Debbie Hunter's reign of manipulation comes to an end as Finn confronts her with the consequences of her actions. Meanwhile, Mia and Finn are reunited with Sonny, but Finn's dark secrets threaten their newfound hope. An excerpt from a true-crime book casts suspicion on Finn, suggesting the family's past will continue to haunt them.
Chapter 73: Debbie, 2022
In the prison hospital visiting room, Finn Hunter pays his mother, Debbie, a final visit. He reveals a series of images on his watch: the first shows her brother, George Lewis, looking distressed, and subsequent images reveal George's lifeless body. Finn explains that he spent two years tracking George down, using clues from photos George sent of Sonny Hunter and enlisting online detectives. With Sonny now safe, Finn declares he is taking control of his life and cutting Debbie out of it forever.
Debbie, whose lifelong theme is Manipulation and Control, panics and resorts to threats. She threatens to tell the police that Finn helped her abduct the children, but Finn dismisses this, reminding her that she has been declared legally insane. She then threatens to write to Mia and Emma, but Finn is confident they would see it as a desperate act of revenge. Defeated, Debbie begs him not to leave, but he stands to leave. In desperation, she tries to "frame" him—her mental coping mechanism for preserving memories—but finds herself unable to. Before leaving, he tells her his name is "William now," the name his "real family" uses. He turns and walks out, leaving Debbie with a final, agonizing "frame" of the back of his head. Overwhelmed by the loss, she collapses, bursting the stitches on her face and wishing for her own death.
Chapter 74: Mia, Two and a Half Weeks Earlier
The narrative shifts back to Mia arriving at a hospital in Oslo, where Finn is waiting. She is frantic for news about Sonny, whom Finn has just recovered. He reassures her that Sonny is physically healthy but very confused. In a flashback, Mia recalls Finn’s shocking phone call revealing that Sonny was alive and that a DNA test had confirmed it. Finn then admitted that he had been secretly receiving photos of Sonny from the kidnapper for two years, a lie that infuriates Mia, though she understands he did it to protect their son. Finn recounts how he tracked George to an island, only to find the house empty and Sonny abandoned. He reported it to the local police, who already knew of the man and the boy, who was called Andreas.
Finn warns Mia that Sonny will not remember them and that they must be patient. Mia is wracked with guilt, wondering if her postnatal depression and obsession with Debbie’s past contributed to the tragedy. As they wait, Finn shows her the pictures George had sent, and Mia feels a mix of relief that Sonny looks happy and sorrow for all the time she has lost. She notices Finn’s evasiveness when he describes finding George’s house empty but his boat still docked, sensing he is not telling the whole truth. Soon, they are taken to a viewing room where they see Sonny for the first time in two years, a healthy little boy playing with a dog. A psychiatrist explains that Sonny (Andreas) was well-cared for and loved by the man he called "pappa," a revelation that is both comforting and painful for Mia. As they prepare to enter the playroom, Mia and Finn hold hands, determined to be a united front for their son and begin a new chapter for their family.
Excerpt from Babes in the Attic
An excerpt from a fictional true-crime book by Aaliyah Anderson provides an external perspective on the Hunter family's case. The text summarizes the sparse official information on Debbie's background, noting her parents are missing and presumed dead and that her brother, George Lewis, was never officially registered. The manuscript then turns its focus to Finn, publicly raising suspicions about his role in George's disappearance. It highlights the key inconsistency in his story: George's boat was left behind on the island, leaving no obvious way for him to have departed.
The author questions Finn's credibility, citing his history of infidelity and his 23 visits to Debbie in the hospital over two years. The excerpt ends with a series of speculative, leading questions, annotated with notes like "Needs checking by libel lawyer," suggesting that Finn may have been complicit in Sonny's kidnapping or is hiding more of his family's dark secrets. This passage shows how the family's private trauma has become public speculation, foreshadowing that Finn's actions have placed him under a new cloud of suspicion.
Key Events
- Finn reveals to Debbie that he tracked down and killed George Lewis.
- Finn permanently cuts ties with Debbie, reclaiming his birth name, William, and leaving her completely alone.
- Mia and Finn are reunited with Sonny in a hospital in Oslo.
- Finn lies to Mia about the circumstances of George's disappearance, claiming he simply fled.
- A true-crime book excerpt reveals that the public and media are suspicious of Finn's role in George's disappearance, questioning if he was involved in the kidnapping.
Character Development
- Debbie Hunter: Debbie hits rock bottom as her emotional hold on Finn shatters. Her psychological defenses crumble, leaving her broken.
- Finn Hunter: Finn completes his dark transformation by murdering George and severing ties with his mother. By reclaiming his birth name, William, he attempts to shed the toxic Hunter identity. However, his willingness to lie to Mia proves he has inherited his mother's deceptive nature, making his morality deeply ambiguous.
- Mia: Mia is overwhelmed by joy, grief, and anger. She learns of Finn's long-term deception but chooses to focus on her son. She demonstrates immense strength by putting Sonny's needs first and presenting a united front with Finn, despite her lingering suspicions.
- George Lewis: George's story concludes tragically. He is revealed to have been a loving, if criminal, caretaker to Sonny, only to be murdered by Finn. He is another victim of the destructive cycle of the Lewis/Hunter family.
Themes & Symbols
Themes
- Family Secrets and Lies: This theme peaks with Finn's lies. He kept the photos of Sonny a secret from Mia for two years and now lies about murdering George. The true-crime excerpt shows how these secrets are now fueling public speculation, threatening to create a new scandal.
- Nature vs. Nurture: Finn's violent act forces the reader to question whether his capacity for murder is a result of Debbie's upbringing (nurture) or an innate part of his character (nature). He justifies his actions as necessary to protect his new family, but in doing so, he mirrors the ruthlessness his mother used to "protect" him.
- The Past Haunting the Present: Debbie is finally and completely consumed by the consequences of her past actions. Simultaneously, Finn tries to escape his past by reclaiming his birth name, but his violent solution to the problem ensures that the cycle of violence and secrets will continue to haunt him.
Symbols
Debbie's lifelong coping mechanism of creating mental "frames" of important moments fails her when she needs it most. Her inability to frame Finn properly, and being left with only the image of his back as he abandons her, symbolizes her ultimate loss of control, memory, and identity. The final, broken frame represents her broken self.
Significance
These chapters serve as the climax for the novel's central conflicts. The mystery of Sonny's disappearance is solved, but the resolution is drenched in moral ambiguity. Debbie, the primary antagonist, is finally defeated not by the justice system, but by the son she spent her life trying to control.
The narrative focus shifts decisively from Debbie's past crimes to Finn's present ones. By killing George, Finn steps into the role of a morally compromised protector, adopting his mother's methods to achieve a different end. The timeline jump between chapters creates powerful dramatic irony, as the reader is aware of Finn's violent secret while Mia tentatively rebuilds her trust in him. The inclusion of the book excerpt broadens the story's scope, reminding the reader that these private tragedies have public consequences and that Finn's ordeal is far from over.
Analysis
John Marrs uses a non-linear narrative structure to maximize suspense and emotional impact. By placing Mia's hopeful reunion with Sonny (Chapter 74) before Debbie's devastating final confrontation with Finn (Chapter 73), Marrs juxtaposes hope with despair. This structure allows the reader to experience the relief of Sonny's return alongside the chilling knowledge of what Finn did to make it happen. When we read Chapter 74, we know Finn is lying to Mia, which colors their reunion with a sense of dread and foreshadows future conflict.
Finn's character arc concludes in a deeply unsettling manner. He is neither a straightforward hero nor a villain. He is an anti-hero who has embraced violence and deception—the very traits he despised in his mother—to save his son. His reclamation of the name "William" is an attempt at rebirth, but his actions suggest that he cannot escape the "Hunter" legacy of secrets and violence.
The excerpt from Babes in the Attic functions as a form of metafiction, commenting on the public's consumption of true crime and the narrative that will be constructed around the Hunter family. It cleverly externalizes the reader's own suspicions about Finn, confirming that his story is not over and that the cycle of secrets will continue, now with him at the center.