The Perfect Marriage

Adam hears from his literary agent, who tells him that there are already multiple offers for his tell-all book. Adam also hears from Rebecca. Rebecca confirms details about Kelly/Jenna’s first husband, Greg Miller. After he was found stabbed to death, Kelly/Jenna was charged with his murder—but she got off because of misplaced evidence. Rebecca suggests that “Scott Summers helped her get away with it,” since he was the first officer on the scene of the crime and he and Kelly/Jenna then left Wisconsin and got married (187).

The question is whether Greg has remaining family that might want to kill Kelly/Jenna for revenge. Rebecca reveals that Greg is survived by his elderly parents, who seem like unlikely suspects—and by a brother, Nicholas Miller, who lives in Maryland. Adam assumes, “It has to be him. Who else would want to kill Kelly?” (188). Rebecca has not found Nicholas Miller, but she has looked up all the male Millers in Maryland and put together a list of names, addresses, and phone numbers—presumably, one of these could be Greg’s brother. Adam plans to start calling each Miller on the list, one by one, in hopes of finding Greg’s brother.

Sarah meets with Sheriff Stevens to see what progress he has made in his investigation. The Sheriff has become increasingly stand-offish after he initially seemed eager to help her, and Sarah is not sure why. Sarah suggests Sheriff Stevens look into Jesse Hook as a suspect. The Sheriff agrees.

Adam continues to work his way down the list of Millers in Maryland in hopes of finding Greg Miller’s brother. Adam reviews theories of who the real killer is: Options include Scott, Greg’s brother, or the mystery person who sent the threatening note and photo of Adam with Kelly/Jenna two weeks previously.

Adam’s DIY investigative work is interrupted by his mom, Eleanor, returning to the lake house. He tells her about his book deal, and she replies, “Oh, honey. That’s amazing. I’m proud of you. Your father would be proud too” (196). In response, Adam thinks to himself, “I’m not sure that’s true, given my circumstances” (196).

Sheriff Stevens informs Sarah that he has brought Jesse Hook in for questioning. As Adam’s lawyer, Sarah is permitted to observe the interrogation through the one-way mirror. Through the questioning, it becomes clear that Jesse was obsessed with Kelly/Jenna and perhaps even stalked her.

While observing the questioning, Sarah is interrupted by Deputy Hudson. Again, Sarah notes that Deputy Hudson seems to have an unusually intense interest in the case. While observing the questioning, Sarah also gets text messages from Anne who informs her that Adam spent $10,000 at a mattress and bedding store, and that he has been getting visits from a reporter (Rebecca).

Sarah arrives at the lake house and warns Adam about talking to Rebecca. Sarah also tells Adam about Jesse Hook, whose involvement could create enough reasonable doubt to get Adam acquitted. Finally, Sarah asks Adam about the many phone calls he has been making from the lake house phone. Adam tells her about Rebecca, and Sarah calls Rebecca’s investigations a “dead end.”

Adam and Sarah argue about how to approach the case. Adam also tells Sarah about the tell-all, which further annoys her. She accuses him and his “delusional mother” of turning the whole case into a “circus” (211). Sarah storms out.

Sarah has dinner with her friend Matthew. Matthew questions Sarah’s approach to Adam’s case, specifically that she is pushing for a fast trial. The next day, Sarah gets a call from Sheriff Stevens: the third set of DNA is not a match for Jesse Hook.

Adam continues to call numbers on his list of Millers in Maryland. When Adam calls one house, a man picks up: “He answers so fast that I miss his name—I’m thinking Rob. But I can’t be sure” (222). When Adam explains that he is looking for Nicholas Miller, the man tells Adam he has the wrong number and hangs up.

Rebecca arrives at the lake house. She has three file folders—each one has information, including a photo, about a person related to Greg Miller who lives in the area. One is Greg’s cousin, a woman named Cheryl; another is his brother, Nicholas Robert Miller; a third person is Greg’s ex-fiancée. Adam does not think that any of these three people is the murderer and grows frustrated.

While Rebecca is at the lake house, she looks through some paperwork from Adam’s case that Sarah dropped off the previous day. Adam glances at the handwritten note accompanying the box of documents: “Here are the copies of the case files you asked for” (226). He realizes that the handwriting on the note is the same as the handwriting on the photo and the threatening note, and tells Rebecca.

Sarah remains worried about the third set of DNA. She talks to Anne about the case, and the two of them share theories. Sarah reflects on her relationship with Anne, thinking, “She’s the one person I can always depend on, the one person I can always trust” (231).

Back at the lake house, Adam reveals who the handwriting belongs to: Anne. Adam tells Rebecca, “She’s obsessed with Sarah, and she’s never really liked me. Maybe she wanted her all to herself” (233). Furious, Adam gets in his car to drive to Sarah’s law firm. Rebecca chases after him, protesting that he is on house arrest (with an ankle monitor) and is not allowed to leave.

Sarah is at her law firm, in a conference room with Anne, Matthew, and the DA who is trying Adam’s case. Sarah is hoping to get Adam a better deal by convincing the DA that his case is not as straightforward as it seems. Specifically, Sarah wants to suggest that Jesse Hook could be a suspect (which could create enough reasonable doubt to keep Adam from getting convicted). Before the conversation can start, the meeting is interrupted by a scream outside the room.

Adam storms into Sarah’s law firm and accuses Anne of killing Kelly/Jenna. Sarah, Matthew, Anne, the DA, and Bob are all present. Adam advances on Anne, as if he might harm her. Bob punches Adam to stop him. Adam reveals that Anne wrote the threatening note sent with the photo of Adam and Kelly/Jenna. Anne admits this is true. Anne explains that she was out at the lake house taking photos (her hobby) when she saw Adam with Kelly/Jenna. She took the photo of them and wrote the threatening note—however, she clarifies, “It wasn’t a death threat, it was as ‘I’m going to tell Sarah if you don’t’ threat” (241).

Sheriff Stevens, Deputy Hudson, and Scott Summers arrive on the scene. Adam’s ankle monitor sent an alert when he left the lake house, and the police tracked him to the law firm. Adam realizes that he recognizes Bob—and that Bob is Nicholas Robert Miller, Greg Miller’s brother. Adam accuses Bob of being the killer. Officer Summers, enraged, attacks Bob.