A Good Girl's Guide to Murder: Part Two

Even though it physically pains me to think this: Could this innocuous clue indicate that Elliot Ward was the secret older man?

A little naive, but she thought she was talking to just Chris. The next thing we all knew, the video was online and Andie and loads of other people were sharing it.

“At least she was punished in some way that week. Some divine providence. Thanks to Sal.”

Pip watched the door vibrating in its frame, her eyes so transfixed that it looked for a moment like the very particles of air were rippling.

I know it's hard to read nuances from a transcript, but Sal was very evasive with the police about what he and Andie were arguing about.

I know it's hard to read nuances from a transcript, but Sal was very evasive with the police about what he and Andie were arguing about.

“Yeah. Do I know you?” Becca’s eyebrows dropped in scrutiny.

From what Jess said it sounds like he was emotionally abusive to his family. A bully. A chauvinist.

She shrugged nonchalantly.

She took a few steps toward the far wall, then paced back a couple, so Max wouldn’t realize as she moved incrementally toward the noticeboard.

The joke wasn’t even that funny, objectively speaking.

She coughed and her cheeks flushed.

“Yeah, but you’re lucky—you can pull off eyeshadow. Stop wriggling. I’m almost done.” Pip sighed and went limp, submitting to the forced preening.

Even the pavement outside was pulsing with the music. The door swung open to reveal a writhing cacophony of slurred chatter and poor lighting.

When the opportunity presented itself, Pip sidled over to the kitchen sink, poured out the cup, and filled it with water.

She knew this man. Knew his face from the staff pictures on the Fairview Mail website. Knew his voice from their one very fraught phone interview.

“Gah, so hard not to point out all the innuendos. Wait, Pip,” Ravi said, bounding after her.

Howie’s eyes alighted on Ravi, and Pip felt him tense where their arms almost touched.

“Course I’m defensive. There’s two kids in my house, berating me about stuff that happened years ago and threatening to tell the cops.”

I need tangible proof.
I need that burner phone.

There was a heaviness to the air. Secrets captured in the silence, floating around like invisible motes of dust.

Gloved hand on the banister, she climbed to the top, almost knocking off a notebook and a USB stick that were balanced precariously on the railing.

The bedroom at the front had a dressing gown strewn on the floor and a glass of water on a bedside table.

She’s posted some pictures to bolster her point.

They had deduced all the way over to her car.

A man gesticulating wildly as he mouthed silent and angry-looking words.

This also opens up the possibility of another pair who could have colluded in Andie's murder: Max and Howie.

I would be extremely grateful if you can provide any information regarding this matter, and please know that any comments you offer will be anonymized and treated with the utmost discretion.

“Can do,” Cara’s voice trilled.

There was a brief respite from Max’s nocturnal activities with a series of photos from a ski trip...

The photos were similar to the ones Millie and Naomi had taken: Max and Jake gripping controllers and staring out of frame; Millie and Max posing with filters superimposed over their faces; Naomi in the background, staring down at her phone, unaware of the posed photo going on behind her.

They turned left down Courtland and traipsed all the way to Max Hastings’s sprawling house, where this had all begun five and a half years ago.

“OK,” she said, “so the hole has always been a problem; how he could have had time to dig one deep enough, anyway. But now that we’re here”—she glanced around the dappled woods—“there are quite a few downed trees. Maybe he didn’t need to dig much at all. Maybe he found a shallow ditch ready-made for him. Like there.”

But their faces made her seethe. These weren’t just small deceits and innocent gaps in memory anymore. This was a calculated, life-changing lie.

“If you stop blustering for one second and look at the photo, you’ll see my point,” Pip snapped back.