Home Before Dark

Walt Hibbets examines the hole in the ceiling as Ewan takes a picture of Petra watching him and Jessica. Hibbs finds an old biscuit tin in the opening above the ceiling. Ewan and Hibbs recently found the hollow boards in the Indigo Room’s floor. It’s where the tin was and where the snakes were. The tin contains four envelopes. The first is a love letter to Indigo from the artist who painted her portrait. Petra begs for the letters, and they agree.

That night, Ewan dreams about envelopes and being attacked by snakes. When he wakes, he hears rapid tapping in the hall as the music begins playing in the study, where he finds the record player set up yet again. He turns it off and wonders whether he’s dreaming and, if so, whether the dream will end.

Maggie goes to the Two Pines Hotel for the night and cries in the shower. She returns a text from Allie but doesn’t elaborate on the disturbing events of the past days. Next, she calls her mother, hoping that this new information will prompt Jessica to reveal more. Jessica doesn’t answer, and Maggie leaves a message. Dane knocks on the door. He has a bottle of bourbon and some beer. As they drink, Dane says his conversations with Ewan were all house-related, although he does remember Ewan asking him once whether Elsa and Hannah had enough money. Maggie still can’t believe that her father is the murderer, even though he’s a liar. She considers sleeping with Dane but asks him to leave. He leaves her the bourbon, which she pours down the sink.

Ewan asks Jessica if she’s causing the disturbances in the house. She denies it and says that Maggie is cleverer than he thinks: Jessica believes that Maggie holds his attention through her imaginary friends. Jessica blames him for making them move and says that she sees how he looks at Petra, which shocks him.

Petra is in the great room and overhears most of their argument. She gives Ewan the letters and says he should read them. They’re all from Callum—the artist—to Indigo. In the first letter, Callum writes that William refused to bless the marriage and proposes that they run away. The portrait of Indigo has the name Callum Auguste in one corner. The second letter, his joyous reply to her acceptance, makes plans for their marriage in secret. The third letter expresses Callum’s concern that William suspects them. The final letter reveals that Callum believes William will do anything to stop them.

Ewan tells Petra that Indigo killed herself. Petra shows Ewan the letter in which Callum says of William, “Do not trust him, my dearest” (213). Petra wonders whether Indigo really killed herself. She suggests that they investigate and that they might find that Indigo’s father murdered her.

Alcott gives Maggie an escort back to Baneberry Hall, where reporters—including Brian Prince—are waiting. Prince asks her whether she thinks her father murdered Petra. Inside, Alcott says that no conclusive results prove the skeleton is Petra’s but that it’s definitely the skeleton of a teenage girl with a fractured skull. Alcott says she always suspected something happened to Petra but hadn’t been in a position to pursue it 25 years ago. They discuss other potential suspects, including Walt. Alcott asks about Dane and reveals that he’s an ex-con. He spent a year in prison after beating a man in a bar.

Alone, Maggie talks to Allie on the phone. Allie is furious. She thought the body she heard about on the news might have been Maggie. After she hangs up, Maggie can’t make herself leave. She came here to find a way to forgive her father, but she can’t forgive a murderer. Her only way to find peace is to learn the whole story. Nevertheless, the house truly feels haunted to her now. She sees the photo of her family on the desk and smashes it. In the wreckage, she finds the paper that says “WHERE??” Then, she finds similar messages written on paper. In total, she finds 24—a message for each year since Petra went missing.

Ewan goes to the Bartleby Library and sees a portrait of William Garson. This portrait is kinder than the one in Baneberry Hall. He meets Petra on the second floor. He feels guilty about not telling Jessica, but she wouldn’t approve of them digging into Baneberry Hall’s history. Petra shows him a file of newspaper clippings. The first is about an open house on September 3, 1876. The others describe a series of tragedies—a car accident, a drowning, and three deaths of bed-and-breakfast guests—mixed with the tabloid reports of celebrity visitors.

Ewan finds the article about Curtis and Katie Carver. When he goes to make copies, Marta Carver comes into the reading room where he uses the copy machine. Ewan asks her if she’d like anything from the house, but she says no. When he mentions the photographs, she flinches and leaves.

Petra is reading an article titled “Garson Deemed Innocent in Daughter’s Death” (228). It claims that a maid saw William putting baneberries in a bowl an hour before Indigo died. Petra is furious because she doesn’t believe they tried to investigate—police didn’t treat it seriously, in her view, because it was a mere missing teenager. They say goodbye and she reminds him that the sleepover is the next day.

The reporters shout the same questions. Maggie drives to the section of woods with the crumbling wall. She crosses through the Ditmers’ backyard and sees Hannah in the cottage. She shows Hannah the 24 notes, and Hannah admits that she wrote them. She left the first on the front porch at Baneberry Hall, furious that Ewan had gotten away with something. Then, she always left a note the day before he returned each year. The notes were always gone the day after he left. She also says that Ewan paid Elsa more each year.

Hannah saw him return two weeks after Petra disappeared. She thinks he was getting rid of her body. This would mean Maggie’s father kept Petra’s corpse elsewhere for two weeks, but Hannah didn’t say anything. The publicity was mounting, and she doubted anyone would listen to her. She did think Petra had a boyfriend, however. She sneaked out frequently and Elsa didn’t condone dating, or anything else she considered sinful. They were only allowed to study, pray, and clean.

Hannah says Buster, Petra’s teddy bear, disappeared at the same time as Petra, which is why Hannah told Elsa that Petra had run away: She wouldn’t have left without Buster. Hannah shows Maggie a photo of her, Petra, and Buster. It’s the teddy bear Maggie found in Ewan’s office. Maggie thinks Petra might have brought the bear to Baneberry Hall the night of her disappearance because she thought she was leaving with Ewan for good. Hannah says that everything her father wrote about the night of the sleepover is true.

Ewan wakes again to a thud, and again he turns off the chandelier. He hopes the sleepover will give him and Jessica some alone time. Instead, during dinner, Maggie asks to speak to them alone, leaving Hannah and Petra at the table. She says Miss Pennyface wants them to leave. She’s angry and doesn’t like the other girls. Finally, Maggie agrees to let them stay but says that all of the ghosts will be mad.

The girls play Mouse Trap and seem fine, but Maggie keeps looking fearfully at the corners of the room, which grows worse after the game. They have a pillow fight and then go to bed. In their room, Ewan says they should take Maggie to a therapist. Jessica worries that it would seem like a punishment for what might simply be a normal period of adjustment. Ewan thinks the ghosts’ names are too scary to be considered normal imaginary friend behavior.

They hear a scream. Outside Maggie’s room, Petra says Maggie is “freaking out” (241). Ewan finds Maggie screaming at the open armoire with her dresses strewn across the floor. Petra says she woke to Hannah screaming that Maggie had pulled her hair. Then, the armoire opened, and things burst out of it.

Maggie says Mister Shadow is under the bed, and Ewan hears a noise that sounds like it’s coming from beneath the bed. Maggie says Miss Pennyface is there and that the girl is right next to Ewan. He feels a presence near him but doesn’t see anything. Hannah screams that something touched her, so Ewan looks under the bed but sees nothing. Maggie punches Hannah, who is begging her to make it stop. Hannah falls off the bed to the floor. Suddenly the armoire and closet doors are closed. Maggie says they’re gone.