Daughter of Mine

By the time Hazel returns home, Serena is waiting to question her. The detective tracked down Joe Lyons, who says he never saw Libby Sharp again after she stole a diamond ring and left him years earlier. Hazel shows Serena the photo of Audrey’s car, and they compare it to the photo of the first car pulled out of the lake. Serena takes the photo to follow up on the lead. Later, Keira calls about the photos of the house that Hazel sent her. She’s interested in rehabbing it but wants another picture without somebody standing inside. Hazel is shocked to realize that while she was taking photos of the house exterior, somebody was moving around indoors.

It is now May 23, and Mirror Lake has gone 70 days without rain. After receiving Keira’s message, Hazel grows determined to figure out how someone could be gaining access to her house. She breaks the hinges on the crawlspace door, which is on the outside of the building. Once in the lower depths, she finds a stairway leading to the inside of a closet in Caden’s room. As she makes her way back down to close up the crawlspace, she finds a box containing jewelry that once belonged to Audrey Holt. Hazel’s mother hadn’t stolen these pieces after all. At that moment, Hazel receives a text from Gage asking her to meet for another family dinner the following night at Caden’s, and she agrees.

Hazel finds herself with more questions than answers. She thinks, “Jamie had fled, believing something was after her. Her mother was dead. There were cars in the lake, and pieces of jewelry that had once belonged to a dead woman hidden in the darkest corner of my house” (236). Hazel wonders if the YouTube sleuths might have seen something she missed, so she contacts Miles and Amber of Water Hunters. They offer to give her some of the footage they filmed if she tells them who owned the second car raised from the lake. When Hazel receives the information, she learns that Pete Henderson was the person who discovered the wreck underwater while fishing. Since she doesn’t know where Pete lives, Hazel checks her father’s computer. She is unnerved to realize that someone is monitoring his email account and has just deleted some messages. She is distracted from her search by the smell of smoke outdoors.

Someone has lit a blaze in the firepit in the yard. Given the drought conditions, the fire could spread quickly. Hazel douses the flames just as Nico arrives. He has heard about Sonny’s death. Their conversation turns to the burglaries around town. Nico believes high school students are behind the prank thefts. He notices the disposable camera that Hazel found at the Barrel and comments that many of his students have begun using these for some reason. Nico knows someone who could develop the film for Hazel. Later, Hazel goes to Reflection Point in search of Pete. He isn’t there, but she runs into Serena, who tells her that the vehicle in her family photo isn’t the same as the one pulled from the lake. Serena discourages Hazel from pursuing the case any further. Realizing that Serena is motivated by family loyalty, Hazel concludes, “There was no one here I could trust. Who would choose the truth over our fathers and brothers and friends. A legacy, bestowed on us” (250).

That evening, Hazel arrives at Caden’s house for a family dinner. Roy and Gage are also there. Initially, everything goes well as the Holts try to make peace with one another. Then, Roy produces a document proposing that Hazel divide the property into thirds and share it with her brothers. Hazel objects, insisting that Perry had his reasons for giving the house to her. As the conversation grows more heated, Hazel takes a timeout and goes upstairs to read a bedtime story to Skyler. While straightening up the girl’s room, Hazel finds a note that reads “Daughter of Mine” (259) in the same handwriting as her mother’s farewell note. However, this message is much longer than the one that Hazel received. It suggests that her mother planned to come back for her on the night she disappeared. It reads, “We have to go. It’s not safe for us here. Pack light. Bring only what you need. I’ll be back for you tonight. We’re being watched. Don’t tell” (259). Skyler says that her mother gave her this note earlier in the week. She lets Hazel take it after swearing her to secrecy.

Hazel rushes home to compare Skyler’s note to the original. As it turns out, the message Hazel received years earlier was merely a traced copy of parts of Libby’s original message. Jamie must have found the note in its entirety while going through items in Perry’s house. She gave it to Skyler to hide, intending to show it to Hazel later. Hazel realizes that her own mother never intended to leave her behind. Something terrible happened to Libby Sharp.

Late that night, Hazel is trying to get to sleep when she receives the missing video footage from the Water Hunters. While they were filming their angry altercation with her in the yard, the camera captured movement in the background. A man in dark clothing slipped into Hazel’s house through the open back door. Alarmed by the proof that somebody has easy access to her home, Hazel decides it isn’t safe for her to stay there anymore.

At midnight, Hazel drives to the neighboring property to alert Nico. She finds him asleep in an upstairs room. The walls are plastered with pictures from a murder case. He explains that these were the photos he found in his father’s secret room. Nicholas Pritchard had been investigating Audrey’s death long after it was declared a simple accident. The photos suggest that she was hit by a car rather than crashing through a guardrail on her bicycle.

Hazel shows Nico both copies of the note from her mother, telling him that Libby might be at the bottom of the lake. Nico says that she isn’t, as he dived every inch of the inlet and never found her. However, Hazel realizes that Nico has known for years that her mother’s car was there and never told her. He says that he believed his own father might have been responsible and was trying to protect his memory. He knows this was the wrong decision but also realizes that Hazel won’t forgive him for this breach of trust. She confirms this and leaves angrily.

By three o’clock in the morning, Hazel is searching for a safe place to stay. She ends up at the Mirror Lake Motel, where Sonny used to work. Noting her desperate appearance, the night clerk gives her a room at the back where she can conceal her car from view. Once in her room, she texts Keira to explain her strange situation. Hazel no longer trusts anyone in town and resolves to speak to Pete the following day to get some answers. In the morning, she goes to a public landing called Derry Pier, where she expects to find Pete launching his boat for a day of fishing. It is now Friday, May 24, which is the beginning of the Memorial Day weekend. Tourists will soon be arriving for the holiday. Hazel finds Pete, who invites her to go out in his boat for a conversation as long as she leaves her cell phone behind. Hazel knows this means a confidential disclosure that Pete doesn’t want recorded.

Once out on the water, Pete talks about the night of Audrey’s death. She was planning to leave Perry, but he took her car keys, so she set out on her bicycle after dark. Perry went in search of her with the boys in the back seat. Audrey was coming out of a side street and couldn’t stop in time before colliding with the car. Afterward, Perry was terrified of losing the boys and asked Pete to help him cover up the accident. Their story that Audrey had crashed through a guardrail was accepted, and the investigation was closed. Sometime later, they decided it would best to submerge the car in case somebody wanted to inspect it more closely for damage.

Hazel realizes for the first time how traumatic the event must have been for her brothers to see their mother die. Gage was seven, but Caden was only five. He suffered from night terrors for years afterward. Pete denies knowing anything about Libby’s later disappearance. He tells Hazel, “I’ve seen what secrets can do to people and I want no part of it. I’ve kept my fair share when I’ve had to—but I do not keep them for the dead” (289). Hazel asks about the blank postcard she received in college. It came from the town in Mexico where Pete owns a vacation home. He knows nothing about it but mentions that staff from the police department use the place often. Pete steers the boat back to shore for Hazel to disembark, commenting that a storm is on the way.

Hazel goes to the Country Store to buy items to repair the crawlspace door and also get some security cameras to place outside her home. The high school student named Levi is tending the counter again. Hazel notices the pen he is using. It was a monogrammed gift she gave to her father years earlier. She confronts Levi about stealing items from her house, and he admits that a group of teens have been daring each other to take small objects and return them later. Levi found a gun hidden in the garage. This was the one that Hazel saw on the dining room table when she first arrived. She realizes that it was her mother’s gun and not her father’s. It had been hidden on the property all the time. She also realizes that somebody besides Levi has been inside the house.

Back at home, Hazel finds a copy of Perry’s will, which she requested that Roy send to her. She wanted to check her father’s exact wording. While the bequest of the house is no surprise, Perry also wanted her to have all the contents as well. “I thought of everything inside the boundaries of this property. Every picture. Every memory. Every item of furniture. The truck in the garage. The gun, even” (297-98). Hazel now realizes why her brothers were eager to sort through the contents before she was aware of this clause. In a flash of insight, Hazel recognizes why her father left everything to her. He wanted her to reveal the truth that her brothers were afraid to face. “All these sons, covering up for the sins of their fathers. Keeping their secrets, without even asking for the truth. All these things they didn’t truly want to know. Daughters, though. Daughters are different” (300).