Tell No One

The Asian guy, who is of course Wu, uses pressure points to send David into crippling pain and shoves him into a van. David tries to reach for his gun, but someone leaps onto his back. He has been pinned down by two 30-year-old white men. Wu returns and asks David why he was in the park. When David asks about Wu’s identity, the latter beats up the former and puts him in unbearable amounts of bodily pain. But then the van is stopped by two men with guns, Tyrese and Brutus. Tyrese shoots the driver, killing him. Wu remains calm and does not reply when David asks who hired him. He hurls David “effortlessly” (223) at Tyrese. Wu gets out of the van’s side door and escapes. Tyrese, Brutus, and David drive off.

Carlson is at a U-Store-‘Em in Layton, New Jersey, looking for Elizabeth’s old autopsy file, which is handed to him by Dr. Timothy Harper, the county medical examiner. Harper says David wanted to see the file because he was a grieving husband who needed closure. He also said that David asked how long it took for Hoyt Parker to identify his daughter.

David is at Peter Flannery Attorney-at-Law’s, knowing that he is “a wanted man” (227). Tyrese is with David, and when the receptionist stalls on letting them have access to Flannery, he says he will offer a retainer if they can see him right away. In Flannery’s office, which is full of fake accolades rather than proper school certificates, David asks if the attorney remembers Elizabeth. Flannery says that eight years ago he was a public defender and assigned one of the most prominent murder trials in the state, that of 33-year-old Brandon Scope, who was robbed and murdered two months before Elizabeth. Brandon’s alleged killer was Helio Gonzalez, a 22-year-old repeat felon. Flannery was Gonzalez’s attorney. Elizabeth freed Gonzalez from prosecution by giving him an alibi, saying she was with him during the time in question. This was kept quiet at the time at Elizabeth’s request. There were problems with Elizabeth’s testimony because she said that she had been career counselling Gonzalez, but given that it was 11 p.m. at night, she had actually been sleeping with Gonzalez. David is in denial about the facts and leaves Flannery’s office.

Holding Elizabeth’s autopsy file, Carlson wonders why David would want to see it. Stone’s theory is that David wanted to find out whether there was any evidence that could incriminate him for Elizabeth’s murder. Carlson notices anomalies in the autopsy that are not consistent with KillRoy’s style of killing. Elizabeth’s body was covered in defensive knife wounds, whereas KillRoy killed by torture. She had also been branded postmortem, whereas KillRoy branded his victims while they were still living. He wonders why Elizabeth’s father and uncle had not wondered about the inconsistencies with the report. Stone calls Carlson to say that David has been booked on a flight from John F. Kennedy Airport to London. Carlson says that he will be on his way.

Tyrese tracks down Helio Gonzalez in Queens. David confronts him and asks whether he was with Elizabeth the night of Brandon Scope’s murder. Gonzalez claims that he and Elizabeth were having sex all night. David dismisses Tyrese to talk to Gonzalez alone. He knows that “someone is killing everyone connected with what happened to Brandon Scope” (242). David feels that if he doesn’t find out what really happened, all of them are going to end up dead. David bluffs and says he knows Elizabeth was in Atlantic City the night of Scope’s murder. Gonzalez confesses that he was robbing a house in Fort Lee that night and for a reason he was unaware of, Elizabeth gave him an alibi.

Elizabeth’s flight is being called and she heads to the gate. Carlson and Stone, alongside Dimonte and Krinsky, are at the terminal with the British Airways reservation manager, who classes David as a “no-show” (245). Carlson asks Emily, a British Airways assistant, to bring up David’s reservation. Emily confirms that the flight was booked three days ago. Dimonte assumes that David planned to run after murdering Rebecca, but Carlson thinks that it is odd that David would have hung around three days after committing his crime. Carlson asks for the credit card number with which David made the booking. Looking through the computer files, Emily can see that a Lisa Sherman (Elizabeth’s code name) had made a booking eight minutes earlier. She was scheduled to sit next to David Beck. Emily confirms that Lisa is boarding as they speak.

Elizabeth watches a news report where David is suspected of murdering both Rebecca and Elizabeth. Elizabeth feels guilty about her friend’s death and fears for David’s safety. She decides not to board her flight, instead choosing to make sure that David is safe. Meanwhile, Peter Flannery has seen the news report and asks to be put through to Lance Fein because he has seen David.

David has to stay with a cousin of Latisha’s (Tyrese’s partner) so that he cannot be traced back to Tyrese. He asks to make a few phone calls, to Shauna and then to Hester, telling her that he can offer a solid alibi for why he did not kill Rebecca.

Carlson knows that David called Peter Flannery to find out about the alibi Elizabeth gave to Gonzalez eight years ago. Carlson also asks Donna at the National Tracing Center for an unspecified favor regarding the safety-deposit box, which is listed under the name Sarah Goodhart.

Then Carlson calls Shauna, telling her that he is aware that David called her. In person, Carlson confesses to Shauna that he does not think that David is a murderer. Carlson has run a background check on Lisa Sherman and finds that it is a pseudonym. He shows Elizabeth’s autopsy report to Shauna. When Shauna reads the body’s height and weight, 5’7 and 98 pounds, she stifles a scream. Carlson’s cell phone rings and coroner Tim Harper is on the other side, saying that Hoyt Parker, Elizabeth’s father, signed out the autopsy.

Gandle is sat with Griffin Scope in his mansion, and the latter reminisces about the birth of his first child, Brandon. The memory moves him to tears and he feels distraught that such harm could have come to the being he loved most in the world. More ruthlessly, Griffin cannot bear the news that while Brandon “rots in the ground” (264), Elizabeth lives.

Carlson goes to the Parkers’ home and asks Hoyt if Elizabeth took drugs. He then asks why Hoyt took the autopsy pictures from Elizabeth’s file. There is mistrust between the two men, each questioning the other’s motives. Hoyt seems irritated that Carlson is opening up the case again and though Carlson “wasn’t getting much information […] Hoyt’s demeanor spoke volumes” (267). Hoyt is not interested in furthering the case or thinking that the murderer was someone other than KillRoy. Carlson leaves, not believing a word Hoyt says.

Linda tells Shauna that she took those pictures of Elizabeth looking all beaten up and that the latter refused to be taken to hospital. Shauna guesses that Brandon Scope is the one who beat Elizabeth up, and Linda affirms that Elizabeth swore her to secrecy. Elizabeth’s motive in staying silent was that she needed to gather more proof that Brandon assaulted her. Shauna blames Linda for her secrecy, saying that she wanted to protect her charity’s reputation. When Elizabeth was kidnapped at the lake, Linda went to Hoyt Parker, who said he already knew and told her not to say anything because the striation was “delicate” (271). And when it became clear that KillRoy was the murderer, Linda remained quiet.

The phone rings, and Hester Crimstein answers it, wanting to apologize to Shauna. Hester gathers Shauna, Lance Fein, Krinsky, and Dimonte to show them David’s alibi—he was at Kinko’s with Chloe the dog, alongside four witnesses who positively identified him. Hester stages a showdown, making it clear that the men have identified the wrong murderer, “using dozens of city cops at Lord-knows-what-expense, all with guns drawn and chasing down this innocent man” (275). She threatens to expose Fein to the media if he does not cooperate.

David wakes up in pain after the beating he has endured from Eric. He calls Hester, who tells him that he is free. He tells Tyrese that he will go to Linda’s and then to work. Tyrese says that he will watch David’s back.

Carlson receives a call from Donna at the National Tracing Centre. She confirms that Carlson’s guess about the weapon’s user was right and “it’s a match” (280). Carlson finishes by making another call in search of David.

Brutus and Tyrese drop David off to Shauna and Linda’s Riverside Drive apartment. Alone with Shauna, David explains that he ran so as not to miss the meeting with Elizabeth at Washington Square. Shauna is still trying to convince David that his witnessing of Elizabeth is an act of intense will. She digresses through long stories and when David confronts her, she admits to being scared and that she has also seen something that makes her think Elizabeth might still be alive. She describes how Carlson showed her Elizabeth autopsy file, which contained no photos, and how the person who signed off on the report and possibly stole the pictures was Hoyt Parker. The report also said Elizabeth had a long-term drug problem and was 5’7 and 98 pounds. Linda comes in and talks about the beating Elizabeth received from Brandon Scope. David knows that Hoyt has being lying to him. Patting the gun in his pocket, David determines to visit him.

Carlson appears in the corridor and wants to ask David a few questions. He knows that David’s father, Stephen, owned a gun and bought it several months before he died. The gun, which David inherited on his father’s death, is in Sarah Goodhart’s safety deposit box along with the pictures of Elizabeth beaten up. Carlson asks David why he went to see Peter Flannery, and David replies that he saw the name in Elizabeth’s planner and followed it up. David asks for Carlson to give him two hours but does not say what he needs the time for. When Carlson asks if David knows who Lisa Sherman is, the woman he was meant to travel out of the country with, he knows that it is Elizabeth, but does not say.