Who Is Maud Dixon?

In the morning, Florence emails Greta as Helen and tells her that she wants new representation because Greta keeps asking her about the pages for her novel. Florence finds a Peter Bowles novel on Nick’s bookshelf and opens it. She finds a page with the heading “The Age of Monsters” and reads underneath it, quickly realizing that it is exactly what she typed up for Helen.

Later, Florence realizes that Helen’s body will wash up on shore eventually. Florence knows that when Helen’s body washes up, Idrissi will put together what happened, and it will be over for her. Florence calls Greta and says that Helen fired her and left, and Greta says that Helen fired her too. Greta says that she does not think that Helen is in her right mind and decides to come to Morocco. She asks Florence for information about where she is staying, but Florence hangs up. The phone rings again immediately and Florence stares at it. The lights in the villa suddenly go out.

Florence packs Helen’s bags, but Idrissi arrives with another man who introduces himself as Dan Massey from the US embassy. Massey confirms that she is Helen Wilcox, then tells her that police found the body of Jeanette Byrd on her property in Cairo, New York. Massey says that the neighbor’s dog Bentley discovered the decomposing body in the compost pile. Massey says that Jeanette listed Helen as her emergency contact on her release papers from the Central Mississippi Correctional Facility. He tells her that Jeanette’s parole officer says that she received a phone call from Jeanette at Helen’s house.

Massey explains that Detective Ledowski spoke with Helen about Jeanette, but that she denied seeing her. Massey encourages her to return home to help with the investigation. Massey explains that there is no extradition treaty between the US and Morocco, yet if she refuses to go home, the US will invalidate her passport, and she will not be able to leave Morocco.

Florence tells them that she is not Helen, but Florence Darrow. They do not believe her because she does not have any identification. Massey confiscates Helen’s passport and tells her to return to New York.

After the men leave, Florence reads an article outlining how Jeanette, at 17, killed a man named Ellis Weymouth in a motel room in Hindsville, Mississippi. The article says that Jeanette claimed that she was innocent because she was with a friend all night, but that the friend changed her story, and the court found Jeanette guilty.

Florence realizes that Jeanette is Jenny from Helen’s book. Florence remembers the police officers who came to the house and realizes that Helen lied to them about Jeanette coming to the house. Florence knows that she can eventually find documents that prove that she is Florence, but she feels sad that she will no longer be able to have Helen’s identity.

Florence asks Amina if she has ever felt like she has made too many mistakes in life. Amina tells her that her name is Amira, not Amina. Later, Florence hosts another party. Florence resolves that she will never go back to living an average life again.

Florence thinks about how if Helen’s body washes up, she will go to prison for manslaughter. Florence decides to return to America so that she will not face manslaughter charges.

Florence calls Massey and says that she will need her passport, not Helen’s passport. Massey takes her information down and tells her that he will try to get something for her. Florence calls Vera, but Vera asks her why she texted her that she never wanted to see her again. Florence hangs up because she hates how Vera always exaggerates.

Later, Florence lays on the couch with Nick. Florence gets up to get water when Meg says she wants to introduce her to her new friend Florence. When Florence turns, she realizes that it is Helen standing in the doorway, using her name.

Florence asks to speak to Helen alone, but Helen waves her off. Helen tells her that she is in the business of manufacturing cogs. At midnight, Helen asks Florence to go into another room with her.

When they are alone, Florence asks Helen what is going on and why Jeanette is decomposing in Helen’s compost pile. Helen explains that Jenny showed up at her door in the middle of the night. Jenny claimed that Helen stole her life and put it in a novel, and that she deserved compensation. Helen promised to give this to her and Jenny went to sleep. The next day, Jenny snapped and attacked Helen with a knife, so Helen hit Jenny over the head and killed her. Helen says that she buried Jenny in the compost pile because she did not want publicity.

The next day, Helen realized her mistake because she could not claim self-defense if she buried the body. Helen decided to go to Morocco because of the extradition laws, especially when she learned that the police knew that Jeanette was at her house that night. Helen says that she brought Florence with her because she needed her to report her missing. After the car accident, Helen managed to get out of the car and decided to take the opportunity to escape. When she heard that Helen Wilcox survived the accident, she knew that Florence had taken her identity and that her plan would not work. Helen tells Florence that she is impressed that she kept her identity a secret from everyone, but Florence admits that she told Nick her name.

That night, Florence wakes up and walks downstairs. She goes outside and sees Helen standing by the pool. Florence goes back to bed and a few minutes later she hears Helen go back into her room.

The next morning, Helen says that she is going to go into town and speak to Dan Massey at the embassy. Florence asks what her plan is, but Helen says that it is better if she does not know it.

After Helen leaves, Greta calls and tells Florence that she is in Marrakesh. Greta asks Florence to meet her for drinks later at her hotel and Florence agrees.

Meg arrives at the villa looking for Nick, and Florence promises to tell her if she hears from him. Florence hacks into Helen’s laptop, where she finds a folder named “Book2.” In the folder, she finds a new novel titled The Morocco Exchange by Maud Dixon. Florence picks a random page and reads an exact description of her experience with Helen watching the fisherman pound the octopus, except her name is changed to “Iris” and Helen’s name is changed to “Lillian.” In the paragraphs, Lillian describes her disgust for Iris’s timidity. Florence skips to the end of the document and finds a description of Lillian taking six clonazepam with her to dinner to drug Iris.

Florence calls the Cairo, New York police department and asks to speak with Detective Ledowski. She tells Ledowski that she is Helen’s assistant and asks if Jenny could have been killed in self-defense, but Ledowski says that Jeanette was shot twice in the back of the head. Florence hangs up and realizes that everything Helen told her was a lie. Florence rushes out to the pool. Florence cannot see anything through the scum, but she dives down and feels around. When her hand meets a body, she realizes that it is Nick.

Florence rushes inside to call Massey. Florence tells him that Helen returned and that she killed her friend Nick. Massey tells her that he spoke to the real “Florence” earlier and that she told him that Florence offered her $10,000 to switch passports with her. Florence tries to explain that he spoke to Helen, but he cuts her off, saying that he knows that she is under the influence of narcotics. He tells her that he will send Idrissi to check on her.

Later, Helen tells her that she ran into Nick and Meg in town. Florence pretends to believe her, even though she knows that Helen murdered Nick and Jenny. Amira asks Florence if she enjoyed her swim. Florence does not answer, and Helen stares at her. As soon as Amira leaves, Florence runs inside, with Helen chasing after her. Florence locks herself in the bathroom. Florence asks Helen why she killed Nick, hoping to stall until Idrissi arrives. Helen says that she could not take the chance of him knowing Florence’s real name.

Florence hears Helen walk away for a moment, then return. Florence asks her to tell her the truth. Helen slips a piece of paper under the door and tells her that it explains everything. Florence crawls toward the paper when suddenly a bullet flies through the door. Helen laughs as Florence grabs the blank piece of paper. Florence says that she called the police earlier, so Idrissi will be there soon. Helen mocks Florence for taking so long to figure out that she tried to kill her in the car crash, saying that the fisherman who saved Florence ruined her plan.

Helen says she came back because she made Florence the beneficiary of her estate. If people knew Helen, as Florence, was still alive, then Helen could not steal Florence’s identity and keep her money. Helen explains that when the police arrived at her house, she knew that they would find Jenny, so she would need to kill Florence. She tells Florence that she had her copy of the Bowles novel to keep her busy while she wrote her real novel.

Florence tells her that she found the real novel, and that she knows that Helen is incapable of writing fiction. Helen admits that Mississippi Foxtrot is about her because she killed Ellis. Helen says that her original plan was to give Florence a fatal dose of heroin, but she may need to rethink the plan. Helen suddenly shoots the lock off and throws open the door.

Helen walks into the bathroom, and Florence slams a towel rack over Helen’s head. Florence picks up the gun and points it at Helen, who holds her bleeding head in her hands. Helen tells Florence that she needs to make a better life for herself, not steal it. Florence hates this because she knows that everyone, including Helen, has stolen everything they have in life. Florence raises the gun, but Helen says she knows she will not shoot her.

Helen walks past Florence, unfazed. As Helen walks toward the stairs, Florence suddenly steps forward and shoves Helen. Helen topples over the railing and Florence hears her hit the tile floor. Florence sees Helen lying in a pool of blood below. When she goes downstairs, Helen gasps for help. Florence walks out of the room, then returns with a pillow and smothers Helen to death. After she dies, Florence hears Idrissi arrive.

When Idrissi opens the door, Florence shows him Helen’s body. Florence explains that her name is Florence Darrow and the woman who is dead is Helen Wilcox. That afternoon, Florence tells Massey and Idrissi the truth, except that she does not say that Helen’s pseudonym was Maud Dixon. She also lies and says that Helen fell over the railing when they fought for the gun. Over the next few hours, they dredge the pool and remove Nick’s body. Florence knows that Massey will close the case, and Idrissi will have nothing to charge Florence with.

The next day, Florence arrives at Greta’s hotel in Marrakesh. Florence meets Greta at the bar. She tells Greta that Mississippi Foxtrot is a work of nonfiction, and that Helen Wilcox is the real murderer. Florence tells Greta about how Helen killed Ellis and let Jenny go to prison for it, and how Helen murdered Jenny when she visited her during her parole. Florence explains why Helen wanted to hire her to murder her and steal her identity. Then, she tells Greta how she killed Helen in self-defense. Florence tells her that she is sorry that Maud Dixon will not be able to write another novel.

However, Florence tells Greta that she has Helen’s real manuscript. Greta eagerly asks to see the manuscript, but Florence refuses to give it to her. She says that she wants to finish it since the novel is mainly about the plot to steal her identity. Greta refuses to let her write the novel, although she offers Florence compensation for what happened to her.

Florence backs down and apologizes. She tells Greta that she does not feel well, then spills her wine on Greta’s shirt. Greta goes to the bathroom to fix the stain, and when she returns, she finishes her wine. Florence asks if she can sit in Greta’s room and order room service, since she is not feeling well from the painkillers.

In the room, Greta sits on the bed. She starts to fall asleep sitting up, and Florence tells Greta that she feels the hydrocodone from the wine. Once Greta is unconscious, Florence puts gloves on and takes a syringe, heroin, and an elastic band from her purse, all of which she took from Helen’s body before Idrissi arrived. Florence gives Greta several doses on both arms and between her toes. When she is sure Greta is dead, Florence puts the phone number of a dealer in Greta’s phone, who one of Nick’s friends connected her with. Afterward, Florence exits the room and takes off her gloves.

Florence enjoys the pleasantries of first class as she flies back to the US. She knows that in a few months, she will inherit Helen’s fortune and her estate. She wishes that Greta would have agreed to let her keep the Maud Dixon name, but killing her was the only alternative.

Florence works on Helen’s manuscript. She decides to leave the manuscript the same, but switch to Iris’s point of view halfway through to show that Iris is dangerous because she has nothing to lose.

Florence arrives at Helen’s house, delighted that she owns it. She calls Vera and asks when she received the text message that said that she never wanted to speak to her again. Vera reads the date, and Florence realizes that it was the day after the car crash and that Helen must have sent the text on Florence’s phone so that Vera would not search for Florence. Florence tells Vera the story that she told the authorities. Afterward, Florence agrees to call her again in a week. Florence knows that she will never have a close relationship with her mother, but she has learned that it is important for people to look for someone when they go missing.

After Florence hangs up, she gathers her notes for The Morocco Exchange. She realizes that under Maud Dixon’s pseudonym, she has the freedom to write without obstruction, and she finally has a story to tell. She thinks about the surprise on everyone’s face when one day, she announces that she is Maud Dixon.

Florence calls Harper Maston Khan, the biggest talent agency in New York, and asks to speak with Denise Maston. When the receptionist asks who is calling, Florence tells her that it is Maud Dixon.