I Have Some Questions for You

Later that night, Geoff orders pizza for dinner, as he, Bodie, and Alder look through a suitcase of papers, photos, and yearbooks from Granby Geoff has brought. They notice the pattern of mud on Robbie’s back from photos the night of the murder, realizing its splatter comes from riding a bike through campus. Thinking through the timeline, they decide that Robbie had enough time to murder Thalia and join the party. Bodie remains skeptical and still wonders whether Bloch murdered Thalia, but is forced to realize that her obsession with Bloch has hidden the actual suspect in plain sight. Alder, Geoff, and Bodie discuss possible scenarios centered on Robbie, noting that pictures of the mattress party don’t exist until Robbie appears. Bodie grapples with her doubt, confessing that it took a long time for her to realize that Omar hadn’t killed Thalia. Now, she admits she was blinded to the real killer again, simply because Bloch had preyed on Thalia and Robbie seemed nice.

Bodie catalogues individual cases of gender-based violence, mentioning the brief outlines of cases. Mentioning each man’s excuse, the cases blur into each other.

The next morning, Bodie asked Fran if her sons could reenact the bike ride from the gym to the place in the woods, where Robbie and his friends drank the night of Thalia’s murder. Bodie likens the unraveling of the case to the undoing of a knotted necklace. She remembers her mother used olive oil to work out the tangles. The mud on Robbie’s back, Bodie argues, was key to untangling this case. Geoff remarks that Granby students weren’t asked if Robbie arrived late, only if he left early. In the meantime, Fran texts that the boys accomplish Robbie’s supposed route in 12 and 15 minutes, suggesting that Robbie had enough time to join the party after killing Thalia.

Later that night, Bodie goes to meet Mike, seeking to discover the truth about Robbie, and thinking she’ll flirt with him to get answers. As they share whiskey, Bodie asks about Robbie, finding out that he was on scholarship, and, later, that a peer’s family pays his tuition. Bodie and Mike discuss that night as she asks question after question about Robbie. They reminisce about various places on campus to make out or to smoke, including the shed. According to Mike, Thalia haunts Robbie. He blames himself for her murder because they were supposed to meet and miscommunicated. She waited for him at the shed. Mike admits that Robbie collected information from his friends the day after Thalia was found, writing it down. Angry, Bodie realizes that Robbie orchestrated his alibi using photos from the party and his friend’s memories.

After her talk with Mike, Bodie considers what Bloch might feel. She asks a number of rhetorical questions as she discusses the torment that Omar lives with and wonders if Bloch ever considered how his actions would affect Thalia or Omar.

After speaking with Mike, Bodie texts Yahav to see if new evidence could be introduced. Yahav responds that the defense could introduce it. Yahav asks if there is new evidence, and Bodie demurs, admitting to herself that there really isn’t.

Bodie discovers from Instagram that Beth hasn’t returned home yet and is at a resort in Vermont with her husband. Bodie confides in Britt that Beth remains close to them, asking her to drive Bodie to Vermont. On the trip, Bodie discovers that Britt and Alder are dating, and Bodie daydreams about Omar being freed, moving in with his brother and enjoying quotidian pleasures like new sheets. Britt calls the spa once they arrive, pretending to be Beth, only to find out that she’s already at her spa appointment.

Bodie waits for Beth outside the spa, and, as soon as Beth sees Bodie, Bodie demands to buy her a drink. Shocked, Beth agrees, and sends her husband a message explaining her absence. Bodie again tells Beth that she experienced assault when the boys watched Dorian and she have sex. She agrees, and Bodie begins to ask when Beth remembers seeing Robbie at the party the night Thalia died. Beth reveals that Robbie showed up at least half an hour later and scared her, jumping from behind a tree. Bodie and Beth both discuss how controlling and abusive Robbie was, from slapping Thalia to throwing out all her photo collages. Bodie asks Beth to testify again, attempting to persuade her to help Omar.

Addressing Bloch, Bodie recounts several cases of gender-based violence, where authorities either dismiss the survivor or minimize their pain. Bodie recalls Lorena Bobbitt. She also discusses one woman whom Barbara Walters interviewed. In the interview, Walters asked if the woman had forgiven her attacker in order to achieve closure, to which the unnamed woman replies, “Am I supposed to?” (411).

In her last vision of the murder, Bodie imagines Robbie murdering Thalia. She pictures them eye to eye, as his anger boils over, and his violent slamming of her body. Bodie admits that this is an easier vision than when she tried to imagine Omar doing it. The next morning, Robbie attends the brunch and participates in the Granby International a week later. He graduates with good grades.

Back at the hotel, Bodie retreats to the pool, attempting to stay at the bottom. Refusing to breathe, Bodie recalls Jasmine Wilde’s video and wonders what Wilde meant at the end, when she claimed, “[s]ometimes you have to take” (415). As Bodie surfaces, she notices a voicemail on her phone. Beth has called and agreed to tell Amy what she knows and remembers.

After leaving Amy a long voicemail, Bodie waits at Aroma Mocha in Kern for news from the hearing. She sees Robbie across the street and has conflicting feelings. Here, she thinks, is Thalia’s murderer, living a life Omar can’t, but here too is the father of young children. Robbie’s children get soft serve ice cream as Bodie watches.

Bodie admits that Bloch didn’t kill Thalia, but she argues that he remains complicit, having endangered Thalia with his inappropriate attentions.

Dane Rubra acknowledges that his initial impulse was correct—Beth Docherty has testified that Robbie was not at the party until almost ten o’ clock, and that he hit Thalia. Bloch, Rubra argues, served as the impetus for Robbie’s crime. His affair with an underage student enraged Robbie. Geoff and Bodie discuss these events in bed, as they have become intimate during the hearing.

Bodie recalls her arrival at Granby and Severn Robeson giving her a tour of campus. He took her to Couchman, his old dorm, showing her his carved initials in a window frame in the common room. Bodie observes how different this graffiti is from that she saw in Indiana. Bodie remembers this carving as the moment she knew she could belong at Granby.

On Thursday, Robbie testifies with his lawyer behind him, prompting his every answer. Yahav, skeptical of the case against Robbie, tells Bodie that there’s no evidence against Robbie. Bodie responds that that’s true of the case against Omar as well.

Bodie rehearses the details of more cases, mostly centered on gender-based violence, and catalogs how many murderers escape justice. In a general way, she also discusses her brother Ace and her father’s death.

Flying back home after the hearing ends, Bodie discovers emails from survivors of Bloch’s harassment and abuse. Rubra forwards another email, and the evidence of Bloch’s inappropriate behavior and abuse of his position multiply.

In April, Bodie flies to New York, spending a week with Geoff, eating and spending time together. They make plans for Geoff to visit her in LA She doesn’t tell Fran about Geoff, awaiting the perfect time to let Fran know that they’re finally together after 30 years. At Granby, Bodie hears that the hearing for a new trial failed, and Yahav consoles Bodie via text, telling her the system works as designed. He apologizes.

Referring to other cases of gender-based violence, Bodie lists evidence from different cases, from shoes or ATM cards left behind to blood and hair or phones and handwriting.

At Granby, Fran and Bodie watch a performance of Into the Woods, a much more professional production than their amateur performance of Camelot. Bodie thinks about various cases in which wrongfully convicted people were released. After the performance, Fran and Bodie have beers with Anne and watch Amy March’s statement at the prison. Fran and Bodie commemorate Carlotta by sprinkling “an eighth of [her] ashes in the Tigerwhip” (434). Bodie remembers that Carlotta loved Granby and thinks of her children before recalling other memories of her friends together, having fun at Granby.