Vera Wong's Unsolicited Advice for Murderers

A few weeks have passed since Marshall’s death. Oliver helps Vera change lightbulbs in her shop. She reveals that she kept his draft of a novel and has been reading it. Oliver remembers that the story is loosely based on his life, having worked on it while supporting himself as the manager of his building.

Later, Oliver receives a call from Julia: She has learned that Marshall had a secret apartment downtown. Dreading what it might expose about Marshall, she asks Oliver to check it for her. Julia adds that she enjoyed seeing him again after so long. He hopes to see more of her and Emma but realizes his hope comes off as flirting. Upon entering the apartment, Oliver finds it full of art pieces by different artists. He packs all the art pieces and takes them to Julia’s.

At Julia’s house, Oliver assures her that Marshall’s apartment wasn’t for a secret lover but art. She sees some of the photographs and remembers how much she loved photography in high school, but Marshall discouraged her from pursuing it.

Sana made an appointment to ask Julia questions for her supposed podcast. Her real goal is to learn what Marshall did with her paintings, and she is shocked to see the miscellaneous art at Julia’s house. She realizes she wasn’t Marshall’s only victim. Sana hides the truth because she doesn’t want to admit she had been stalking Marshall on the night he died. She asks about the art, and Julia says she didn’t know anything about it until that morning. Despite hiding her part in Marshall’s story, Sana wants to know where he hid the money he made off her art and the digital rights he stole. When she was an insecure art student, Marshall told her that her paintings would make perfect NFTs (non-fungible tokens, virtual currency). In the present, she suggests to Julia and Oliver that Marshall might have dealt in NFTs, so they should check his computer. Suddenly, Vera calls about someone breaking into her shop.

Riki, Sana, Oliver, Julia, and Emma arrive at Vera’s shop and find broken jars of tea and herbs. Vera doesn’t want to call the police, as they wouldn’t be of use. She is certain that Marshall’s killer returned to search for something. Riki stares at the broken jars and remembers punching Marshall in the face the night before he died. It was the first time he ever hit someone, and should the police find out that he fought with Marshall, other secrets would come out. He suggests they all help Vera clean up the shop. Riki secretly hates the idea but wants to prevent the police from reopening Marshall’s case. Julia suggests that Vera stay with her and Emma while they get the shop fixed.

Vera marches into Julia’s house and tells Emma to take off her shoes upon entering because they are not animals. She then displaces Julia from the master bedroom, claiming it as the elder. She notices photographs of Emma and deduces that they were taken by Julia, whom she considers talented. Vera asks Julia if it was her choice to give up photography. Julia admits that Marshall talked her into quitting. Vera says, “Unrealized dreams are one of the saddest things in life” (186). She tells Julia to go online and advertise herself as a portrait photographer.

Julia protests that she can’t pursue photography because she has to raise Emma. Vera tells her not to worry, as she can look after Emma. She then goes to the kitchen with Emma to prepare dinner. Julie is again pleased by how relaxed Emma seems.

Now that Vera is busy looking after Julia and Emma, she no longer texts Tilly. He calls and is horrified to hear about the break-in at the shop. He reluctantly extends an offer to live with him, but Vera refuses. Tilly instead offers to send money. In the evening, Vera reads Oliver’s draft about two brothers—one good, one bad. The good brother falls in love with a girl, but she marries the bad brother.

Julia gets a photography job. While she is out, Vera puts Emma down for a nap and searches the garage. She finds a laptop hidden on a high shelf. She opens it and sees a message telling her to insert a key. Vera inserts the flash drive, and a folder named “Assets” appears.

Riki, Sana, and Oliver are cleaning Vera’s windows and fixing furniture when Officer Gray asks what they are doing. They mention the break-in, and she demands to know why none of them reported it. Like Riki, Oliver realizes he didn’t because he didn’t want to deal with the police. He wonders if the suspects all have something to hide.