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Good Girl, Bad Blood by Holly Jackson
Pip is listening to audio of Elliot Ward, father to her best friend, an almost-father figure to her, Annie Bell’s secret lover and murderer of Sal Singh. Pip is editing a podcast she produced about what really happened, Ravi her possible boyfriend and Sal’s younger brother suggests she call it A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder. Cheesy but catchy…
March 28 UK Newsday
A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder Review: The latest true crime podcast obsession ends with a chilling finale
The review praises Pip for her podcast and goes into detail as to what actually happened, her friend’s dad covered up a secret relationship with a student by murdering her boyfriend, she was injured in a fight with the dad and he thinks she died, but then finds her several months later shambling down the road and so he forces her to live in his attic, but it’s not her, it’s another missing girl with developmental delays, the real girl is actually a drug dealer who was selling roofies that led to her sister being raped and so the sister kills her and hides her body. Pip is quoted at the end that she won’t produce a second season, but she will follow the trial and provide updates as it continues. It was an obsession she couldn’t see until she came out the other side.
One month later…
Max Hastings is on trial for sexual assault. Pip has already been called to witness for the prosecution but after that her parents and headteacher won’t let her attend because school is not optional, so Ravi goes and takes notes for her. Pip’s little brother, Josh, is playing amateur detective too but over stolen pencil sharpeners not murder. His case won’t go to the Crown Court though. Pip interviews Ravi for the podcast and the next entry is transcript from update 3 of the Max Hastings trial. Natalie de Silva is being examined by the defense. Becca Bell has already been examined via video link from her prison cell. She has changed her plea to guilty and will serve 3 years. Max’s expensive defense lawyer is horrible, blaming the victim for not coming forward and not having any memory though memory loss is an effect of rohypnol, Ravi describes how it was distressing to watch. He also describes Max’s appearance with disheveled hair, fake glasses and an expensive suit as if that should win the jury over.
Every night Pip talks to her best friend Cara on the phone and they watch Netflix together. Cara doesn’t sleep well anymore and it seems to be the only way her friend can get to sleep. But then, if your dad was the one being charged with kidnap and murder, you would also probably find it difficult to sleep. Cara still visits Elliott Ward every other week but her older sister Naomi doesn’t ever want to see their father again. Currently, it is their grandparents looking after them until school is finished when they can sell the house. Before they settle down for tonight’s viewing Cara tells Pip she is now a meme, which really is the ultimate sign of celebrity.
It is the six year memorial for Sal and Andie. Pip accompanies Ravi, they talk to Cara and Naomi, Pip’s friend Connor and his older brother Jaime are standing with them. Even Natalie has turned up (and she still hates Pip, which you can understand as she thought she was a murderer). Andie’s parents are in attendance too, the rumor is that Jason has left his second wife and moved back into the house with Dawn. The house where Andie was murdered. Jason is abusive and controlling. No one is sure how to feel about the situation. Pip and Ravi meet Pip’s new neighbors, Charlie and Flora, who moved in down the street. There seem to be close to one thousand people in attendance. There are some moving speeches by friends and family though neither of Andie’s parents do, but it is Ravi’s dad who stirred the crowd. He told everyone Sal’s favorite movie was Babe. He loved that little pig and that has everyone laughing and crying. It was during Sal’s father's speech that Jamie Reynolds got up and left. What an odd time to leave.
It’s Saturday, Pip is tired after rescuing Cara from a Calamity Party following the memorial (tasteless really). She’s fallen asleep on the sofa waking to a text from a now sober and coherent Cara and missed calls from her friend Connor. As she is replying to him, there is a knock on her front door. It’s Connor and he’s not in good shape, his brother has gone missing. Pip remembers him being a little off at the memorial but would be hard pushed to say how. The police are treating Jamie’s disappearance as low risk, he’s done it before after all, but Connor and his parents feel that something is wrong. Connor wants Pip to look into it, but she can’t do it again, she will go down to the police station and talk to Detective Inspector Hawkins.
The DI gives her two minutes but he won’t budge, Jamie is an adult and can leave and come back, they have to prioritize and he won’t budge for her no matter her plea. To be fair, he’s heading out to investigate the abduction of an 8 year old. Back in her car, Pip calls Ravi, he’ll stand with her regardless of her decision. She calls Connor, and says she’ll help since the police won’t. She’s soon at the Reynolds' house with laptop, microphones, headphones, pen and pad in her bag. While Connor and his mum Joanna are eager for Pip’s help, their older sister is away at University so is not there to assist and Connor’s dad will have nothing to do with it, he thinks Jamie is fine.
A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder Season 2
Interview with Joanna Reynolds
Jaime’s mum gives basic background on Jaime, how he struggled with Uni until he quit and struggled with jobs, never finding the right fit. He’s currently working reception at Pip’s mums estate agency which is going well so far. Jamie’s best friend is Natalie de Silva and she thinks Jamie’s feelings are more than just friendship. On the day of the memorial everything was fine after Joanna and her husband went for dinner at the pub with friends and didn’t get home until late. She didn’t know Jamie had left early during the memorial, before Sal’s father's speech. Connor was already home but Jamie wasn’t. Joanna texted Jamie at 12:36 and it’s still showing undelivered.
A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder Season 2
Interview with Connor Reynolds
Connor tells Pip how Jamie’s moods have been up and down, he’s constantly on the phone typing, locked in his room crying or sneaking out after their parents are asleep. He’s had moments of being somewhat back to normal but always distant. Connor recalls a fight Jamie had with their dad the day of the memorial and before their mum got home. They had always had a contentious relationship but their dad called Jamie a “waste of space” to which Jamie agreed. After the memorial Jamie never went to Nat’s house as he said he’d planned. He doesn’t believe his brother would lie to his face when he told him “see you later”.
Connor shows Pip recent pictures of Jamie from his birthday the week before. He seems genuinely happy as he blows the candles from his Colin the Caterpillar birthday cake. Pip then searches Jamie’s room with Joanna and Connor’s help. They can’t get into his computer as it is passworded but Joanna will keep trying. The room is a mess, clothes everywhere, a broken dirty mug on the floor, yuck. In the waste paper basket Pip finds a note in Jamie’s handwriting saying Hilary F Weiseman left 11. A quick electoral register search shows one registered in Little Kilton from 1974 until 2006 and an obituary. Something to look at later. In the bedside drawer is a lady’s watch, delicate leather blush pink straps, rose gold case with tiny flowers and scratches along the case. Nothing else stands out.
Pip prepares an introduction into Season 2, something she promised never to do. But she has to, it’s Connor’s brother. She also notes her initial thoughts and to-do list: the missing persons case needs to be announced, posters made, Nat de Silva needs interviewing and Hilary F Weiseman researched. And she really needs to tell her parents. That’s not going to be a comfortable conversation. The next day, Pip, Ravi and Connor are loaded with missing persons flyers; Ravi and Connor will go door to door whilst Pip heads to the local paper office. Stanley Forbes, with some nervousness, agrees to print the poster. He’s rather jittery around Pip, probably due to the events of the previous year, he really was terrible to all of them, though Pip did receive a letter asking for forgiveness as did the Singhs.
Pip goes to find Nat, she’s at her boyfriend Luke's house. She isn’t happy to see her and sees Pip’s questions as an interrogation which will make her jump to incorrect conclusions like the last time. She confirms Jamie was at the memorial and he left when Pip saw him do so, off to see someone but didn’t give a name and Nat didn’t see who. She denies having late night text or phone conversations with him too and confirms he never went to her parents house after the memorial. Nat is convinced he’ll turn up, he always does. Luke agrees though he also says he superficially knows Jamie through Nat, and he confirms he was home all Friday as he didn’t know Sal or Andie so didn’t attend the memorial. There is a weird look between Nat and Luke at this point… worth noting? As she leaves, Pip checks her phone. The season 2 Intro went live that morning and her phone is filled with social media notifications and emails. Stanley has sent her pictures from the memorial as has Gail Yardley, a girl on Pip’s road. The photo is definitely Jamie and the odd thing about it is that he is faced towards the camera looking at someone or something behind Gail, while everyone else is turned away watching the memorial lanterns float. It’s also time stamped 10 minutes after Pip saw him. Stanley’s photos don’t yield any information.
Pip still hasn’t had the conversation with her parents yet so goes to work at a coffee shop. Cara pops in having been canvasing with the flyers, she thinks she remembers seeing Jamie at the calamity party but was too drunk to be completely certain. A quick chat with another friend, who didn’t see Jamie, and she has the number of Stephen Thompson, the host of the party and the guy who tried to come on to her when she went undercover to investigate Andie and Sal’s deaths. Stephen confirms Jamie was there but didn’t see him with anyone, it was early in the night and he only saw him once. Cara suggests posting on the school’s Facebook page for pictures from the party. Within a very short time, Pip receives a phone call from classmate George Thorne and she records the call for the podcast. He recalls seeing Jamie, he wasn’t really drinking that night so memories are clear. It was off for Jamie to be there, calamities have a usual crowd, and seemed agitated. He had an intense phone call outside which George listened to, but only some words really stood out to him like police, can’t do that, I know I said anything and something about a child. Jamie walked away at about 10:32, time stamped because George had sent a text to a girl at the same time.
Pip and Ravi are combing through all the pictures and video footage they've been sent. In a beer pong video, behind Cara, Pip spots Jamie walking away. Pip calls Chris, the classmate who sent her it and finds out it was at 9:56. They’re starting to get a picture of the calamity party. Downloading a floor plan of the house from the Internet, Pip is able to annotate it with sightings and movements. They turn back to the pictures with time stamps to look through now. Ravi, still combing the memorial pictures, notices Max Hastings hiding at the back. He’s an unwanted, unwelcome dickhead sexual predator, he should have stayed away. It’s at this time Pip’s parents come home, whilst Ravi makes a traitorous retreat her mum asks about the posters. Well shit. They aren’t happy about it, but after Pip explains why she has to look into Jamie’s disappearance they respect and support her decision. She must come to them though, and they will make sure she doesn’t get in too deep. Pip’s mum is sure Jamie will be fine, but then she lets something slip and perhaps she’s seen something of Jamie’s strange behavior already…
A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder Season 2
Interview with Mum
Pulling out her recording equipment Pip makes her mum tell her what happened. Jamie lost his job at the estate agency two and a half weeks ago for trying to steal the company credit card. She caught him in the act. He was agitated and sorry and kept saying it was a matter of life and death, she didn’t ask for anymore details.
It’s the phrase life and death that really rattled Connor and his mum, not the calamity party, the attempted theft and subsequent firing, the sneaking around. The phrase life and death. Whilst sitting at the kitchen table, Pip is looking at the missing person picture and realizes in the background is a knife block, the same one right in her line of sight which is missing the yellow-ringed handle one. Connor frantically looks through the kitchen, Joanna helps but it’s gone. They think it’s gone missing within the last 4 days. They want to know what it means, but at this stage it could be anything or nothing, but when Pip looks at a picture of the knives on the website she notes it’s the one she would choose to use as a weapon.
At school the next day Pip is paying no attention to history class. It’s a new teacher because the old one is a convicted killer and abductor which the school board frowns upon. She’s got her earphones in and is hiding behind her textbook watching videos from the calamity party. One particularly embarrassing one with the main figure badly lip syncing with a dog filter overlay shows Jamie talking to a fellow classmate, Stella Chapman. Pip and Conner go to talk to Stella who denies knowing Jamie until they tell her it’s a matter of life or death.
A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder Season 2
Interview with Stella Chapman
Stella doesn’t know Jamie, he came up to her called her Leila, commented on her hair being different and looked crushed when Stella put him down. She thought he was being a creep. Pip thinks Jamie was the victim of a catfish and Stella’s social media pictures are being used.
That afternoon Pip received an email tip-off, some people who work at The Book Cellar saw Jamie Friday night and are willing to talk about it. Pip and Connor head over straight from school. Connor isn’t as good a partner as Ravi, but Ravi is still at the courthouse. When they get to the bookshop three of the four witnesses are there and willing to be recorded. They didn’t see much, the direction Jamie was headed, that he looked in a hurry and this was at about 11:40. There is some dispute when they try to describe his clothes, two think they saw his burgundy top that he had on at the memorial and calamity party, another two thought it was darker, possibly a jacket.
At Pip’s house she and Connor are trying to find Layla when Ravi comes round. They spitball ideas when Pip suggests Tinder. Creating a fake profile and setting some filters, they find Layla Mead and an Instagram and Facebook account both set up within the last 2 months. Her followers look like bots in the most part but they do find Jamie and Mr Clark, the new history teacher. Using a private Instagram account Connor keeps for his photography they decide to DM Layla. A nice simple Heyy. They get an instant reply… Hello Pip then another You’re getting closer :) Shit, shit, shit, shit! Pip is stunned. When she is finally able to function again to send a reply the message is unsent, all the social media is closed down. Later that evening as Ravi is going home having recorded the trial update with Pip the new neighbor, Charlie, stops by. He and his wife Flora have found something odd. Flora’s watch, which isn’t monetarily valuable but holds sentiment is missing, they have a fancy doorbell motion detector camera and checked it before it auto wipes and have footage of Jaime entering through a partially opened window. He is in and out in 41 seconds. This was at 3:07am Tuesday the previous week.
At school the following day Pip and Connor head to talk to Mr. Clark the history teacher with links to Layla Mead. He’s very nervous and Pip manipulates this to get an interview with voice distortion.
A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder Season 2
Interview with Adam Clark
Mr. Clark doesn’t go into specifics about his conversations with Layla and they only DMed for about a week. She seemed genuine, had knowledge of Little Kilton, asked him a lot of questions but deflected from herself. It was after he told her what he did for a living that she ghosted him.
Connor has been reading the comments after Episode went up. Dude, you don’t read the comments! So he’s getting really depressed by the vitriol. In the school cafeteria Pip, Connor, Cara, Ant and Lauren are sitting round one table, Pip and Cara are hyper aware of Connor’s mood, Lauren and Ant are too busy making goo-goo eyes and Ant is supposed to be Connor’s best friend but you wouldn’t know it. Lauren’s ex comes to the table and asks to speak to Pip. It’s about Jamie. Ant tries to put on a show of shooing him off but no one is impressed, well maybe Lauren **eyeroll**. Outside Tom tells Pip he saw Jamie Friday night around 10:50 walking up the street and going inside a house. Nat De Silva’s house. Hang one… that’s not what Nat said…
A post on GGGTM Reddit mentions a theory about the Hilary F. Weiseman clue. It notes Pip is concentrating on Jamie’s whereabouts and this clue seems to have been put to one side. The poster theories that it is relevant as it falls within the timeframe Jamie got super erratic but it doesn’t refer to little old lady Hilary F. Weiseman, but her gave. Meaning, the note is to meet at the grave of Hilary F. Weiseman, left side of the graveyard at 11 o’clock. Interesting theory… Pip and Ravi investigate this theory and it’s a good one. Hilary F. Weiseman’s grave is in the Little Kilton churchyard in a very secluded area, perfect for nefarious rendezvous. There is a bouquet of dead flowers on the grave, a few weeks old, with a card ‘Dear Mum, Happy Birthday! Miss you every day. Love Mary, Harry and Joe.’ As Pip and Ravi are standing there Stanley Forbes walks past and everyone jumps. Stanley seems a bit nervous or maybe just shocked at them being there unexpectedly. He’s heading to talk to the vicar about a story. Pip takes the opportunity to ask him if he knows who Mary, Harry and Joe are - a small town journalist would know nearly everyone. And he does! Mary is Mary Scythe who works at the paper and Harry is one of her sons who works at The Book Cellar. Connections! Connections!
Later that night Pip returns to the Reynold’s house, Jamie’s mum called her to come over with some new information. No they haven’t cracked the laptop password yet. It was the witness recountings from The Book Cellar people about what Jamie was wearing, Joanna thinks they were both right. From the front it would seem like Jamie was in his burgundy T-shirt too dark to see the outline of a black hoodie but from the back, a black hoodie would be visible. He has a black hoodie that Joanna and Connor can not find! So it looks like Jamie returned home to get it, and the knife possibly? This would put him in the house at the same time as his father Arthur, who is still refusing to be involved in the investigation, but Arthur said originally no one was home when he returned (I do not trust the father). Something else was found while looking for the hoodie, the jumper Jamie wore on his birthday is in the laundry basket with blood drippings on the front and blood scruff on the arm. They bag the shirt up. As Joanna breaks down over the new clues she wishes her little boy who called her Jomumma was back. As Pip turns to leave, inspiration strikes and she starts using different combinations of Jomumma as Jamie’s laptop password…. After many attempts and much swearing, J0Mumma66 works.
Jamie’s Google search history shows he looked for how to fight, how to make a quick buck, some strange stuff about brain cancer, the usual viral videos, Jamie’s following GGGTM and wikipedia rabbithole. His computer also has a Fitbit App with data from Friday night and into Saturday until 12:30 just before Joanna’s last text was sent and never delivered. It doesn’t have GPS but it does show his heart rate and number of steps - this is good, it will help marry up the timeline of events and give a search perimeter for when the data stops. Pip will look at his social media DMs in private. The DMs are very mundane, lots of flirty interaction and Layla is very careful. There are a few standout comments and it seems Jamie catfished the catfish. He told Layla he was 29, living alone in London, and was a successful portfolio manager in a financial company. He tells her the truth, saying insecurity drove him. For 3 days Layla doesn’t reply to any of Jamie’s messages until he tells her he will do anything. Layla sharp comes back and they move the conversation to WhatsApp where Pip can’t follow. Pip has also researched what the heart rate data means. Jamie’s final heart rate is at 158 which the experts say is someone experiencing the fight-or-flight reaction.
Five days after Jamie Reynolds has gone missing, a search party is gathered. They have an approximate area they can now look at. Split into three groups, Connor will canvas the streets, Cara the woods and farm house where Andie Bell's body was and Pip and Ravi through the woods. Cara calls Pip to say they have found something. When Pip and Ravi get to the old farmhouse, there is the missing knife. Pip calls the police to start a chain of evidence and while waiting looks inside the house. There are food wrappers, cigarettes and joints. The dust is disturbed on the sofas so someone or someone is coming here probably during the night. Ravi suggests a stakeout. Whilst they are looking around inside, the police arrive, Daniel de Silva oh joy of joys and his partner, Soraya who actually seems nice. Daniel is confrontational with Pip, even says she planted the evidence (really? Why? Ugh) but Soraya fetches the evidence bag. As Pip is word vomiting some of the case including the name Layla Mead, Daniel has an obvious reaction. He has been talking to Layla!! Daniel, which we know from the first book is a total sleazeball and has no respect for his wife or the newborn baby they have so it wouldn’t be out of character for him to be DMing someone. He, of course, denies it.
Time for the stake out! Pip sneaks out, meets up with Ravi and then Connor and Cara at the old farm house. Connor has been reading the comments again **sigh** and this time the commenters are accusing his dad of murdering Jamie. Connor is starting to get defensive and blame Pip. He asked her to do this! She explained what would happen! Anyway… there is movement inside there, they can see flashlights movement. They take the direct approach and walk in, three people are sitting around getting high with conspicuous bags of weed at their feet. While they don’t recognize two, Pip knows Robin from the calamity party the previous year. He wants them out as the boss won’t like them being here, he’s already lost some profit this week (hello! relevant comment made!). Pip being Pip won’t budge. A car pulls up, Pip walks to the front door and is caught in the headlights. The car revs and pulls off. Pip and co run to her car, dive in and chase the unknown car. In a, let’s be realistic, not spectacular car chase Pip loses control of the car which mounts the verge the other car zooms off. They didn’t get a full license plate, possibly a H or an N, it was white and a BMW. Who do we know with this car? Nat de Silva’s boyfriend.
The next morning Pip is tired. As she is sluggishly getting ready, the radio news announces a body has been found of an early twenties white male. Pip’s mum will call the school and make excuses, Pip needs to go to the Reynolds house. When she gets there, they are all in an agitated state. Arthur is on the phone with the police and it feels like forever before they find out the body is not Jamie. Arthur is particularly upset by these events, it seems as if the reality is sinking in.
A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder Season 2
Interview with Arthur Reynolds
Arthur blames himself for Jamie going missing in the initial period, he thought their argument before the memorial had driven him away. He wants what is best but realised how he does it may not be right. He tells Pip that Jamie asked to borrow £900 but wouldn’t say why, he refused and Jamie lost his job trying to steal it. Arthur also confirms that Jamie wasn’t home when he came home Friday night, he sat for a bit in the living room and would have seen him, he only hears Connor come in once he was already in bed.
That afternoon Pip drops Connor off at school, she heads over to Nat de Silva. She doesn’t want to talk to Pip, her story doesn’t change, she’s never heard of Layla Mead and won’t say anything about Luke being a drug dealer and loan shark. As Pip heads back to school she gets this sense of being watched but can’t pinpoint it. She does spot Mary Scythe walking her black lab, it’s at this time Ravi calls with the Max Hastings trial verdict. Not guilty. We all rage at this because we know he is a serial rapist and asshole. Pip hangs up on Ravi and runs back to Nat, she can’t be alone for this news. Nat breaks down, holding on to Pip as she screams and cries.
Eventually Pip makes it to school. At lunch she calls Ant and Lauren out for not helping with the search, it is their supposed best friend's brother who is missing. Pip then loses control with Tom, calls him a liar then dumps a bottle of coke over him. Later that afternoon Cara tells Pip to check out an online article, Wiredrip, which accuses Pip of orchestrating season 2 with the promise to Connor and Jamie of money. Ant and Lauren ask Pip about it at the end of the day. This is a bad move on their part, they are self absorbed dicks and I’m with Cara that if they said “convenient” one more time I’d slap them fictional characters or not. Pip has been in a terrible mood all day with this pent up scream that their ribbing worsens. In front of the headteacher, Pip pushes Ant, shoves her elbow over his throat and screams at him.
All this results in Pip getting a three day suspension.
Her mother wants her to apologize but she isn’t sorry so won’t. Pip starts to seriously pull into herself and isn’t nice to Ravi when he comes over. She wants to stay angry at the world and everything in it. Ravi won’t get through to her so he leaves, he tells her he loves her as he leaves. Pip stays in her room, her brother Josh sneaks her a packet of Pom-Bear crisps in case she is hungry, but the walls are closing in. Sneaking out and into the rain she walks up and down the street until Charlie Green spots her. Inviting her to at least stand under his porch they talk about being good or bad, about right and wrong. He says the right things to her, the scream building up in her. She knows what she has to do now…
Pip goes to the Hastings house. While they are celebrating their “victory” (barf) she uploads the recording of Max’s confession to drugging and raping Becca Bell, she paints Rapist I will get you on their nice big white front door and smashes all the front windows. She then goes to see Ravi, apologizes for being a jerk, tells him she’s accepted the two parts of herself and that she loves him. Then she tells him what she just did.
The next morning Pip awakens to a text from Nat, she has information about Jamie. After her mom leaves and Pip’s fake apology about her suspended still ringing in the air, Pip heads to Nat's house. Nat invites her in, tells her her brother told her about the Hastings house vandalism (they have no clue who did it by the way) and that she saw the audio file upload. It’s changed her opinion of Pip. Nat tells Pip that she was right about her soon to be ex Luke. He had left the house Friday night to meet Layla Mead. Nat has read through their WhatsApp messages, they are rather explicit and in the last one they are arranging a meet-up. Luke’s last message reads “What the fuck. I’m gonna kill you”
Pip and Ravi speak to Luke, he will only talk to them because Pip promises to give him the £900 Jamie borrowed. Luke doesn’t hide that he went to meet Layla but tells them Layla is Jamie. Jamie shouted something like child brown sick but he didn’t hear and left. He is pissed because Jamie is overdue on his high interest personal loan. When they are walking back to Pip’s car, they spot Max Hastings outside the new Costa, all happy and shit. He waves! He fucking waves at them with a big dumb smile. Dick. They go back to Pip’s and go over the timeline and events. Ravi tells Pip to Google child brown sick and while initial searches bring back exactly what you would expect it also asks if she meant Child Brunswick. This was a big news story 20 year ago. Scott Brunswick was a serial killer who made his son, Child Brunswick help him lure victims. Seven teenagers were killed, Child Brunswick, age 10 at the time, would lure them out, Scott Brunswick would abduct them in his van and both would dispose of the bodies. Scott Brunswick was found guilty and sentenced to life imprisonment, but was beaten to death shortly after starting his term. Child Brunswick was sentenced at age 13 and spent 5 years in juvenile detention and was sent into protective services with a new identity. A worldwide media ban prevents his identity from being revealed.
So, this major twist means a major change in search tactics for Jamie. They need to find Child Brunswick, the person behind Layla Mead is obviously trying to find them. Everyone so far has had similar physical traits and around the same age. Mr. Clark was discounted because he’s a teacher, Daniel de Silva because he’s a policeman, Child Brunswick would never be able to enter those professions. Pip has messaged Connor to tell him and he walks out of school straight to her house. Time to Google!
It takes them hours but they do it. Following small leads, little comments and piecing things together, Pip works out that someone in Grendon Prison let slip that they knew who Child Brunswick was and they were in Little Kilton. That person was Howie Bowers, the drug dealer from the calamity party Pip went to, who Andie Bell sold drugs for. Flicking back through her photos from the calamity party, she finds pictures of Howie being given an envelope and recalls the conversation being about not asking for more, that ”if you don’t pay me, I will tell”. That person was Stanley Forbes DUM DUM DUM!!!!
So the plan, Pip will send a message to Stanley as Layla using a spare SIM card she has. She’ll arrange to meet him at the farmhouse tonight. Ravi and Connor will use that time to search Stanley’s house while Pip plays lookout. The text goes. Stanley confirms. They are a go.
When Stanley leaves, Ravi and Connor break into his house. But there is someone else in the house. Locked in the downstairs toilet, is Jamie. Over the open phone line Pip can hear Connor frantically shouting saying they won’t leave without him. Jamie tells them to leave, that he's made a deal. To buy more time as Stanley is heading back to his car, Pip steps out. Stanley’s face drops “No no no. Pip, it’s you? … You’re Layla?”
Obviously Pip is not Layla, and she corrects his assumption. They go inside the farmhouse to talk. Jamie attacked Stanley Friday night after saying “Child Brunswick” making him flinch. Stanley knocked the knife from Jamie’s hand causing him to fall back and hit his head. Stanley took him home and locked him in the downstairs toilet so he could think. He and Jamie talked, Jamie had fallen hard for Layla. She claimed to be suffering from brain cancer and a clinical trial that could save her life was too expensive, her controlling father would not pay for it so Jamie stole over £1000 leaving it on Hilary F. Weiseman’s grave. Layla got him to beat up a stranger. She got him to steal her deceased mother's watch which her controlling father had given to a charity shop. Lots of things that drew Jamie in deeper. On Friday night, she sent him to kill her stalker who was trying to stop her from getting on the treatment trial. Jamie was relieved when the knife was knocked from his hand. Stanley and Jamie made a deal, together they would find Layla, pay her off to keep quiet about Stanley and Jamie wouldn’t tell anyone. Stanley trusts Jamie would keep his secret, he has built a life in Little Kilton and doesn’t want to lose it. He lives in constant fear of turning into his father and the guilt of his part in the murders. Pip promises not to tell anyone and that Jamie is probably telling Ravi and Connor the story too and they will keep quiet as well. This is an oh shit moment because there are silent alarms in Stanley’s home as part of his protection/parole and with the broken window the police will have been alerted. This doesn’t matter right now though as someone has entered the farmhouse. It’s Charlie Green. He saw Pip’s car and a torch light so came to check on her. Asking to borrow her phone to message Flora, he instead slips it into his pocket. Then demands Stanley’s at gunpoint.
Yes, Charlie is Layla with help from Flora. Mead is her real surname and Nowell is his. He is Charlie Nowell, younger brother of Emily Nowell, the final victim of the Monster of Margate, Stanley’s father.
Charlie has been searching for Stanley a long time. Stanley lured his sister from him and as far as he is concerned helped kill her. His father killed himself not long after her body was found, his mother gave herself to drugs and alcohol until he had to go into foster care. He was passed around and not all the families were good. By 17 he was homeless but Stanley would be hand delivered a good life. Making as if to put the gun down as Pip pleads and Stanley is pushing her away from him, Charlie lets 6 bullets rip through Stanley then throws the gun. As Stanley bleeds out covering Pip in his blood he tells her his real name is Jack Brunswick then David Knight and then Stanley Forbes. He likes Stanley best. They smell petrol, and feel heat. Charlie has set the old farmhouse on fire. Somehow Pip is able to drag Stanley out and start compressions, cracking his ribs as she does so. The police come but Pip won’t let go no matter how much Soraya tries, the fire service comes, the paramedics take over but call it after 20 minutes. The rest is a blur as DI Hawkins takes Pip to the station. She has to give them her clothes as evidence, is tested for gunpowder residue, has her fingerprints taken and provide a witness statement. Nothing seems real, she can only hear the gunshots and shake.
16 days later
It’s the funeral of Stanley Forbes. It’s a small service and to be a burial. No one claimed Stanley, there was no family and his friends abandoned him so Pip claimed him. She knew he wouldn’t want to be burned like the girls his father killed, he loved his life as Stanley Forbes so that is the name inscribed on the headstone with You Were Better. Jamie and Pip are the main mourners, everyone else is there to support them. Connor, Ravi, Cara, Naomi and Pip’s parents. As Pip is saying a few words about Stanley trying to protect her, some Little Kilton residents come marching with protest signs. This breaks that thing inside Pip that has been festering. Her father goes to talk to them but the shouts of murderer and scum become too much. In the protest Pip spots Ant’s dad and Mary Scythe. She grabs the sign shouting that “He was your friend!” “leave him in peace!” Her dad has to restrain her.
6 days later
The Reynolds are having a Surprise, I’m not dead BBQ as Jamie puts it. Pip and her family, Ravi and his, Cara, Naomi and Nat are there, even Connor and Jamie’s sister has come home for it. Pip sits removed watching the dads hover over the grill, her brother playing with a tennis ball, the moms talking, the girls in another group. There is happiness. Jamie comes over and she and Jamie grieve a little together, Pip tells Jamie to start living a good life, do it for himself and for Stanley. Jamie is still wearing his broken Fitbit, not wanting to take off the reminder. He wants to train to be a paramedic and tell Nat how he feels. Ravi joins her after Jamie goes to Nat‘s side, they still fit though there is something inside Pip now. They sit on the outskirts until she is ready to join them, watching Josh trying to teach them to Floss. But there is something thumping, a beating inside her. Later that night Pip is on her computer, she has started the search for Charlie and Flora, not actually studying. She’s a liar now too. The beating starts up again, knocking against her ribs. It’s a gun, always there living inside her now.