brutal attacker killed her boyfriend and two best friends and left her injured. PL is getting ready to move to Manhattan. PL tells Adrienne that she still hopes the police catch the man who murdered her fiancé and friends, to which Adrienne replies “I don’t think so. […] The reason they won’t catch him is that he doesn’t exist” (276). Adrienne then tells PL that Adrienne is convinced PL made the whole thing up. Adrienne suspects that Cody, PL’s fiancé, was cheating on PL with one of PL’s friends. Adrienne reveals that the detective investigating the murder also suspected PL made it up but did not have proof. Adrienne then reveals to PL that she has a problem that she needs PL’s help with. PL asks what Adrienne wants PL to do, to which Adrienne replies: “Oh, I think you know, Patricia” (278).

The narrative goes to Tricia’s point of view, starting the chapter with: “I’m not a murderer. Okay, technically I am” (279). It’s confirmed that Tricia is Patricia Lawton, or PL. Tricia reveals that Adrienne’s suspicions were correct: Tricia killed her fiancé, Cody, and her best friend, Alexis, because they were having an affair. The other girl, Megan, had to be killed too, to make Tricia’s story more plausible. Tricia explains how she murdered all three people, step by step, and then stabbed herself in the stomach before running for help. Following the incident, Tricia’s mother signed Tricia up for therapy with Adrienne. Until Adrienne called Tricia out on her fabricated story, Tricia had been certain that Adrienne believed her. Once Adrienne revealed what she knew, Tricia realized: “I had to do what she asked of me. I had no choice” (283).

The narrative returns to the past, to Adrienne’s point of view. Adrienne reveals that she figured out Tricia was lying early on and reveals Tricia’s tell—when she is lying, she crosses her right leg over her left. Now, Adrienne is at her house waiting for Tricia. Tricia arrives, with a drugged EJ. Tricia followed Adrienne’s instructions to lure EJ to a casino and reenact the fantasy of a strange woman approaching him at the craps table—a fantasy that EJ once told Adrienne about. Tricia asks Adrienne what she is going to do with EJ; Adrienne will not tell Tricia. As Tricia leaves Adrienne’s house, she tells her, “I can’t believe you hung that giant portrait of yourself right in your living rom. You’re just as arrogant as I thought you were” (290). Tricia leaves.

Adrienne and EJ are left alone. Adrienne opens the trapdoor, rolls EJ into it, and closes it. She tapes up the edges, so that EJ will suffocate, and waits until there are no sounds coming from beneath the floor. She then says, “Goodbye, Edward” (294).

The narrative returns to the present day and Tricia’s point of view, beginning the chapter with, “I didn’t know for sure that Dr. Hale was going to kill Edward Jamison” (295). Tricia figured out that Adrienne had killed Edward later, when she saw that Edward had gone missing. Tricia was worried about her role in Edward’s disappearance, thinking, “[Adrienne] had already screwed me over once. I didn’t trust her. I lay awake at night, obsessing over Adrienne Hale. I finally couldn’t take it anymore” (296).

The narrative flashes back to Adrienne’s point of view, in the past. Adrienne’s new book, The Anatomy of Fear, has been published to great success. She went on a book tour to promote the book, which also gave Adrienne a chance to escape her home and the smell of EJ’s rotting corpse under the floorboards. Back from her tour, Adrienne is at the public health clinic where she works when she runs into Luke. Luke apologizes for running out on Adrienne; the two reconcile. Adrienne decides, “He’ll never know what I’ve done. I’m going to keep it that way” (302). That night, Adrienne gets home to find Tricia’s car parked in front of her house. Tricia tells Adrienne, “My mother always says the only way two people can keep a secret is if one of them is dead” (305). Tricia then murders Adrienne.

The narrative returns to the present. Tricia reveals that the first person she killed was a girl named Whitney Young when she was just 16—Whitney teased her. Tricia then killed Cody, Alexis, and Megan—and, finally, Adrienne. Adrienne’s body is buried off a deserted dirt road about two hours from Adrienne’s house. After killing Adrienne, Tricia’s plan was to find and dispose of Edward’s body to make sure she could never be linked to his murder—after all, casinos record everything, so there would surely be video of Tricia talking to Edward on the night she abducted him for Adrienne. However, she never got a chance to search the house; as soon as Adrienne went missing, police officers took over her house.

Tricia started her life over in Manhattan and let the past go. She only learned by chance that Adrienne’s house was for sale, via her and Ethan’s realtor. Adrienne then orchestrated the entire situation with her and Ethan getting trapped at the house, picking the night of a blizzard to drive there and even canceling the snowplow service to the road. When Tricia found the hidden room of recordings, she realized that the tape of Adrienne extorting her would destroy her: “They would hold me responsible for her murder and Jamison’s. Nobody can ever hear this tape except me” (309). Now, Tricia knows that the body under the floorboards is Edward; but she is not sure she can move it. She also has the Luke Strauss issue to deal with; Luke knows about the dead body and that it is not Adrienne’s. Tricia concludes the chapter: “I have to plan my next move very carefully” (310).

Ethan returns to the house and tells Tricia a snowplow will come first thing in the morning. One was already booked for that morning, which Ethan finds surprising. Tricia says, “That’s strange” (313), but she is feigning surprise. Via internal monologue, Tricia reveals that she is the one who booked the plow for Sunday morning and paid for it in cash. Tricia also thinks: “Ethan has no idea that his wife is responsible for the dead body in the office” (314). Tricia is glad that she seized the tape that could incriminate her in Edward’s murder (the one where Adrienne extorts her) but is still worried about what to do about the dead body.

Ethan and Tricia are eating dinner when Luke starts calling to them from Adrienne’s office, asking for water. Ethan says no, and does not let Tricia help Luke either, telling her: “Don’t let him manipulate you. […] He isn’t a good person. He killed his girlfriend. He killed one of the people closest to him. What kind of person does that?” (317).

Tricia wakes up at two in the morning. Ethan is not in bed with her. Tricia finds Ethan in front of the fireplace, burning all the GW tapes—Gail Wiley was Ethan’s mother. Tricia reminds the reader: “GW was a patient of Dr. Hale for several years. She nursed paranoid delusions that somebody was trying to kill her, including her own son” (321). Tricia asks Ethan what he is doing. He stalls, trying to produce a lie. In fact, Tricia already knows that Ethan is destroying Gail’s tapes because he killed her.

Tricia ran into Gail at Adrienne’s home/office, as their appointments were right after one another (Tricia once saw Ethan at Adrienne’s house when he was picking up Gail from therapy). Gail told Tricia about her concerns that her son was trying to kill her and about the insurance payout the son would get if he succeeded. Later, Tricia learned about Gail’s sudden death—she fell down a flight of stairs and broke her neck after too many drinks. Tricia became obsessed with Ethan. She orchestrated their “coincidental” meeting in the coffee shop. Ever since they got married, Tricia has been hoping Ethan would confess what he did; that is why she brought him on this trip to Adrienne’s house. Now, Ethan—knowing that Tricia listened to his mother’s tapes—confesses to Tricia: “I killed her” (323).

Tricia is exhilarated when Ethan confesses that he murdered his mother: “This is the other side of my husband. The one he never lets me see. A little thrill goes through me” (324). Tricia tells Ethan that she already knew about him killing his mother. Tricia then confesses to Ethan about killing her fiancé and her two friends; about becoming Adrienne’s patient; and about Adrienne finding out the truth and extorting Tricia to abduct Edward. Tricia also confesses to killing Adrienne. Tricia is momentarily worried after she confesses to Ethan, thinking he may turn on her. Instead, he says: “That guy Luke is going to be a big problem. He knows way too much” (327). Ethan takes a knife in his hand. Tricia throws the PL tape that would incriminate her into the fire. Then Tricia follows Ethan into Adrienne’s office: “Then I join my husband” (328). It is implied that Ethan and Tricia kill Luke.

Tricia and Ethan are living in Adrienne’s old house, which they bought. They have a daughter, Delilah, a little over one year old. Tricia is pregnant again, with a boy. Luke is buried on the property. Ethan killed and buried Luke; Tricia says: “I’d never found him sexier” (333). Nonetheless, Tricia worries about Ethan occasionally; for a while, he would get so nervous when someone went into the garden, where Luke is buried, that Tricia worried he might crack. Tricia concludes: “Hopefully, that won’t ever happen. But if it does, I’m prepared to take care of the situation. After all, my mother always said that the only way two people can keep a secret is if one of them is dead” (334).