The God of the Woods

Alice settles into life as Bear’s mother and adores him. He is a talented child who, to her relief, shares none of her physical features. Because she has no friends and no hobbies, Bear is Alice’s only company during Peter’s frequent business trips to Manhattan. Peter instructs her on how to fit in better into rarified social settings and encourages her to drink more alcohol. Alice follows Peter’s instructions, and her drinking increases.

On the night of July 10, Carl Stoddard is awakened by a phone call at the volunteer firefighter station. The operator puts Peter Van Laar through. Though Carl works as a gardener for the Van Laars, it is coincidence that he is the one who takes the call. Peter tells Carl that his son is missing. Carl recalls having seen Bear earlier that day. The volunteer firefighters head there immediately.

As they drive, Carl tells the others what little he knows: that Bear was on a hike with his grandfather but turned back to retrieve his pocket knife and never rejoined his grandfather. At the estate, they are met by Victor “Vic” Hewitt—the groundskeeper and Carl’s boss. He brings the firefighters to the Van Laars, telling them to try not to further alarm the couple.

During the spring when Bear is five, Alice plans the annual “Blackfly Goodbye.” She debates whether to invite her sister Delphine, whose husband George recently died of a heart attack. Peter insists on inviting her, and Alice is glad when Delphine accepts.

At the party, Alice is taken aback when Delphine prefers to spend time with the children rather than the adults. The days are filled with organized activities, such as fishing competitions and party games, and Alice is relieved at the end of each day when she can retreat to privacy. One night, she hears Delphine crying in her bedroom. Delphine admits to Alice that she misses George. She also wonders if Alice and Peter are truly a good match and fears that Peter will not allow Alice to be herself. Delphine has decided to pursue a college degree and suggests that Alice would benefit from doing the same. Alice—knowing that Peter would disapprove—makes excuses. Delphine wonders if the economic privilege they enjoyed growing up has done them a disservice, and Alice is secretly shocked that Delphine would talk openly about money. When Alice goes to bed, Peter is still awake; he cautions her to stay away from Delphine.

Carl and the other firefighters ask Peter III and Peter II (Bear’s father and grandfather, respectively) to recount recent events. The grandfather explains that Bear turned back to the house to retrieve his pocket knife, explaining that he wanted to show his grandfather something. Carl, who taught Bear how to use a knife to determine which logs make good firewood, suspects that this is what Bear wanted to show the elder Peter, but Carl says nothing.

The grandfather explains that he waited for Bear to return for at least 20 minutes, until it began to rain. Carl and his group study the trailhead in the dark. One of them proposes using a dog to hunt for the boy’s scent; another suggests informing the state police. As they talk, Carl reveals that he saw Bear tying his shoe earlier, explaining that the detail just occurred to him. Suddenly, there is a commotion in the woods and Victor Hewitt’s daughter, Tessie Jo (TJ) emerges.

Carl, knowing that Tessie Jo is a friend of Bear’s, assumes that she is in shock after having most likely spent the night searching for Bear. He goes home to his wife, Maryanne, and thinks of their deceased son, Scotty. Maryanne plans to help with the search the next day. The firefighters join police and dozens of volunteers from throughout the town and plan to first search with dogs. Vic Hewitt assigns search locations. As they sweep the woods, Carl is uncomfortable hearing the shouting of Bear’s name, and he recalls having heard the elder Peter calling for Bear on one occasion. At the time, the boy confessed to Carl that he did not like his grandfather. During the search, Carl grows overheated and suddenly collapses.

Tracy becomes enamored of Barbara, who is unlike the other campers. As a first-year camper, Barbara is an outsider but because she is the daughter of the camp’s owners, she carries prestige and reverence. Tracy is surprised to learn that Barbara regards herself as a friend of TJ’s. On July 13, Tracy finds Lowell reading a newspaper. The headline announces Jacob Sluiter’s escape. Tracy knows very little of Bear Van Laar’s disappearance but is aware of the rumors blaming Sluiter. Lowell offers the paper to Tracy, then invites her to sing with him sometime. Tracy accepts. Back in her cabin, Tracy learns that Sluiter was apprehended in 1964 for 11 murders that took place between 1961 and 1964. His knowledge of the woods and his survival skills are now helping him to avoid capture. Sluiter is suspected to have killed additional people beyond the known 11.

Lowell knocks on the door of Balsam cabin, looking for Tracy. They head to the amphitheater, where he begins by singing and playing a song. After he sings it once, Tracy joins in, teaching Lowell how to harmonize. When she returns that night, she talks to Barbara, who is certain that Lowell is interested in Tracy and wants to have sex with her.

Tracy knows that Barbara makes nightly treks to an observer’s cabin at Hunt Mountain; the cabin was once used to scout forest fires but is now abandoned. That morning, Tracy is asked if she saw Barbara leave, and she truthfully answers in the negative. While the counselors search for Barbara, Tracy sets off for Hunt Mountain, suspecting that her friend fell asleep there. Before too long, however, Tracy realizes that she is lost.

Judy, who only recently graduated from the Albany police academy, is surprised when she is thrown into the investigation of Barbara’s disappearance. During the drive to Self-Reliance, she is briefed on the case and the disappearance of Bear years ago. When they arrive, Judy is instructed to interview the Van Laars without assistance.

Jacob reaches a river that is familiar to him, though he does not know why. He follows it, and when it leads to a series of cabins, he remembers.

Judy attempts to interview the elder Peter Van Laar, who is adamant that Barbara has run away because she has threatened to do so many times. When Judy notes that the case is being handled with care in light of the incident with Bear, Peter becomes angry. He brusquely tells Judy that he is heading off to search himself.

Tracy, as instructed, sits down and begins to yell “I’m lost.” After some time, she remembers to preserve her voice and yells more infrequently. She is tired and thirsty, and she is also angry that she has forgotten her glasses. Suddenly, she spots a person behind a tree.

Louise is interviewed in a small room inside the Great Hall. The plainclothes officer, Denny Hayes, says that he knows her, and Louise realizes that he once dated her mother. He asks Louise if she was in the cabin for the entire night and advises her not to lie. He also advises her to obtain a lawyer. In the small room next to them, Annabel is being interviewed.

Peter tells Alice not to say anything to the detectives, as he is waiting for the captain from Albany—the same person who handled Bear’s disappearance—to arrive. As Alice sits, shivering with shock, she thinks about Barbara, who was always difficult and prone to fits and outbursts, even as a toddler. Unable to quell her behavior, Alice and Peter sent her to boarding school. Recently, they were called to meet with the school director, who informed them that Barbara had invited a boy into her room. After this news, Peter decided that Barbara would change schools in the coming fall and enrolled her in Elan School, which is known for disciplining difficult students.

Alice had planned to tell Barbara this news, but when Barbara asked to spend the summer at Camp Emerson, she decided to wait until they were on their way to the school in the fall to tell her. As she sits, Alice thinks that she hears a girl crying in the distance.

Judy watches the elder Peter and his wife walk across the lawn toward the woods. She is supposed to interview the rest of the party guests but is angered by their demeanor and cavalier nature; many of them are hungover and are still wearing pajamas. Instead, she decides to investigate the house. She finds the bedroom that Alice has just painted pink and notices a messy suitcase inside, which includes a still-wet swimming suit.

The investigator, Denny Hayes, returns and presents Louise with the garbage bag that she asked Annabel to dispose of; it contains the potato chip bag with Annabel’s vomit, an empty beer bottle, and a marijuana joint, and he suggests that the incriminating items belong to Louise. A baggie filled with cocaine is also there. Louise recognizes the cocaine because John Paul uses it. She insists Annabel planted this item in the bag, but Hayes tells her to contact her lawyer right away.

With Hayes, Louise heads to Self-Reliance to ask for John Paul’s help. Instead, she is met by his parents, who angrily explain that although they saw John Paul return in the middle of the night after the fight, he has since disappeared. They are fearful that his disappearance looks suspicious in light of the search for Barbara.

Tracy cannot make out any of the stranger’s features because she is not wearing her glasses. Wordlessly, the stranger beckons, and Tracy follows him. Before long, she can see Camp Emerson. As she approaches, a woman spots her and calls out. Tracy is surprised to see that the woman is her father’s girlfriend, Donna Romano.

From inside the house, Judy watches the McLellans speaking with Louise and Hayes. After the girl leaves, Hayes explains to Judy who she is. Hayes leaves, explaining that he is going to drive Louise to the station for more questioning. One of the guests—a young woman—approaches Judy. She tells Judy of John Paul’s return in the middle of the night, describing the state he was in. The girl does not wish to give Judy her name, explaining that she was invited to Self-Reliance by a friend.

At the station, Hayes gives Louise a nickel to make a phone call. She tries to reach her mother, but her brother Jesse answers the phone; he suspects that their mother is sick because she has not left her bed in days. Jesse confesses that he has not eaten, and Louise instructs him to buy groceries with her account at a nearby store. When the call is cut off, Louise is ushered into an interrogation room.

Alice is certain that she hears a girl crying out, though it is not Barbara’s voice. Suddenly, her husband appears and explains that the chief from Albany is on his way. He tells Alice to go to bed; he will tell the chief that she is too tired to be interviewed. Alice obeys; she plans to take two pills.