The Likeness

Sam goes door to door in Glenskehy trying to get information, but the townsfolk are reluctant to talk. Cassie reflects that she “know[s] that small-town silence, [she’d] run into it before, intangible as smoke and solid as stone” (212). The house does not have a good reputation, and Sam has heard several versions of a story about the dead baby that inspired the “baby killer” graffiti, but he cannot determine a date for when it occurred. What he has been told is that a man from Whitethorn impregnated a woman from town, and when he refused to claim her or the child, she hung herself. After they are done with discussing the investigation for the night, Sam asks to take Cassie on a trip to Italy when she finishes the job, but she is hesitant to commit, and this hurts Sam’s feelings. Cassie abruptly ends her call with Sam as she hears footsteps. She is now taking her calls from a hiding spot in a tree, and a tall, blonde man in a leather bomber jacket who appears to be looking for someone walks by on the path. Cassie remains hidden but follows him until he gets into a black SUV and drives away toward Dublin. Cassie immediately rings Frank to see if anyone matching this man’s description has surfaced, but there are no matches. Frank does tell her Daniel has a cousin called Slow Eddie who wears a leather jacket and may have reason to be angry about Daniel inheriting the house and not him. She calls Sam back to finish their conversation and then returns to the house while wondering if Lexie and Slow Eddie had a relationship.

On the way to college, a local man spits on the car and bangs it with his cane. Justin, Abby, Rafe, and Lexie are the only ones in the car, and Rafe is angry over the exchange, but Abby wants to let it go. Cassie figures the man is angry due to Sam’s interrogations in the town and later tells Frank about the incident. During the call, Frank also has further details on the murder victim’s movements in 2000, which were mostly mundane errands. Though there was evidence that she had intended to stick around, Cassie and Frank note that the victim had decided to sell her car just after the engagement, which they both take to be a sign that she was planning to leave. Cassie believes the girl runs when she feels trapped by a person or situation and the victim sold the car for money to travel. The situation becomes more complicated when she tries to run from Whitethorn but is pregnant and has no money.

Cassie finds the housemates on the floor sorting through items found in the house. She reaches into a suitcase and finds a music box she wants in her room to help her sleep. They discuss what they would do if they found a highly valuable item. Daniel says he would use the money to improve the house, Abby would buy a better heating system, and Cassie says she would buy everyone new mattresses.

Cassie asks Daniel if she can see the family history written by Uncle Simon, hoping to find out more about the pregnant girl who hung herself. They comb through the family tree and find the entry for William Edward March, who was the outcast of the family. The history states William went off to fight in World War I and returned home with post-traumatic stress disorder and began doing things that were out of character, such as breaking off an engagement to Alice West and frequenting town. A village girl claimed he was the father of her baby, but she was publicly shamed and treated terribly by the townspeople. She refused to disappear to a nunnery, then she took her own life. William disappeared, and no one really knows what happened to him afterward. The story leaves Daniel visibly shaken, and he says, “Sometimes I wonder if the best thing would be for the ‘no pasts’ to apply to the house, as well” (230), but he remains committed to the house and its restoration.

Sam looks for a match to the profile of the leather jacket man. He has three feasible options, who he plans to question at the Rathowen Station: Declan Bannon, a local farmer; John Naylor, who lives with his parents; and Michael McArdle, petrol station worker. Cassie is silently excited about the name John Naylor, thinking he might be the tie to the N in Lexie’s diary, so she jumps at the chance to join Sam in the questioning room. and Sam is overjoyed at the chance to see her. She also relays the information about the dead baby story, and there is a slight tension when she relates the story, as she finds herself defending William March. Sam chooses not to engage, and they make plans to meet the following day under the guise that Lexie has a doctor’s appointment.

Cassie tells the roommates her plan to go to the doctor alone the next day. Daniel protests, but she insists. When Cassie lights up a cigarette, Daniel mentions he has noticed her smoking more lately. The discussion goes on to the suggestion that Cassie consider therapy, and when Cassie says she would rather not. Daniel supports her decision and tells her she can always talk to all of them. Rafe is drunk and gets exasperated with all the “touchy-feely bollocks” (235) and tells everyone to just stop talking about Lexie’s injuries and mental health. Rafe continues the argument with Daniel, and Cassie notes that “[t]here was something in [Rafe’s] voice, something precarious as the smell of petrol, ready and waiting to ignite at the first spark” (236). Daniel shuts Rafe down and turns his back to him, pretending to read his book, so Rafe storms out of the room.

The next morning everyone is quiet and obviously trying to ignore what happened the night before. Daniel drops Cassie off at the hospital where she is meeting Sam, who is happy to see her and has brought more fake antibiotics from Frank. Cassie realizes Sam is preparing for her exit from the mission. At the station, they interview Bannon and McArdle, who both deny knowing anything about the case. Cassie plants herself in the station where each suspect much see her as they leave the interrogation room. McArdle doesn’t seem to recognize Cassie, so they eliminate him as a suspect, but Bannon does recognize her and does not disguise that he does not like her. When Naylor arrives and sees Cassie, it is clear he knows her intimately. He is handsome, and Cassie can see how Lexie could have fallen for him.

Later at dinner, when Cassie asks if there is enough stew for her to have seconds, Justin simply shrugs, and Rafe calls him a drama queen. Cassie knows Justin is still upset with her about not wanting him to come with her to the doctor, so she apologizes for her behavior the night before.She gives a fake doctor’s report, and Daniel asks her several questions before Justin notices she is eating onions, which is a food Lexie hated. Cassie panics, as she fears she has blown her cover, but she uses the antibiotics as an excuse for a changing palate and everyone seems to buy it.

That night during their check-in on the phone, Frank conveys his desire to wrap up the mission so he can spend time with his daughter. Frank says his FBI friends have uncovered information about May-Ruth’s personality that contradicts what they have seen on the videos from Whitethorn and what Cassie has learned about her. Frank thinks she may have been trained as an undercover detective or an actor, but Cassie secretly thinks it has more to do with a dark side of the victim’s personality.