The Girls in the Garden: A Novel

On Monday, two police officers arrive on Adele’s doorstep. She invites them in, and they update her about Grace’s condition. When her children greet the officers, Adele explains that she is homeschooling them. Internally, she worries about the officers’ perceptions of her children and her home. The officers look at the park out of Adele’s window and talk about the space, which is several acres, and the annual party there. Adele tells them about the group of friends, including Tyler and Dylan, generally and answers their questions about what she saw during the party. However, she doesn’t remember if Grace was with the group when she last saw the group of friends shortly before 10 pm.

As the officers are leaving, Willow tells them that Dylan and Grace are dating. They see bruises on her back from an injury she got on the playground. It is later revealed that Tyler pushed her. When the officers are gone, Gordon comes out of his bedroom. He compares Grace to Phoebe, saying “Stupid little girls get in over their heads” (272). Adele helps Gordon put on his prosthetic foot, wanting to hit him with it.

One of the officers, WPC Cross, also talks to Clare at the hospital. They talk about Grace’s personality and social life, including her connection to the Howes family. Then, they ask Clare about Grace’s whereabouts after 2 pm on the night of her attack. Clare also tells the officer about Grace’s earlier birthday celebration with Tyler and Dylan. Clare talked to Grace on the phone at 4 pm, and she was at Tyler’s place, and around 7 pm she was eating some of Leo’s barbeque. Eventually, Clare admits that she was very intoxicated and didn’t know what happened to Grace after 7:30 pm. Cross asks Clare about Grace’s relationship with Dylan, but Clare—unlike Willow—doesn’t think it is serious. As she leaves, Cross assures Clare that they will find out what happened to Grace.

Clare tells Pip that Grace was given a substance overdose. Pip tells Clare that she found Grace with her top pulled up and her shorts pulled down. Pip apologizes for hiding this until now, and Clare also apologizes. Pip says someone needs to talk to Max, who was walking away from the place where she found Grace, as well as other people like Rhea and Gordon. Then, Pip accuses Leo of having something to do with it. She tells Clare about Leo holding hands with Tyler on Willow’s bed. Clare argues that “Leo is a good, good man” (285). Pip brings up the fact that Leo was dating Phoebe when she died. The forensic nurse examiner, Jo Mackie, arrives, and Pip hopes she doesn’t find anything.

Adele struggles to teach her children after the police leave. One of the officers, PC Michaelides, returns a couple of hours later. He tells Adele about the substances and she says she doesn’t keep sleeping pills in the house, only homeopathic remedies. Gordon comes into the room, talks with the officer about his foot, and agrees to answer any questions the officer may have in the future. Then, Gordon goes to physical therapy. The officer goes upstairs to talk to Dylan’s mom.

After the officer leaves, Adele asks Gordon about sleeping pills. He thinks she wants them for herself and goes to get her a couple. Then, he realizes someone stole a bunch of his pills.

Back at the hospital, Jo Mackie has finished her exam and explains the procedure to Clare. Then, the nurse invites Clare to sit and talk with her daughter. It reminds Clare of talking to Grace when she was in Clare’s uterus. Clare tells Grace what’s been going on and wishes Chris was there.

Pip and Clare go back to their apartment to pack some things before returning to the hospital. Pip sees Max in the park through the window and runs after him. He says he saw Grace with her clothes disheveled and was going to get help until he saw Pip heading toward Grace. Max also says that he heard some of the other kids arguing near Grace.

Adele calls Leo and tells him about Grace’s overdose and Gordon’s pills. She asks Leo to come home. He says he has to go to a meeting and will be home later. Before he hangs up, he suggests Adele talk to some of the neighbors. Willow complains about her reading assignment when Adele tells her that she’s going out for a little while. Adele visits Dylan and his mother, Fiona. Dylan tells Adele that he left the party with his brother around the time that Grace went missing and feels responsible for what happened to her. He also admits that he asked Tyler to get champagne for Grace, Tyler stole it, and they all shared it. Then, Dylan cries. Adele assures him that the small amount of alcohol from the shared bottle didn’t hurt Grace. He still feels like a terrible boyfriend.

A few hours later, Jo Mackie tells Clare that they found traces of semen in Grace’s mouth, but there were no signs of sexual assault. The nurse suggests that Grace willingly had oral sex with her boyfriend. Clare doesn’t believe this. Jo then suggests that Clare talk to Grace’s friends.

Adele visits Rhea, who had just talked to the police. They told her about the overdose. She told them, and now tells Adele, that she saw Leo walking their dog in the Rose Garden before Grace was found there. Rhea also saw Gordon wandering around that night and suspects he has something to do with Grace’s assault. Adele walks through the Rose Garden and looks through the trash can in there. She finds the champagne bottle and five cups. A cat jumps out of the bushes and startles Adele. She realizes a small person could hide in the bush behind the benches.

When Clare and Pip get back to the hospital and find Grace still asleep, Clare calls Roxy’s cell number. Clare says there’s been an accident and she needs to know if it is safe to let Chris see the kids. Roxy assures Clare that Chris has been taking his medications, going to counseling, and starting a new documentary project. Roxy calls Chris “a teddy bear” (327). Clare asks if Chris is in Roxy’s apartment right now and gets the landline number. She also tells Roxy that Grace is in a coma. Roxy apologizes. Clare calls Chris and asks him to come to the hospital.

Clare tells Pip that Chris is on the way to the hospital and is doing better. Pip is excited to see her dad.

Adele wishes Catkin would brush or cut her matted hair, but she doesn’t want to. Adele asks Catkin about being in the park with Grace and Leo. Catkin says Grace was waiting for Dylan at the gates when she left to go to the playground. Adele tells Catkin about Grace being given an overdose, and Catkin can’t think of how that could have happened through a drink. Catkin shares that Tyler was teasing Grace about not having sex with Dylan yet. Adele is suspicious of Leo because he was alone with Grace.

Chris arrives and hugs Pip. He doesn’t talk about being released and staying with Roxy, as Clare asked. Clare warns Chris that Grace is still scared of him, so he keeps his voice to a whisper, asking who could have hurt Grace. He tells Pip he loved her letters, but his replies were too incoherent for her to read, so he didn’t send them. Chris also warns her that while he’s on medication and stable currently, he still has a mental health condition and may have to go back to the hospital at some point. When Pip shares what Grace said about cannabis and schizophrenia, Chris assures Pip that different substances—not cannabis—could bring out the condition. Pip says she saw Chris on the street a few weeks prior while riding a bus, but Chris denies that it was him.

After lunch, Adele talks to Fern and chastises her for not being honest about the champagne. Fern claims Tyler is always saying disturbing things, like what she said to Grace that night, and isn’t like other 13-year-olds. Adele asks Fern about Leo, and Fern didn’t see him alone with Grace. Fern admits that Tyler pushed Willow off the swings, and Tyler argued that Gordon killed Phoebe, according to her mom. Adele thinks Tyler is just seeking attention.

Adele calls Leo, and he says that Dylan is “the most likely culprit” (343). When Adele tells Leo the gossip surrounding Gordon and Phoebe, Leo agrees to leave work early and come home in about an hour. Meanwhile, Adele sees Tyler after school and invites her to grab a bite to eat. Tyler agrees and admits her mother didn’t put money on her lunch card, so she is hungry. Adele confronts Tyler about accusing Gordon and pushing Willow. Tyler denies the former but admits to the latter. She tells Adele about Cecelia spending all her time with her new boyfriend. When Adele tells Tyler that Grace was given an overdose, Tyler admits that she thinks Gordon did the same thing to Phoebe. Tyler also argues that Gordon dosed Grace and accuses him, and Leo, of being pedophiles.

Then, Tyler tells Adele that she saw Cecelia and Leo kissing in the park when she was four, and believed Leo was her father. However, a week ago Cecelia introduced Tyler to her real father, Wayne, who was in prison for assaulting his girlfriend. Tyler still wishes Leo was her real father, and she runs out of the cafe crying.

Pip watches Grace sleeping and wishes she could ask her what happened. Chris takes her to ask Max another question. Max is playing football with his father, and Pip interrupts their game to ask Max who was in the playground right before he saw Grace. He says no one. Then, Pip asks to go back to the hospital.

The two police officers return to Leo and Adele’s home that evening. They say they haven’t been able to find Cecelia, and Adele says that’s not surprising. Then, they ask Leo about Grace. He says they weren’t close, but the officers say they saw Leo and Grace hugging on CCTV and hand him a screenshot of the moment. Leo admits to being drunk and says Grace hugged him without warning while waiting for Dylan. He thinks that Grace saw him as a father figure. Adele thinks Leo is acting suspiciously. The officers also question the girls and Gordon before leaving, learning the same things Adele learned when she asked them questions. They didn’t ask Gordon about his missing sleeping pills. Adele is too tired to cook and asks Leo to order pizza, which is unusual in their home.

Later that night, Grace wakes up in the hospital. Clare assures her that Chris, who is still there, is better. When she can speak, Grace says she’s sorry.