The Last Word

The text of Murder Beach directly contradicts Kane’s website. The narrator states, “It wasn’t supposed to happen like this” (353). The author of Murder Beach previously thought that Emma would be easy to kill because she was already experiencing suicidal urges, but now he decides that this story is about her redemption, not about her murder.

When Howard goes back inside the house, he discovers that his mother is dead due to “positional asphyxia”; he tied her in a position that caused her to suffocate. This is the same way that Laura died, trying to free herself from his bonds. Howard feels guilty for these deaths and for the death of the delivery driver. His guilt turns into murderous rage. He doesn’t want to eat prison food and be kept away from his video games. Suddenly, Laika runs up to the house, and Howard grabs her, intending to kill her.

In Emma’s perspective, she tells Howard to leave her dog alone and uses the stun gun on his face. (She retrieved the weapon from the delivery vehicle and circled back to the house to save Laika.) Now, as she continues to tase Howard, he shoots her in the leg. Howard watches her grab the pot of cool water. She hits Howard in the face with the pot, and as he recovers, she crawls into a bedroom that she finally realizes is his and reflects on the fact that the space always gave her a bad feeling.

Emma imagines talking to Shawn. He says, “I’ll meet you there” (367)—the same thing he said on the day they met. She finally admits to herself that she has been imagining Shawn all this time. She recalls Howard mentioning that he hid the sword he once used to dismember Laura’s body, and when Emma retrieves it, she also finds photographs of Laura, along with hair, bones, and teeth. Howard breaks into the room and points his gun at Emma. Laika attacks Howard, giving Emma the opportunity to stab Howard in the chest with his sword. She also tells him that his book is terrible.

Emma takes Howard’s phone and gun. After crawling into the living room, she thanks Laika and calls 911. In the transcript of her call, Emma tells the operator that Howard has killed several people and that she has killed him. The operator asks if Emma is sure that Howard is dead but doesn’t get a reply.

The narrative returns to Emma’s perspective. She hears Howard moving around in the bedroom. When he gets to the living room, she shoots him.

The narrative returns to the transcript of the call, in which she confirms that she has killed Howard.

Emma recovers from her injury in Holy Family Regional Hospital. Eric Grayson, one of the police officers who came by on the night of her attack, visits her. In the aftermath of the attack, Howard’s apartment was found to have more games than books, and the physical evidence indicated that he had stopped taking his antipsychotic medication. The police believe that Howard was working alone, but Emma suspects that he had an accomplice because he said, “He told me I had to kill you” (379). Howard planned to frame an unhoused man for Emma’s murder. Now, she tells Eric about her concerns, and he advises her to move on with her life.

In Murder Beach, the narrator describes Emma becoming melancholy and staying away from the media.

Kane’s books become more popular until vendors remove them, but soon, pirated copies start to circulate. Emma still presses her theory about an accomplice, but the narrator dismisses this as a trauma response. When she is discharged from the hospital, she returns to the house on Strand Beach.

The narrative shifts back to Emma’s perspective as she drives up to the house with Laika. Emma tosses a frisbee for Laika on the beach; Thinking about Shawn, she experiences a moment of happiness.

However, in Murder Beach, the narrator claims that Emma is unhappy.

From Emma’s perspective, she tells Laika that they are leaving the following day and packs her things. She also empties the rocks from her backpack and meets Deek for ginger tea. Emma apologizes for stabbing him, and he thanks her for saving him. She replies that she came back for Laika and thought that Deek was already dead. Deek tells Emma that he plans to contact his daughters and is trying to quit drinking. They discuss the difference between talking and writing, and they also discuss Deek’s book, which is about Howard’s attack on Emma. Emma’s phone rings, and she sees Shawn’s number on the screen.

In Murder Beach, the narrator describes Howard’s belief that Shawn is dead. The narrator clarifies that Shawn and Emma’s four-month-old daughter, Shelby, died in a car accident, and Emma feels responsible.

The narrative returns to Emma’s perspective in the present moment. Deek points a gun at her and tells her not to answer her phone. He apologizes but refuses to answer her questions about his intention to have Howard kill her.

Deek reasons that he must kill her now because of her suspicions that he was involved in Howard’s attack. Emma tells Deek that she now understands that he recommended Murder Mountain as part of the setup for her murder, and Deek smiles. Emma tases Deek’s testicles.

As Deek convulses and falls out of his chair, Emma takes his gun. As she explains to him, she knows that he forced Howard to attempt to kill her. She also knows that his motive was to write a book about the murder and restart his career. Deek knew that Howard killed Laura and used this knowledge to manipulate Howard into attacking Emma. She knows that Deek meant for Jules and Emma to leave together so that he could then kill Howard in supposed “self-defense.” Finally, Emma reveals that she is taping their conversation. She empties Deek’s pockets and finds a bottle of propofol. This was the first hangman word that Deek played, and it is also the poison that the murderer in his book uses. He admits that he has already poisoned Emma.

Emma is shocked to realize that Deek poisoned her tea. Deek apologizes again and says the poison is painless.

In Murder Beach, the narrator—Deek—now uses the first person and claims that Emma dies by suicide.

In Emma’s perspective, she induces vomiting and becomes woozy. Deek says that Howard watched her for weeks before Deek recommended that she read Murder Mountain. Deek convinced Howard to kill Emma because she has suicidal impulses.

In Murder Beach, Deek claims that he was good friends with Emma and expresses sadness over her death by suicide.

In Emma’s perspective, she curses Deek and tries to hit him with the stun gun again but misses as her body weakens. She finally manages to recover Deek’s gun and shoots, but the gun isn’t loaded. Deek explains that he is staging Emma’s death by suicide and will tell her family and friends that she saved his life. He blames her for her daughter’s death, but he promises not to harm anyone Emma knows. He takes Emma’s recorder and cleans up the room. As he stages the scene, Deek describes how he will write Howard in Murder Beach. Emma crawls around in the kitchen and knocks over some knives, but she isn’t strong enough to stab Deek. Meanwhile, he types a suicide note on her laptop. While he is distracted, Emma manages to carve “Deek killed me” on her arm with the knife (419).

The narrative shifts to a transcript of Shawn’s voicemail. He has just learned from the police that she is in Washington, and he is worried about her. He is calling from the roof where he showed her the star that he named after her. Shawn assures Emma that he loves her and that their daughter’s death is not her fault. He asks Emma to come home.

Emma realizes that she is in a car and that Deek is driving. She imagines Howard telling her that she threw up enough of the poison to survive. She also imagines that Jules and the delivery driver are in the car. Ignoring these hallucinations, Emma asks Deek to amend her fake suicide note to tell Shawn that she is sorry, but Deek says he likes his version better. When they arrive at the island’s terminus, Deek puts Emma’s backpack on her. It is once again filled with stones. Emma can see the stars. Deek takes off Emma’s shoes and places them by her phone, her wedding ring, and the locket with her late daughter’s picture. Looking at it, Deek says he won’t call his daughters because they threw him out after he broke their mother’s cheekbone.

He finds the message that Emma wrote on her arm but thinks that fish and water will wear it away before her body is found. After kissing her forehead, Deek tosses her off a jetty. She reflects that she has been drowning this whole time and that the murders were a dream. Underwater, Emma manages to free one arm from the backpack. As she struggles, she remembers the car accident and has a vision of her daughter, Shelby, alive. Emma holds her daughter in the vision.

In Murder Beach, Deek narrates his hopes that Emma found peace in her final moments. He claims to have been her friend. As a father, he claims to understand the pain she felt upon losing her daughter and says that although she beat Howard, she did not win the “greatest battle within herself” (433). The book-within-a-book ends, and the story is followed by a fake acknowledgments page in which Deek thanks the police, his attorney, and other people who helped with his book. He recalls seeing Laura and Howard together and expresses grief over her death. Part of the proceeds from the book will go to the families of Howard’s victims and to suicide prevention groups in Emma’s name. Deek dedicates the book to Howard’s victims: Jules, Jake, Laura, and Emma.

After the fake acknowledgments, there is a transcript of a call between the Strand Beach Police Department and Deek. He says that he is worried about his neighbor and requests a wellness check because she seems to be having suicidal urges. When he reveals his neighbor’s name, Emma, the receptionist says that Emma came to the police station without identification, her phone, or her shoes and is now talking to an officer. The call disconnects.

When Emma gives her statement to the police, she omits the vision of her daughter. In it, she told Shelby that she and Shawn love her. Emma also told Shelby that they will be together again, “[b]ut not yet” (444). Then, Emma got her second arm free of the backpack and swam to the surface. As she did, she said goodbye to her daughter.

Emma and Laika drive away from Strand Beach. Laika enjoys hanging her head out the window. In the Cascades, Emma stops at a visitor’s center and calls Shawn. She tells him that she is coming home and will tell him everything that happened later. When he hesitates to respond, she fears that he doesn’t want her to come home. Emma apologizes for running away after their daughter’s death and for not being there for Shawn.

Earlier, she talked to the officer named Eric, who advised her again to focus on coping with her grief. She also visited Jake’s family and told them that the stun gun he delivered saved her life. Then, in Strand Beach’s bookstore, she bought a copy of Deek’s book. His author photo shows him wearing a fedora just like Howard’s.

Back in the present moment, Shawn finally asks where Emma is. The visitor center is in Glacier Ridge. He says that he will drive and meet her halfway, in Idaho.