Hidden Bodies

Joe lands in Vegas after vaguely convincing Love that he had a hunch that Forty might be there. Love calls and says Ray learned that Forty is at the Bellagio, where Joe finds him at a blackjack table. He plays a slot machine nearby and watches Forty, who loses $1,000 in each hand of cards. He is belligerent with women who sit by him, including a pregnant woman. He brags about his screenplays and insists that he be allowed to smoke. A pit boss named Rocco approaches when Forty interrupts a floor waitress and screams for a gimlet.

Forty moves on and pulls a woman’s hair at a slot machine. He propositions her and she spits at him. Joe thinks Vegas is the most depressing place he has ever seen. A just-married couple enters and Forty gets on stage to congratulate them on a microphone. He calls the groom up and offers him $10,000 if he can kiss his wife. The bride wants to do it and Forty kisses her while groping her. Everyone boos and Joe can tell their marriage will be ruined.

Joe texts Forty and pretends to be Slim, a drug dealer. He then texts Love and says things will change after he finds her brother. He empathizes with the years she has spent chasing Forty while he ignores and tortures her.

Joe finds Forty and pretends that it’s a coincidence. He imagines twins in the womb, with one slowly absorbing the other. Forty says that he’s the best brother in history and that he’ll never get married. He does more cocaine and complains about people who care about food too much. Joe doesn’t think Forty says one true thing during their drive. Then they come to a clown-themed motel. They go to the back where there is a tourist attraction called the early American Cemetery.

Forty goes inside to check for rooms while Joe crushes Percocet into a water bottle. He gives Forty the water, who drinks it because he thinks they are about to do hallucinogenic drugs. As Forty does more cocaine, Joe wonders if Forty might die conveniently before he has to kill him. Then they go to the nearby hot springs.

The hot springs disgust Joe. As they soak, Forty says Joe could be a great writer if he were willing to get grimier. He has to keep making more Percocet water because the constant cocaine cancels the sedative out. Joe thinks of the ayahuasca he has in his bag. Joe hesitates as he realizes that killing Forty will hurt Love.

Joe gets an email alert. It links to the Providence Journal Bulletin and shows a picture of Peach Salinger. The article reports that the police got an anonymous tip and have reopened the case. They no longer believe her death was a suicide. Joe pushes Forty’s head underwater. Joe does a tiny bump of cocaine after Forty goes under but can’t tell if the rush is from the drug or the killing.

Joe calls Love and lies, saying that he has no clues. He says he thinks he sees Forty and hangs up. Then he texts that it was a false alarm. Joe watches a press conference with Florence Salinger, Peach’s mother. She says Peach was never suicidal and disapproves of the police’s lack of effort prior to the anonymous tip. Joe thinks about Amy because he knows he must return to the Salinger house in Rhode Island to get the mug he left full of his urine. He flies there and texts Love before renting a car and driving toward what he thinks will be his undoing.