The Couple Next Door

Marco thinks how Bruce suggested how easy a “pretend kidnapping” (242) might be. For a cut, he offered to watch the baby and handle the ransom demand. All Marco had to do was get the baby out of the house. They planned to ask for $2 million and split it evenly. Marco agreed but now the plan is in shambles, and “Marco is completely fucked” (244). As he gulps down drink after drink in the same bar, Marco understands that Richard is calling the shots and he is out of the loop. He considers going to the police and pinning everything on the dead man and portraying himself as victim. He catches his reflection in a mirror but “barely recognizes himself” (257).

Anne decides to confront Cynthia over the affair she assumes she and Marco are having. Feeling lightheaded, Anne heads next door. Cynthia dismisses any idea about an affair but shows Anne the video from the backyard. Anne watches, horrified: her own husband kidnapped their baby. Cynthia calmly negotiates with Anne for blackmail money, threatening to go to the police. Anne flees, her mind in turmoil trying to figure out why Marco would do this. She comes up with only one answer—money. Suddenly afraid of her own husband, Anne quickly packs a suitcase and heads to her parents’ home. When her cab pulls up to her parents’ palatial house, she suddenly realizes that she recognizes the dead man from the newspaper.

When Marco returns home, he finds Anne waiting for him in the dark holding a kitchen knife. She knows about his part in the kidnapping and tells him about Cynthia’s blackmail plan. She also accuses him of killing Bruce Neeland. Marco struggles to defend himself, telling her that he had tried to get the money from her father, that he had nothing to do with Bruce’s death, and that he has no idea where Cora is. Anne tells Marco she recognized the man in the photo as an old acquaintance of her father’s. Why, she asks, why would the man who helped kidnap their child know her father?

Marco is quick to guess: Richard was behind the whole kidnapping plot as a way to get rid of Marco and bring Anne and the baby home. The two head to Anne’s parents’ home, Anne certain her baby is there. Calmly, Richard explains he has been in touch with the kidnappers and is waiting now to head out for a rendezvous. They asked for an additional $2 million, which Anne’s mother has given. Anne, reeling and uncertain, tells her father that she recognized Bruce Neeland/Derek Honig as a friend of his. Richard has an answer for everything despite Marco’s desperate accusation that he is “the mastermind behind all this!” (276). Marco demands Richard produce the note—Richard cannot, he says, because he destroyed it as it incriminated Marco in the kidnapping. Richard, Marco realizes, “has won” (281). He will bring back the baby he himself had kidnapped, be a hero, and pocket nearly $7 million. Marco cannot fathom why Richard would go to such extremes to take money, essentially, from himself. When Rasbach arrives, Richard lies to protect Marco. He says the kidnappers called him about the ransom demand. However, Rasbach knows that Richard is lying because he has the phones tapped.

Through the perspective of Alice, Anne’s mother, it is revealed that Alice and Richard have had a frayed marriage for years. Richard, whom Alice suspects is having an affair, cannot leave her because of an ironclad pre-nuptial agreement that would leave him penniless. Months ago, Alice hired a private detective to follow Richard. She learned he was having an affair with Cynthia Stillwell, Marco and Anne’s neighbor. It is only when Alice hears Marco’s confession that she puts the scheme together. Richard kidnapped his own grandchild to get untraceable ransom money ($7 million and counting) and leave Alice for his mistress, Cynthia.

Anne spends the night with her parents. Unable to sleep, she sees Richard out the window, carrying a large gym bag across the lawn in the shadows. Without thinking, she heads out to follow him. She finds Richard but he is coming toward her and is carrying a squirmy bundle: Cora.

Relieved, Anne phones Marco who immediately heads to the estate. The family reunites in a tearful embrace. Rasbach arrives shortly after. It is time, he tells Marco, to tell the truth. He lays out what he believes: Marco’s money trouble, his arrangement with Derek Honig, the botched exchange, and Honig’s murder. Rasbach reassures Marco that the murder evidence does not point to Marco and that the phone taps have revealed Richard’s affair with Cynthia. Rasbach believes the father-in-law is responsible but needs Marco’s testimony. If Marco cooperates, the DA will make a favorable deal. Marco agrees, and Rasbach arrests Richard on the spot. He reveals that earlier that day they arrested the daughter of Richard’s secretary who, because of a drug problem, cooperated with Richard and watched Cora during the entire ordeal. Marco is relieved—“It’s finally over” (298). With Cora back in her crib, Marco asks meekly for Anne to forgive him when she is ready.

Before Alice leaves, she tells Anne about Richard’s affair with Cynthia. Once the baby and Marco are asleep, Anne slips out and heads next door. Cynthia, surprised by the late visit, lets Anne in. Anne tells Cynthia Cora is safe while eyeing the knives on the kitchen island. She tells Cynthia there will be no blackmail because Marco has a deal with the DA. Anne only wants to know if Cynthia was involved in the kidnapping plot. Cynthia answers, “If I had been involved do you think I would have let that baby survive?” (306).

The next thing Anne knows she is sitting in the Stillwell house, “slumped on the sofa, staring straight ahead as if in a trance” (308). An ambulance pulls up outside the house. Anne notices a bloody carving knife in her lap and that she is splattered with blood. Marco runs in and asks her what happened. Anne replies, “I don’t know. I don’t remember” (308).