The Couple Next Door

Anne receives a package in the mail containing Cora’s mint green onesie and a typed note demanding $5 million instead of $3 million with instructions to bring the money to an abandoned farm. The kidnappers give them only two days and caution no police. Marco appears uneasy over the amount, but Anne is sure her parents will come through. Indeed, her mother promises she will quietly secure the money before Thursday. Richard offers to accompany Marco—“so you don’t screw it up” (137)—but Marco insists that going alone is safer. When Marco leaves to check in at his office, Anne, uneasy after several days of “fear and grief and horror and despair—and betrayal” (141), decides tidying up the house might occupy her mind.

Marco drives to a spot by a lake where he goes to be alone and assures himself that Anne’s parents will not miss the money. He reviews the events of the last ten days. He approached his father-in-law for a loan but was turned down flat. Bruce Neeland, a new friend Marco met at his favorite bar, convinced Marco that a fake kidnapping would be an easy way out of his financial straits. For a cut of the ransom money, Bruce agreed to rendezvous at Marco’s house and care for Cora while he negotiated the ransom.