Killing Mr. Griffin

Susan’s parents encourage her to go to Mr. Griffin’s funeral to pay her respects to her former teacher and his wife. Susan says she can’t go, and her family discusses the news that the police have ordered an autopsy after finding bruises on his body, though they think he could have died from a heart attack. Her family reads from the newspaper that Lana discovered the body and that a man’s small sized windbreaker was wrapped around Mr. Griffin.

Meanwhile, Jeff’s parents are worried about his friendship with Mark. Jeff is using his only day free from practice to work on Mark’s car, and they worry that Mark is taking advantage of Jeff. Jeff’s father reasons with his mother, saying that Mark’s uncle physically abuses him, and his aunt refuses to provide him with food. He says he’s proud of Jeff for being a constant in Mark’s life. They agree that Jeff is old enough to handle his own relationships and that they’re proud of who their son has become.

Cathy’s neighbor Rose is looking after her through her grief. Cathy tries to recall the name of the girl who provided Mark with the term paper that had him removed from her husband’s class, but she has a hard time concentrating.

Dave’s grandmother tries to come to terms with the idea that she’ll never see her son again. Dave again asks for the college ring back, making his grandmother even more suspicious about who the ring could belong to. She knew that Dave was lying about finding the ring and could tell that Susan was lying too. When Dave and his mother leave for the funeral, another boy whom Dave’s grandmother doesn’t recognize shows up.

While Susan’s family attends church, Jeff and Betsy come over and tell her to cover for them. Betsy told her parents she’s spending the night at Susan’s house so that she and Jeff can sell off Mr. Griffin’s now-painted car. They call Dave who tells them that his grandmother is dead. He says they think that she fell and hit her head trying to get out of her chair while he and his mother attended church. Susan says that Jeff has asked Dave to cover for him and that he told his parents that he’s staying at Dave’s house. Dave says that he won’t be able to cover for Jeff because so many people are over, and his mother’s friend is monitoring telephone calls for them. Susan encourages Dave to find the ring his grandmother took from his drawer, but Dave says too much is going on and that he will look later. A nosy neighbor claims she saw a young man with a brown sweater inside the house with Dave’s grandmother before her death.

After hanging up the phone, Susan remembers that Mark often wears a brown sweater. She almost passes out as she makes the realization that after she called Mark to tell him about the ring, he told her not to worry and that he would get it. She tells Jeff and Betsy she believes that Mark killed Dave’s grandmother and claims she’s going to tell the police. Jeff holds her back while Betsy gets Mark. Mark comes into the house with Betsy, wearing a brown sweater.

When Mark comes inside, he asks where Susan’s family has gone. Hearing that they’re at church, Mark tells Betsy to get something to cut the cord on some drapes so they can tie Susan up. Susan appeals to Betsy, but Betsy doesn’t care and goes to get a knife. Mark asks what Susan has been telling Jeff and Betsy. Susan declares that Mark killed Dave’s grandmother and Mark denies it. Mark asks why Susan thinks he killed Dave’s grandmother, to which Susan responds that Mark knew his grandmother had the ring. Mark retorts that Susan knew it too, calling her baby.

Betsy returns with a knife, and Mark asks her if she thinks he killed Dave’s grandmother. Betsy responds that she doesn’t think Mark did anything and Jeff asks what they’re going to do next. Mark tells Jeff to tie Susan up like they tied up Mr. Griffin, and Jeff hesitates, saying he doesn’t want to be a part of what they do if they’re going to do the same thing to Susan that they did to Mr. Griffin. Mark tells Jeff that he’s a part of anything they do and turns to leave so they can sell Mr. Griffin’s car. Betsy interjects, asking what they’re going to do when Susan tells her family what they’ve done, and Mark says that he doesn’t think Susan will say anything. Jeff asks what’s to stop Susan from telling anyone, and Mark becomes frustrated, asking Jeff why he doesn’t trust him. Jeff says that he does, but he wants to know what’s going on if he’s going to play a part.

Betsy tells Jeff to trust Mark. Mark tells Jeff to drive his own car and Susan begs Jeff not to leave her alone with Mark. Mark tells Jeff to get a head start on getting to where they’ll sell Mr. Griffin’s car, and he’ll stay behind to talk to Susan. Jeff asks Mark if he thinks he can convince Susan not to say anything, to which Betsy says that Mark can convince Susan just like he did the last time before she saw the principal.

Mark opens a window and starts a fire in the fireplace. Susan tells Mark to be careful or he’ll set the house on fire. Mark only responds that the curtains must burn first, or at least, that’s how he set fire to his house in Denver. Susan says she knows, and that she’s sorry, but Mark says his father had it coming because he was going to let Mark be sent away for forging checks in his name. Before she loses consciousness, Susan sees two figures appear. A man pulls Mark out of a window and Cathy Griffin saves her before she can be burned alive.

Susan’s mother reveals that Cathy Griffin happened to be at the right place at the right time to save Susan. Cathy finally remembered Lana’s name in connection with Mark and the copied term paper. Detective Baca and Cathy were on their way to Susan’s house to question her again when Cathy recognized Mr. Griffin’s car in the driveway. Her mother tells her they saw the fire and pulled out Susan and Mark. Susan asks if they must keep discussing what happened, and her mother says they do to understand how Susan and her classmates were influenced by Mark. Susan’s mother reads a description of an individual aloud to her, and Susan recognizes the description to be about Mark. Her mother tells her that it is a description of a psychopath published by the American Psychiatric Association.

Susan’s mother further explains that Mark is being charged with Mr. Griffin’s murder, the murder of Dave’s grandmother, and the attempted murder of Susan. Dave, Betsy, and Jeff face second-degree murder charges for their role. If Susan helps tell the truth on the stand, she can avoid manslaughter charges. Her mother says Susan and her family will be attending family counseling together and that she needs to get ready to go shopping for new curtains.

Susan finds a note from Cathy Griffin. Cathy passes along Mr. Griffin’s evaluation of Susan’s poem. He writes that he’s excited to work with her for another year.