The Likeness

Frank leaves Cassie in an interview room alone for hours while he questions the other housemates, and by the time he arrives, she is furious. Cassie accuses him of befouling her work, and Frank calms her down by pointing out her missteps. The interrogation of the roommates went as expected, and they did not divulge any added information. Since the plan is for the next day to be her last in the house, Cassie asks Frank to detain Daniel for an hour or so and send the rest of the roommates home so she can have time to get information without Daniel around. She proposes separating the group and letting everyone except Daniel overhear Lexie’s interrogation before releasing them, and he agrees. When the scene is set, Frank acts as if he is questioning Lexie about what she remembers from the night of the attack. At first, she claims she still has no memory, but Frank pushes her to admit certain parts are coming back to her. Still acting, he questions her more aggressively, accusing her of withholding information. At a certain point Frank is no longer acting, taking out his frustration on Cassie not the character of Lexie. Cassie as Lexie reveals she remembers blood and running toward the cottage, but that is all. He accuses her of withholding information to protect her friends. She claims her friends would never hurt her. Frank leaves abruptly ending the fake interrogation.

Their plan worked but not as well as they hoped because they still aren’t talking yet. Hearing Frank question Cassie disturbs the roommates, and they are confused why detectives are holding Daniel for more questioning. Cassie thanks Frank for his cooperation, and he reminds her she must cooperate with their plan as well. The four leave without Daniel, and Abby says that Daniel knew they might keep at least one person back. The group begin to argue as Rafe speeds toward home. Cassie interrupts by bursting into tears, claiming she hates them all. She is overwhelmed and feels as though she is breaking from all the stress of the past six months and “for a million lost things” (389). Abby hands her a tissue, and she continues to cry as they travel home.

Cassie puts on a wire herself and conceals her gun in preparation to confront the roommates. They meet in the sitting room, and Cassie tells them she is remembering pieces of the night she was stabbed and angrily demands they tell her the entire story. When Abby asks what she remembers, Cassie says she recalls a note in the field jacket pocket. Justin is visibly upset and seems ready to burst with the story he has carried for too long. Rafe is sardonic and callous and agrees they should just tell her, but Abby demands they wait until Daniel returns. Cassie, sensing her time is short before Daniel’s return, threatens to call the police if they do not tell her what happened. First Abby’s phone rings and then Justin’s, but Cassie, knowing it’s Daniel and he’s on his way home, demands they do not answer and tell her everything.

Rafe begins the story, and “[t]here was a reckless, risky gaiety in his face; he looked happier than he had in weeks” (394). He explains that Cassie was leaving for her walk, and Abby remembered she needed cigarettes. Abby grabbed the communal field jacket because Lexie was already putting on her own coat and found the note, which was from Ned confirming the deal he had made with Lexie, in the pocket. Abby confronted Lexie about the message, and Lexie tried to grab the note from her, but Abby jumped away from her and handed the note to Daniel. Lexie fought with Daniel to wrestle the note away from him. Rafe and Justin watched as the other three tussled, and Daniel managed to pass the note to Rafe and restrain Lexie while he read it aloud. Abby interrupts Rafe’s account to ask Lexie if she truly had intended to betray them. Cassie lies and says no, just that she was looking for a way out. She lies again, telling them she is not going to turn any of them in for what they tell her, but no one appears to want to continue the conversation.

After a few moments, Rafe continues to tell the story. They all argued, and Lexie got away from Daniel and punched Rafe, and they all begin to fight again. Abby does not reveal who pulled the knife, saying, “It could have been any of us” (398). Justin chimes in saying the next thing he remembers is a knife with blood on it on the floor and Lexie running out the door. They all moved to go after her, but Daniel told Abby and Rafe to stay at the house and prepare first aid items while he and Justin went to find Lexie. When Lexie notes that she did remember that part and that she wasn’t aware she was bleeding at first, Abby says there was no blood in the house. Justin says it was difficult to search in the dark, and Daniel would not turn on the flashlight for fear of alerting the townsfolk. Rafe says they were gone only 45 minutes. Abby wants Justin to stop telling the story because she feels they’ve already told Cassie the important parts, but Rafe encourages Justin to continue because he has never heard this part. Justin tells of finding Lexie’s body in the cottage and says Daniel’s demeanor changed as he was adamant about covering any evidence they were in the cottage. Daniel sent Justin home for Lexie’s keys, wallet, and flashlight, and Daniel carefully planted everything on Lexie’s body. It started to rain, and Lexie’s face was getting wet, so Rafe begged Daniel to move her body out of the rain’ which made Daniel angry, but they did it anyway. They wiped down everything and used a branch to erase their footprints, and though Justin said he did not want to leave her there, they left. Daniel and Justin return covered in mud and blood, and Daniel asked everyone to bring down their laundry after he and Justin stripped out on the patio. Daniel put their soiled clothes in a bag together with everyone’s laundry so it would look like a regular load instead of an attempt to get rid of evidence. Abby had decided to leave the knife on the floor until they knew what the plan would be to deal with the situation. Finally, Daniel told them Lexie was dead in his typically nonchalant way. Then they played poker, including the actions Lexie would have taken, to create an alibi. Daniel disposed of the knife and wiped the entire house clean. As Cassie listens, she realizes Daniel must have previous criminal experience. Strange sensations move through Cassie’s body, and she hears eerie noises in the house while the roommates tell the story.

The morning after the murder, they had argued over what to do next. Mackey and O’Neill showed up and started questioning them, but they all pretended not to know anything. The detectives stretched out the questioning before finally telling them that Lexie was still alive but in a coma. Abby explains how they spent the next few days in agony through all the questioning and searching of the house, and Rafe notes that Daniel acted strangely when Mackey told them Lexie was alive. As Cassie listens, she wonders what happened in the cottage during the time Justin was running back to Whitethorn and considers the possibility Lexie was still alive and Daniel watched her die, especially remembering how the coroner told her that Lexie could have been saved if they had gotten her to a doctor. Rafe launches into a rage about how Daniel managed everything, and Abby fiercely defends him proclaiming Daniel was only trying to protect them. Rafe retorts saying he does not think Daniel is normal and they all would be better off living independently without him controlling their lives. Justin almost reveals something else before Abby stops him, and just as Rafe is finishing his screed, Daniel appears in the doorway.