Fool Me Once

However, Eddie is not on the other line; it’s Leather and Lace. Per their agreement, Corey calls once from the club, a signal for Maya to come by. She’s buzzed into the employee entrance by security but asked to hand over her weapon. Maya refuses, and Lulu lets her keep her gun. Corey is smoking marijuana, further fueling his paranoia. He asks about Douglass, and Maya relays that he has been missing since before Joe was killed. Corey agrees to hack into Tom’s devices again to try and locate him. Corey becomes scared that his organization is no longer “airtight,” which would threaten the lives of his countless whistleblowers. They can’t go to the cops, however, as then Corey would certainly be exposed. Besides, given that Caroline suspects that Kierce has taken bribes, Maya no longer trusts the police. Trust is also tenuous between Maya and Corey, but Maya reminds Corey that he has something over her: the audio. She asks again why he didn’t release it, and Corey admits that it wouldn’t change anything for the military and that Maya already has to live with what she did. That is punishment enough.

Maya arrives at Judith’s office. Mary McLeod ushers Maya inside. Mary is not a receptionist like Maya thinks; rather, she is Judith’s colleague. Maya has been ambushed again by a psychiatrist. Mary talks about her son, Jack, who served two tours in the Middle East. Maya accuses Mary of making up a military son to put her at ease; it has the opposite effect. She storms out and heads to Farnwood, where Judith sits—“posed as though she were shooting a magazine cover” (247)—wearing pearls with a crystal glass in hand. When Judith asks about Douglass, revealing that she knows that he investigated Andrew’s death, Judith drops her drink. Neither woman moves an inch as the broken glass settles. The question staggered Judith, who either didn’t know about the payoffs or didn’t think that Maya would discover them.

Judith’s reaction to Maya’s assertion that Andrew’s death was no accident seems genuine to Maya. Judith vehemently denies that her son killed himself. Maya pushes further, telling her that Claire found out about Douglass before she and Joe were both murdered. Judith again falters when she learns that the same gun killed both her son and his sister-in-law. She finally admits to covering up Andrew’s suicide to preserve appearances. Though paying off Douglass is confirmed, Judith denies bribing Kierce, chalking it up to Caroline’s confusion, as Caroline has been institutionalized. Judith claims that Caroline hadn’t seen her brothers’ bodies due to the condition they were in, not because of some conspiracy. Like Caroline, Judith says, Maya needs rest and to stop pursuing old wounds, lest she hurt her sons even more.

When Maya picks up Lily, Eddie gives her intel on Claire’s E-Z Pass records—a week before her murder, she visited Douglass in the morning and then went to Philadelphia. Maya recalls that Joe and Andrew boarded at Franklin Biddle prep school outside of Philadelphia. She leaves a voicemail for Caroline asking her to check in. She muses that it’s part of the human condition to believe your own perspective while discounting others. Maya wonders if her own judgment could be trusted to be objective. She concludes, “But then again, screw objectivity, right?” (260).

Eileen is in her driveway when Maya pulls in. Shaking, Eileen reveals that Robby has been spying on her through the nanny cam. Photos were sent to her in the mail of moments like her kids playing on her couch as well as Eileen entertaining a date. Maya processes the news, wondering if the footage of Joe could have indeed been planted.

Maya calls Shane with another favor, a proposition he is dismayed to be used to. He agrees to send people by to sweep for bugs while reiterating that Maya should seek help from Dr. Wu. It’s a stalemate. After changing her internet passwords and signing into a VPN, Maya searches for information on Andrew. She finds a headline: “YOUNG BURKETT SCION DROWNS OFF YACHT” (267). After a night of partying with friends and family, Andrew was reported missing in the morning. Maya learns that Caroline and Rosa were on the yacht in addition to Joe and Andrew’s classmates.

Searching for information about Franklin Biddle Academy, Maya is surprised to find that another contemporary of Joe’s died during his time in high school—Theo Mora, also 17—six weeks before Andrew. Like Andrew, Theo was on the soccer team that Joe co-captained. Looking at a team photo, Maya finds three other teammates who were present on the yacht the night that Andrew went missing. Despite knowing the dangers of poking around in Burkett family history, Maya resolves to drive down to Franklin Biddle as soon as possible, promising, “I’ll figure it out Andrew. I’ll avenge you too” (269).