Listen for the Lie

Lucy reaches out to Ben, and they decide to meet at the diner again. Ben asks Lucy to work with him to help uncover Savvy’s murderer. Lucy agrees, and Ben is delighted. Lucy doesn’t think that Ben will be able to uncover any new information, but Ben reveals that Kyle Porter did give him some.

On the podcast, Ben speaks to Kyle, an older man who had an affair with Lucy. He mentions how Lucy occasionally talked about her marriage, and the impression Kyle got was that it was complicated. He thinks neither Lucy nor Matt should have ever married.

Ben invites Lucy to his hotel suite to meet his assistant, Paige. Paige asks Lucy why the latter punched Ross, as no one seems to know. Lucy reveals it is because he was taking up-skirt photos of a girl in their class. Lucy complained, but Ross deleted the evidence before he was punished, and the girl in question was too embarrassed to say something. Lucy decided that Ross deserved punishment, one way or another.

Ben divines that Emmett knows the truth, as he got “shifty” when the topic came up. Lucy asserts she hasn’t been in touch with Emmett for years, lying that he stopped reaching out after Savvy’s death. Ben asks Lucy to convince Matt to do an interview, and she says she will try her best.

Interlude 11 begins the fourth episode of the podcast. Nina describes how she saw Lucy and Savvy fighting about something at the wedding before they left together. Colin talked to Lucy a couple of days after the incident, trying to jog her memory. He remembers that Lucy got upset because she had some false memories that were created by all the information she was hearing about the incident. She couldn’t distinguish the real memories from the fake ones. Ben notes that people rarely mention how Lucy herself had suffered a “moderate traumatic brain injury” (100), which is serious enough to cause memory loss.

Lucy wakes up to a text from Nathan saying that they should break up. Matt asks her to meet for lunch, and Lucy agrees. He asks her how it has been for her to be back in Plumpton, and she reveals that she is helping Ben. Matt warns her that this is not a good idea, admitting that he refrained from giving an interview himself for Lucy’s sake. However, Lucy convinces him that he ought to do one.

On the podcast, Ben speaks to Joanna again. She explains that suspicion shifted to Lucy because Matt threw her out of the house right after she returned from the hospital. People concluded that Lucy did it despite the police not having a solid case or murder weapon to arrest Lucy.

Ben also speaks to people about Nina’s theory that Lucy’s motive was jealousy over Savvy and Matt having an affair. Kyle reveals that Matt was not the nicest to Lucy. Savvy once asked Kyle to convince Lucy to leave Matt. He wonders if it was because Savvy was sleeping with Matt. However, Emmett dismisses this as ridiculous, letting slip that Lucy didn’t even like Matt very much toward the end.

Lucy reflects on how she didn’t appreciate Emmett until much later in life. She stayed away from starting anything romantic with him even though she knew he was interested because she didn’t want to mess with his head. This is also why she stayed away from him after Savvy’s death, despite him reaching out multiple times. Now, however, Lucy visits Emmett at the art store he runs, and he is surprised and delighted to see her. Emmett invites Lucy for dinner at Nina’s, revealing they have been dating for a few months, and Lucy feels a little disappointed.

On the podcast, Joanna reveals that people’s suspicions about Lucy firmed up because of Lucy’s parents’ behavior. Don never spoke about Lucy and Savvy, leading people to believe that Lucy remembered something and told her father about it. Additionally, Kathleen said some strange things to Ivy, insinuating that she knew Lucy was the one who killed Savvy.

Kathleen is agitated after listening to the fourth episode, and Lucy leaves the house to avoid the tension. On her way out, Don stops her and asks her to come to him if she remembers anything. Lucy remembers him saying the same thing to her five years ago, and she realizes he still believes that she killed Savvy.

On the podcast, Ben speaks to Ivy again, and the latter recounts how she visited Lucy often in the hospital, trying to get her to remember what happened. Lucy was extremely emotional every single time. Her parents acted suspiciously: Don hovered in the background every single time Ivy spoke to Lucy, and Kathleen promised Ivy that she would make things right.

Lucy confronts Ben about making it look like the injury affected her brain and her ability to make decisions for herself. She insists that she wanted to help find out what happened to Savvy. Ben believes her but claims that he would have been far more protective as a parent than Lucy’s parents were, who allowed multiple people to badger Lucy right after such a traumatic event. Ben also reveals that Beverly invited him to her birthday party, and Lucy thinks that he should attend. They agree to do their first interview for the podcast on Monday.

On the first bonus episode of the podcast, Ben speaks to Nina and reveals that anonymous sources have told him Colin and Kathleen were having an affair. Ben insinuates it is weird that, despite this being an open secret in town, no one mentioned the affair in connection with Savvy’s death. He brings up the mystery woman Colin was having sex with in the car the night Savvy died.

Lucy waits for her mother to react after listening to the latest episode, but Kathleen pretends like nothing is wrong. The family heads to Beverly’s birthday party, and Kathleen is horrified to see that Ben has been invited. After everyone is seated, Kathleen’s friends compliment him on how handsome he is and ask him how he got into podcasting. Ben describes how he has been fascinated with true crime ever since he was a little boy. Kathleen’s friends also ask Lucy if she would ever write a book to tell her side of the story. Lucy reveals that she is giving Ben an interview, which surprises and angers her parents.

Kathleen’s brother, Keith, has an outburst and accuses Ben of spreading fake news about Kathleen and Colin. He is furious that Ben insinuated Kathleen and Colin killed Savvy when “everyone knows” Lucy did it. As Ben calmly tries to defend himself, Kathleen suddenly admits that she did, in fact, sleep with Colin that night. Lucy reflects on how both her parents’ constant infidelities have always been an open secret.

After the party, Lucy accidentally overhears Don asking Ben not to interview Lucy. He declines to give an interview himself, claiming he only wants what is best for Lucy. After Don leaves, Lucy reiterates to Ben that she will do the interview, as all she wants is to find out the truth. In her head, Lucy hears Savvy’s voice say, “The truth doesn’t matter” (141). It has been her voice whispering to Lucy for years now, acting like a “murderous constant companion” (141-42) who won’t go away. Lucy privately relives an old memory.

In a flashback to five years prior, Lucy and Savvy sit at a bar together, Lucy with a bruise on her cheek from where Matt hit her earlier. Lucy knows the truth doesn’t matter; if she goes to stay with her parents, Matt will tell them that she pushed him down the stairs. Savvy asserts that Lucy did no such thing, and Lucy knows that Matt is manipulating her memory. Suddenly, Savvy proposes that they kill Matt.

In the present, Nina calls and invites Lucy over for dinner with her and Emmett. Lucy arrives at Nina’s place, musing about how Nina and Emmett’s relationship makes sense as they are both very “pretty.” She remembers Savvy finding Emmett extremely attractive, too.

Nina offers Lucy a seltzer, asserting that she and Emmett don’t drink much. They discuss how it has been for Lucy to return to Plumpton and propose that people are realizing they were quick to judge her. Lucy reiterates that she doesn’t remember anything from that night.

Nina steps away to bring out the lasagna for dinner, and Savvy appears in front of Lucy as a hallucination. Savvy comments on how Lucy doesn’t like lasagna and expresses that Nina is still as terrible as she always was. Lucy reflects on how the people on the podcast present an angelic version of Savvy, but the woman Lucy sees in front of her is the real Savvy.

Flashing back to the same moment five years prior, Lucy laughs at Savvy’s suggestion about killing Matt, until she realizes that Savvy is serious. Savvy insists that Matt deserves it, having seen all of Lucy’s bruises and injuries. She promises she won’t make Lucy kill Matt alone.

On the fifth episode of the podcast, Ben interviews Matt, who describes his relationship with Lucy as passionate but with communication problems. He affirms that he sent Lucy away after Savvy’s death because he was overwhelmed and uncomfortable with everything that was happening but regrets it. When asked about the wedding, Matt claims that he drove home drunk shortly after Lucy and Savvy left; he didn’t see them, as he took the main road, while they took the country road.

Ben reveals sources told him Matt was regularly visiting the house of one particular woman, who also began spending nights at his place after Lucy left. A neighbor also confirmed that they saw Matt coming home and a woman arriving shortly after. The pair argued, the woman left, and Matt got into his car and drove away immediately after. Contrary to what Matt told the police, he wasn’t home all night when Savvy was murdered.

At Ben’s insistence, Lucy visits the place where Savvy’s body was found, as he wants to do the interview there. She has only been there once before, with Kathleen, in an attempt to jog her memory; however, Lucy collapsed on that instance. Now, too, she gets increasingly uncomfortable as Ben and her walk through the woods. As they arrive at the location where Savvy was found, Lucy faints. Ben catches her, and concerned, apologizes for pushing her comfort level.