The Last One at the Wedding

Frank recalls Maggie’s first job out of college. She’d worked in a grimy cell phone repair shop called Dr. Cell Phone. Her boss was a middle-aged man whom Frank worried was unduly interested in Maggie. One morning, she showed up at his house without explanation looking tired and disheveled. She stayed the weekend and, when she left, asked that, if anyone should question him, Frank should tell them that Maggie arrived late Friday night rather than early Saturday morning. Months passed and no one inquired. Maggie began working for Capaciti and Frank had nearly forgotten about the strange visit. However, an investigator did eventually show up and ask questions. He explained that Dr. Cell Phone burned down and that the owner had been convicted of arson. Maggie, he asserts, was the accomplice. Frank claimed not to remember when Maggie showed up, but it was obvious that the investigator knew he was lying. Later, when he’d spoken to Maggie, accusing her of the crime, she became enraged. After that she’d stopped speaking to him, beginning three years of estrangement. The investigator alleged that Maggie felt neither empathy nor guilt and that her pattern of fraught behavior extended well back into her school days. At the time, Frank hadn’t wanted to believe the man. Now, he’s not so sure.

Frank finds Maggie, who is happy to explain everything to him. She tells him that she and Errol have been having an affair. She knows that she is not his only love interest, and she does not care. She views her time with him as an “investment” and was only too happy to help cover up Dawn’s disappearance and provide an alibi for Aidan. She explains that she made sure that she signed a generous pre-nuptial agreement and that in six months she and Aidan will separate and she will be left with half of his assets. She will never work again, and she tells Frank that he won’t have to, either. She adds that she recorded many hours of conversation about the coverup as insurance, should she ever need incriminating evidence. Frank is horrified and threatens to go to the police. Maggie shrugs off his threat, noting that he can’t leave the camp without Hugo’s permission and that the police will never believe him. Reluctantly, he agrees to stay on the premises through the wedding ceremony and not to do anything to prevent Maggie from going through with the marriage.

Frank gets ready for the ceremony. While he is putting his tuxedo on, Vicky calls. Her son is a journalist, and when she asked him about the Gardner family, he sounded worried. He was closemouthed about them, citing “journalistic integrity,” but Vicky understood from this that something was amiss with Errol and Catherine. Frank assures her that everything is fine, feeling horrible about his dishonesty.

Everyone gathers for the ceremony, but Aidan is nowhere to be found. Sensing that something might be truly wrong, Frank heads to Aidan’s studio. Frank knows now that Aidan was manipulated by both his family and by Maggie, and he feels badly for him. He finds Aidan in the bomb shelter beneath the studio with a gun in hand. Frank tries to talk quietly and calmly to Aidan, offering to help speak to the police for him and to slip out of the camp quietly. Aidan posits that they would not be able to leave without Hugo noticing and that there is no real escape from his family. He tells Frank that he left a present for him in his suitcase and that it should be enough to help him out. As they are talking, Errol and Hugo rush in. Aidan flees down a spiral staircase to the back of the shelter and Errol, Frank, and Hugo hear the distinct sound of a gunshot.

Frank and Hugo rush down the staircase. Aidan is still moving, and Frank wants to call 911. Hugo holds him down until it is obvious that Aidan is dead and then calls for Errol and Gerry. The men get their stories straight so that they can phone the police. Frank is appalled but wonders what choice he has in the matter. He fears for his life if he speaks the truth and thinks that the Gardners will be able to evade prosecution for this crime, too. Errol tries to defend himself and explains that Aidan wasn’t his biological son but that he always supported him anyway. Frank is even more appalled and tells Errol what a terrible father (and human being) he is. Errol points out that Maggie is involved in the coverup of a murder and that Frank should keep Errol on his good side—if he does, he will make sure that Gerry and the rest of their family legal team protect Maggie.

The guests leave and the police arrive. The officers seem embarrassed around Frank, and he does his best to keep quiet. Frank tries to get Maggie to leave with him and Tammy, but she tells him that she needs to talk to Errol. Although Frank objects to Maggie having anything more to do with the Gardner family, he is disgusted with her and exhausted, so he does not object. He packs his things and gets ready to leave the camp. He notices an envelope in his suitcase: Aida left him $1000 in 10, hundred-dollar bills. Oddly they are all dated before 1953, but Frank finds himself surprised at the amount. Does Aidan think that he’s so poor that this would constitute a “sizeable” sum? He considers leaving the envelope, but at the last minute, he zips his suitcase with the cash inside.

Frank arrives back at his house after a long drive home. He does not know how to fill his time or what to think about his daughter. Vicky calls and explains that news of Aidan’s death by “firearm accident” has been all over the news. She invites Frank over for dinner and to talk. He declines, rudely, telling her that she is just the woman who cuts her hair. Vicky brushes the slight off and tells him that the two are more than that, but Frank hangs up. He throws away her business cards and vows never to speak to her again. He doesn’t know how he would explain the events surrounding the wedding to her and feels ashamed of both Maggie and his own willingness to keep quiet.

Frank’s supervisor encourages him to take sick time, but Frank declines. He returns to work on a day so hot that normally Frank would have prepared for his shift by bringing extra water and a cooler, but he is too distracted to remember more than his usual sack lunch. The day indeed turns out to be a scorcher, and Frank struggles in his un-airconditioned truck. By the afternoon, he is tired and dizzy. He sees a car parked by the side of the road and, distracted by thoughts of Dawn and Aidan, drives off the road and crashes.

Frank regains consciousness in the hospital. He has a few broken bones and heatstroke, but he feels lucky to be alive. A reporter stops by the hotel, hoping for a scoop on UPS negligence, but Frank assures her that the accident was his fault. He finds out that he has been given three years of paid leave, after which point he will retire. He is sure that the Gardners have something to do with this deal, since Errol and the UPS CEO are friends. With nothing to do, Frank sinks into despair. One morning, Tammy calls and asks Frank to look after Abigail. She has a new job and cannot stay home with the girl. Although Frank objects, Tammy brings her over anyway. Frank feels badly for Abigail and gives her some of Maggie’s old toys. He drives her around and is surprised to find out that he enjoys her company. He takes her to an Italian restaurant and on a water-tubing excursion on a nearby river.

Frank continues to help Tammy care for Abigail, and the three settle into a routine. One day he notices a map of the camp taped to her wall and asks about it. She explains that Aidan left it in her suitcase with a note written on the back. She thinks that he gave it to her because he knew that she liked to explore. Frank isn’t so sure about this explanation and looks closely at the map. On it, there is a large red “X” drawn over part of the cove. He wonders whether the money was meant for Abigail and the map for him. $1000 would be a substantial gift to a young girl, and this map clearly leads to some kind of secret into which Aidan had meant Frank to look. He explains this to Abigail, who happily trades the map for his $1000. It is clear to him that the map indicates the site of Dawn’s body. They must have sunk her in the lake somehow.

Tammy encourages Frank to burn the map, and he almost does. However, at the last minute, he realizes that he could give it to Maggie. She could keep it as leverage in case she ever needs to gain the upper hand against the Gardners. This, he feels, will make up for the way he openly blamed her for the arson at Dr. Cell Phone. He calls her and explains the situation. Maggie asks him to drive to Boston the next day to give her the map.

Maggie is still living in Aidan’s penthouse. When Frank arrives, he finds Errol, Gerry, Gerry’s wife, and Hugo there. He realizes that Maggie had no intention of keeping the map herself and that she is still very much in league with the Gardners. Errol immediately burns the map and then asks about Abigail. He explains that the girl heard and saw many incriminating things that weekend and that she is a “loose end.” Frank is horrified and realizes that he has “truly” lost Maggie. Errol explains that, although it is unfortunate that Abigail will have to be dealt with, his family will make a generous donation to the state foster care system. Frank thinks quickly and asks Errol for a sizeable stock package in exchange for his silence. Although Errol gives him a searching look, seemingly trying to gauge Frank’s seriousness, he agrees. Frank then asks to use the restroom. He calls Tammy and tells her to take Abigail to a hotel. Then, he opens the toilet again and retrieves the black package he found on his first trip to the condo. He was sure that Aidan was hiding something, but he now realizes that it was Maggie doing the hiding. The package is the flash drive on which Maggie recorded incriminating conversations with the Gardners in case she ever needed it. Gerry’s young wife interrupts him, and when he tries to slip past her and leave the condo, she tells Maggie that Frank “broke” her toilet. Hugo pats Frank down and then pulls a gun, instructing him to hand over the drive. Just then, the housekeeper sees the gun and drops a large plate of food. Frank uses the interruption to slip away, locating the apartment’s fire exit and heading quickly out of the building.

Fearing that he will not be safe at home, Frank heads to the salon where Vicky works. After a hasty apology and a desperate plea to use her computer, Vicky lets him in. He tells her that Maggie did something horrible that he didn’t want to admit to Vicky but about which he also didn’t want to lie. He explains the flash drive to her, and the two use the computer to access its contents. The first file they open is a recording of a conversation in which Aidan agrees to the sham marriage. The second is a conversation in which Maggie complains to Errol that Aidan doesn’t want to meet Frank, and Errol assures her that Hugo will “take care” of it. Frank agrees to tell Vicky the entire story.

Seven months later, Tammy has adopted Abigail. Frank and Tammy split childcare duties, and they have become a happy family. Frank volunteers to help with her school play, and afterward the principal pulls him aside to thank him. He asks if Frank is Abigail’s father, and when Frank explains their relationship, the principal seems embarrassed. Then he shows Frank a project Abigail recently completed in which she’d written a small biography of Frank, calling him a hero and the world’s best father. Frank and Tammy are both touched.

Maggie is now imprisoned in a minimum-security facility. She was the only one involved in Dawn’s death to do time, although Hugo was extradited to the Democratic Republic of Congo where rumors have swirled that he will be executed for human rights violations. Maggie refuses to allow Frank to visit her, but he tries not to let it bother him. He has a loving relationship with Vicky, and he has found a happy family in Tammy and Abigail.