Betrayal at the House in the Woods

Freeze

Finally, Richy gave me something. It was just very briefly, a twitch in his eyes.

But why? Why? Why? Why?

Maybe if I just kept going...

"Ted Madruga. He was imprisoned for burning down the motel in the woods. Hannah was close to finding that out, so there must be a connection there."

That reminded me a little bit of Murder on the Orient Express. Poirot figured out that the current murder he was working on was linked to a cold case and then he started imagining how all the possible suspects were related to that case.

"Your older brother worked in that motel, didn't he? His death was an immense pain to your family, especially your mother. It crippled her, emotionally, mentally, and physically. She couldn't work for the shop anymore, and your father would have to cope it. But he soon had to pass down the business to you."

"I wasn't sure whether Cleo really overheard you argued with your father that day when she ended up jumping the fence of your garage, or whether it really was because your mother got lost in the woods when your father wasn't paying attention. For all I knew, you were aware I could read your messages and played it all up. Regardless, you all worked together. Who's next?"

I stared at Cleo's body on the floor who had been impressively still this whole time. Maybe they didn't want to give up yet. "Cleo, your father and Thomas' father owned the motel, didn't they? And lost everything then. But Ted only got life imprisonment, while your parents thought he should've been hung."

"They can't do anything to Ted. But they had the next best thing. They heard his eldest daughter was coming into town. Wouldn't it be horrible if she got hit by a car? They would've gotten away if Hannah and Amy didn't overhear their conversation when they were burying the body. And worse, started to dig up the past again."

"Jessy's parents were visiting her grandma in Duskwood and were staying in the motel back then. When both died, Jessy and her siblings had to move to Duskwood to live with her grandma. So she was more than happy to help you hide this past. The man without a face was her idea."

"Dan was probably roped in because he was crazy in love with Jessy and very loyal to Thomas. And Lilly..."

I had to think a bit longer about Lilly. What would make her want to hurt her own sister?

"She was probably more worried about Hannah more than anything. The murder really took a toll on Hannah and you convinced her that this whole plan was only meant to scare Hannah and Amy and help them move on, nothing else. She agreed to participate to make sure  Hannah wouldn't get hurt."

If that was the case...

"So I wondered what she thought of all this now... Hannah is missing, and you didn't really kidnap her, did you? And Amy's death... that wasn't planned either. Probably an accident.  You panicked when Hannah went missing. Well, I have been telling what you already know. Now to the next bits would probably be the actually shocking ones for you."

It made sense if everyone was in it. It explained the inconsistencies. Especially because things didn't quite go according to plan for them.

"That phone call with Alan on the day Hannah disappeared... She knew she was being followed and she had previously asked to be included in the witness protection program. Especially after they failed to find Amy just yet. The call was to confirm it was on for that day."

But what about Jake?

"Hannah had become suspicious of you guys, but she couldn't investigate on her own friends. Especially when she felt she was in danger. Hannah knew Jake could hack into anything. So she asked for his help. He pretended he witnessed the abduction and told you guys. And his investigation began."