Everyone Here Is Lying: A Novel

Gully and Bledsoe interview Nora and tell her they found her burner phone in the house. She tells the detectives about her affair with William. Nora tells them that Ryan did not know about the affair, but she thinks that Al did.

Gully and Bledsoe interview Al. They ask him where he was on Tuesday afternoon, and he tells them that he stopped at the Breezes Motel. He confesses that he has known about Nora and William’s affair for some time and that every Tuesday he sits in the parking lot and watches them go in and come back out.

As Ryan, Al, and Nora drive home, Nora can feel the tension in the car. She knows Al must know about the affair, but he does not say anything to her.

Gully goes to the Setons’ house to interview Derek. Alice and Derek sit while Gully asks Derek if he spent time alone with Avery. When Derek denies it, Gully tells him that Michael saw him in the tree house with Avery alone. Derek tells her that they were just talking but Gully asks why he would pull the rope ladder up.

Derek tells Gully that Avery must have pulled the ladder up when he was not watching. Alice calls her husband downstairs and tells him that Gully is accusing Derek of molesting Avery. Gully asks about where they all were on Tuesday afternoon. Pete was at work, Alice picked up Jenna from choir practice and took her shopping, and Derek was home alone until 5:00 p.m.

After dinner, the kids go upstairs, and Nora decides she must speak to Al. Al tells her that he has been following her to the motel on Tuesdays for months, which shocks Nora. She apologizes to him, thinking that she deserves to go to hell. Nora tells him they must protect their children and confesses to him that she thinks this is her punishment for sleeping with William. She asks Al if he thinks that Ryan could have done something to Avery if he found out about her and William, but Al does not believe it.

Gully does not know if Derek molested Avery, but she realizes that if he killed her, Avery’s body might still be inside the Setons’ house. Bledsoe thinks that since it has been two days since Avery’s disappearance, Derek’s parents may have helped him hide the body. Bledsoe tells her to investigate Derek more and see if other girls complained about him. Gully asks Weeks if he thinks he could identify the anonymous caller by their voice, and he agrees to go around the neighborhood and speak to people to see if he can.

Gully knocks on the Setons’ door and tells Alice that they applied for a search warrant, even though it is not true, just to see how she will react. After Gully leaves, Alice realizes that they think that Avery is in their house. She does not think Derek would be capable of anything like that, but she decides to search the house because she feels doubtful about her son’s innocence. Later, Erin asks William if he is sleeping with Nora, and he does not deny it.

Derek’s school tells Gully that no one has complained about Derek. In Marion Cooke’s house, Marion watches the police walking door to door. When the cops knock on her door, Marion speaks with them, and Weeks identifies her voice as the anonymous caller. She agrees to come down to the police station.

Bledsoe tells Gully that they found the anonymous caller. Later, Bledsoe and Gully sit with Marion in an interview room. They ask her why she waited a day to report seeing Avery getting into Ryan’s car and why she did not give her name. Marion says that she hoped Avery would turn up on her own and she did not give her name because she did not want her name to be in the news. She explains that her ex-husband was abusive toward her, and she does not want to risk him finding her. Bledsoe tells her that they will keep her name out of the press, and Marion looks relieved.

Bledsoe and Gully arrest Ryan, and Bledsoe decides to hold Ryan overnight. Marion lives in a house on the same street as the Woolers. She has a basement with a guest room attached to it. When she gets home, she goes down to the basement and calls for Avery.

Avery asks Marion what the police wanted, but Marion tells her it was the same routine questioning. Avery watches the news, remembering how satisfying it was when she saw the police arrest William. She wants him to suffer, but she worries about Ryan’s arrest. Marion goes upstairs and makes them dinner. She brings the food downstairs, and they watch the evening news. Avery gets angry when she hears that the police arrested Ryan. Marion knows Avery does not suspect that she is the witness. She thinks about how Avery has no idea that Marion has no intention of letting her leave.

Avery thinks that Marion is stupid. Avery knows that she holds the power in their relationship because if Avery ever tells the police that Marion kept her in her basement, no one will believe that it was Avery’s idea, they will blame Marion. She remembers when she first met Marion over the summer and Marion invited her inside for cookies. Avery knew she was not supposed to speak to strangers, but she went inside with Marion after she told her that she was a nurse who worked with William. Marion was nice to her, and Avery kept going to her house for cookies. Marion assures Avery that the police will not find out about them.

Marion takes the dishes upstairs and locks the basement door behind her. Avery does not know that Marion has been locking her inside the whole time. Marion thinks about how Avery does not know that she is in love with William and has been in love with him for years. She always thought they would end up together, but he never showed interest in her. Marion assumed this was because he was loyal to his wife. She invited Avery into the house because she wanted to learn as much about William as possible. Marion thinks about how she probably would have been fine living with her fantasies of William if she had not seen him with Nora a few weeks ago.