Local Woman Missing

A paternity test reveals Jason is not the father of Shelby’s baby.

A few days later, Meredith’s car is found at a hotel in a nearby town. Kate and Bea drive Josh to the hotel, where they learn that Meredith checked in on the day of her disappearance. An officer emerges from the hotel and tells Josh that Meredith was found dead inside. Josh screams, “Noooooo!” and “Why?”

Meredith and Bea laugh and sing on their way home. Bea, who is driving, runs over a woman, and Meredith is horrified to recognize Shelby. Desperate not to be sent to jail, Bea stops Meredith from calling the police and insists that Shelby is already dead. Against her better judgment, Meredith helps Bea hide Shelby's body in the muddy, wooded area near the river. Back at Meredith’s house, they clean themselves off. Bea tells Meredith never to mention what happened.

To unlock Carly's memories, Josh takes her to a hypnotist. At home after school that night, Leo learns that the hypnosis session revealed Gus’s imaginary nature. Leo calls Carly a “liar” and a “schizo” (288).

The night after the hit and run, Josh flirts with Meredith. She becomes physically ill remembering what happened. That night, when Shelby’s disappearance appears on the news, Meredith doesn't tell Josh that she knew Shelby. The next day, Bea visits Meredith and reminds her to “act normal” (293).

Feeling guilty, Meredith distances herself from Josh and struggles to fulfill her daily responsibilities. To ease her mind, she places a blanket over Shelby’s body.

Josh visits Leo in his room and explains that Carly did not intentionally create Gus; her hallucination was a survival mechanism. Leo apologizes to Carly.

Josh sees Meredith’s distress and becomes frustrated at her refusal to open up to him. Bea continues to visit Meredith. Meredith suggests they should turn themselves in, but Bea disagrees.

One day at school, Piper shows Leo a photograph of her and Delilah together as children. In the photograph, Delilah has a cleft chin. The photograph of Carly in the newspaper shows no cleft chin, suggesting they are not the same person.

One day, Charlotte calls Meredith. She explains her discovery that a fifth-grade boy at the daycare bullies Leo and locked him in a chest for almost an hour that day. She promises not to allow the other boy to return.

Two days after Piper showed him the photo of her and Delilah, Leo points out the difference between Carly and Delilah’s chins to Josh. Josh returns to the police station to ask about the DNA test. At first, Rowlings dismisses his concerns, but then she admits that she lied about the DNA test to protect Josh’s feelings.

The police wonder why Carly believed herself to be Delilah.

One night, Meredith tends to Delilah, who has a fever. Lying awake, she feels strongly that she needs to tell the police the truth.

The next morning, she takes Leo to Charlotte’s after assuring him that the bully will not be there. Back at home, she returns to the garage to get her phone, which she left in the car. Bea appears and Meredith learns that she is using Shelby’s bloody clothes to frame Jason. When Meredith tries to call the police, Bea stops her. They fight, and Bea’s arm is cut by an exposed nail. As Bea knocks Meredith out with a hammer, Meredith spots Delilah watching them from the doorway.

The police question Carly and speculate about Eddie and Martha, who are copycat criminals. Eddie and Martha kidnapped Carly from St. Louis, Missouri, shortly after Delilah’s disappearance and showed her newspaper clippings to convince her she was Delilah Dickey. The DNA test reveals the child’s true identity as Carly Byrd. The police accompany Carly to the Dickey home to collect her things. After a while, Josh realizes that Carly is gone and left through her bedroom window.

Driving Meredith’s car, Bea takes Meredith, who regains consciousness on the way, to a motel. Using Delilah, who is not present, as leverage, Bea forces Meredith to rent a room in the motel and write a suicide note, which explains that Delilah is safe but unreachable. Explaining that she “never wanted it to come to this” (336), Bea slits Meredith’s wrists, then stabs her in the stomach.

Kate and Bea are eating dinner when Josh, accompanied by the police, asks them to help look for Carly. When the police request permission to search Bea’s studio, Bea hesitates. She goes to get the key, but never returns. Kate looks for her, but instead of finding her she receives a text from Bea asking for forgiveness.

With Kate’s permission, the officers batter down the door to Bea’s studio. In the attic, they find Delilah. Bea has kept her in captivity for 11 years to prevent her from revealing Bea’s role in Meredith’s death. Delilah was relatively comfortable and could watch her home from a small gap in the boarded-up window.

Carly is found and returned to her family.

Bea is soon arrested and convicted, and Jason is released. Devastated, Kate accepts a single call from Bea. Bea apologizes but continues to justify her actions; Kate hangs up.

Kate notices that Josh, Delilah, and Leo are beginning to heal and wonders when she will do the same.