The Note

Carter gives Lauren and Nate the warrants, and they retrieve their belongings from the beach house. Lauren calls Kelsey’s lawyer, who is based in Massachusetts and cannot immediately go to New York. The two then try to call Kelsey’s father, Bill. He asks to speak to Lauren, who explains what is happening. Lauren privately reflects that Bill still sees Kelsey as a child who needs protection. She thinks about the true-crime message board that May found, which suggests a connection between the murders of David and Luke. Lauren wonders if Bill is that connection, since he has considerable resources and the desire to protect his daughter.

Lauren apologizes to Nate after hearing how terribly Bill treats him. Nate believes that Bill wants Kelsey to be completely dependent on him and feels threatened by her relationship with Nate. Nate tells Lauren that before developing dementia, his mother, Jeanie, revealed that Bill’s family has Mafia ties and that Bill has “the moral code of a lizard” (345). Nate and Lauren suddenly realize that they need May to serve as Kelsey’s lawyer.