Opening
The chase tightens. As Brady Hartsfield refines a new, lethal plan, K. William Hodges and Janelle "Janey" Patterson follow the killer’s past crimes toward his future attack. A sudden bond with a fragile newcomer changes Hodges’s emotional compass, even as Brady finds the single detail that unlocks mass murder.
What Happens
Chapter 81: Crossing the Backtrail
Brady drives and plots. He calls in sick to Discount Electronix, disguising his voice, and savors the idea of his suicide bombing at the ’Round Here concert, laughing so hard he flips off a woman in the next car. He knows Hodges and Janey are headed to Elizabeth Wharton’s condo and plans to intercept them when they return.
In their car, Hodges explains to Janey the Records Department favor he pulled and his term for retired cops who hang around—“uncles.” His neglected phone rattles in the glove box: Marlo Everett confirms a string of unsolved downtown car break-ins from 2007 to early 2009, ending just before the City Center Massacre. “We’re crossing his backtrail now,” Hodges says, and he and Janey agree to keep this between them until they have proof for Pete Huntley. At the condo, Hodges reflexively locks his Toyota with the key fob and hurries after Janey.
Chapter 82: Thing Two
Minutes later, Brady arrives, spots Hodges’s Toyota, and parks across the street in a garage with a perfect third-level view. Killing time, he confirms online that the ’Round Here show at the MAC is sold out—4,500 people—and calls in sick to his ice cream job as well, cracking himself up about the “Gopher Flu.”
When Hodges and Janey exit, Hodges clicks his fob. Brady lifts a small device—“Thing Two”—and flips a switch. A green blink confirms it has captured the Toyota’s Passive Keyless Entry code, just as he once did with Olivia Trelawney’s Mercedes. With access secured, he heads to scout the MAC, feeling unstoppable. The moment underscores Technology and Modern Crime: simple electronics turn convenience into a weapon.
Chapter 83: The Worst Part
At Elizabeth Wharton’s viewing, Janey, uneasy with the open casket arranged to placate her Uncle Henry, shepherds family while Hodges feels like an intruder. Outside, he finds Janey’s cousin, Holly Gibney, chain-nervous and blunt, venting about her mother’s resentment over the will and probing Hodges about Janey.
Holly panics at the thought of the body—“This is the worst part, this is the worst part!”—and Hodges steadies her, promising a closed coffin at the service. Thinking of Olivia’s collapse and his own failures, he asks if Holly took her meds; she hasn’t. He fetches water and waits with her while she takes Lexapro, an act of care tied to his Guilt and Responsibility. Inside, Janey, irked that her aunt hasn’t even noticed Holly’s absence, decides there will be no coffin at the service at all. After, Holly tells Hodges, “I like you. You’re a good guy.” He says he likes her too, and the family’s fractures spotlight their Dysfunctional Family Dynamics.
Chapter 84: The Louvre of the Midwest
Brady scouts the MAC’s rear loading area and fails to talk past security. In the lobby, a sign—NO BAGS NO BOXES NO BACKPACKS—tells him there will be no metal detectors, but a bulky suicide vest would draw instant scrutiny. For a rattled moment, he considers ditching the concert plan to simply kill Hodges and himself, and grief for his brother Frankie pierces him.
He drifts into a gallery and finds grim peace in a Manet of a dead matador; blood rendered as art steadies him, clarifies him. On his way out, he buys ’Round Here merch, then notices a small, roped lane with a separate sign down the corridor to the Mingo Auditorium. Reading it triggers an epiphany. He has found his way in.
Chapter 85: Janey’s Millions
Back at Elizabeth’s condo, an exhausted Janey tells Hodges she’ll split Olivia’s seven million with her aunt, uncle, and Holly. Olivia wasn’t in her right mind, she says, and she’s morbidly curious to watch them divvy their half. She hands Hodges the gate and alarm codes to Olivia’s house and asks him and Jerome Robinson to comb the computers Thursday morning, while she’s at the airport with her family; she can’t bear to be present.
Hodges kneels and apologizes for what she and the City Center victims have endured. Janey hugs him, then says she’ll return to California when the case ends. She could fall in love with him, but she needs a clean slate. Before he leaves, she mentions Holly’s crush. Hodges feels that helping Holly is a “second chance” to do right after failing Olivia.
Chapter 86: Twenty Hours to Live
Brady shops with his late mother’s Honda hatchback, squeezing in one oversized purchase. He considers checking his P.O. box for the Gopher-Go poison he ordered but discards the thought—like the Under Debbie’s Blue Umbrella taunts, that plan is obsolete.
Home again, he props the largest item against the garage wall and powers up his basement computers out of habit, but he feels no urge to contact Hodges. The new plan is in motion. It’s 3:30 p.m. He calculates that Detective K. William Hodges has roughly twenty hours left to live.
Character Development
These chapters sharpen the contrast between the killer’s escalating precision and the detective’s deepening humanity, while introducing a fragile ally who changes the emotional stakes.
- Brady Hartsfield: Oscillates between manic laughter and icy focus; discards outdated schemes for a cleaner, deadlier plan. A flicker of grief for Frankie surfaces before violence reasserts his purpose.
- K. William Hodges: Detective instincts snap back into place as he pieces together the pre-massacre break-ins. His compassion with Holly reframes his earlier failures and opens a path to redemption.
- Janey Patterson: Asserts control—closing the coffin, redistributing the inheritance—and stays clear-eyed about ending a budding romance to rebuild her life.
- Holly Gibney: Debuts as anxious and blunt but shows trust, honesty, and receptivity to care—traits that hint at a vital role ahead.
Themes & Symbols
Technology becomes the engine of crime: a handheld key-fob sniffer turns modern convenience into breachable security, proving that innovation’s soft spots can be exploited with chilling ease. Parallel to this, official systems—the Records Department, past case files—equip Hodges to read the killer’s “backtrail,” a duel of tools and timing that escalates the cat-and-mouse tension.
Personal ethics cut against bloodlust. Hodges’s patient care for Holly grows directly from guilt, recasting the investigation as atonement rather than mere pursuit. Family fissures—resentments over money, blindness to distress—frame how neglect breeds vulnerability. Brady’s solace in a Manet of a dead matador turns a museum into a mirror: death, aestheticized, calms him. The painting functions as a symbol of violence-as-clarity, aligning art’s composure with Brady’s murderous resolve and brushing up against the cold normalcy of The Banality of Evil.
Key Quotes
“We’re crossing his backtrail now, and that means we’re getting closer.”
- Hodges names the investigative turn: past pattern as compass. It marks the moment he shifts from reacting to anticipating, tightening the narrative screw on Brady’s present-day plot.
“This is the worst part, this is the worst part!”
- Holly’s panic chant distills raw grief and fear. Hodges’s response—steadying, practical, kind—signals his growth from brusque retiree to protector, and forges their first thread of trust.
NO BAGS NO BOXES NO BACKPACKS
- A posted rule becomes plot architecture. The sign tips Brady to the venue’s security posture—no metal detectors, high vigilance—and pushes him toward the subtle workaround that births his new plan.
“I like you. You’re a good guy.”
- Holly’s blunt sincerity cuts through Hodges’s defenses. The line reframes him not only as a detective but as a caretaker, anchoring his “second chance” to repair what he failed to save with Olivia.
“approximately twenty hours left to live.”
- Brady’s clock-setting crystallizes the book’s countdown. Turning time into a weapon adds a drumbeat of inevitability and clarifies the stakes of every ensuing choice.
Why This Matters and Section Significance
The section loads the board for the climax. Brady acquires access to Hodges’s car and identifies a viable path into the concert, while Hodges secures the digital keys—literally and figuratively—to trace the killer through Olivia’s machines. At the same time, Holly’s arrival reshapes the emotional landscape: she becomes the conduit for Hodges’s redemption and a counterweight to Brady’s lethal clarity.
Two decisive setups emerge:
- Brady can now breach Hodges’s personal space via the cloned key-fob, enabling a direct, intimate attack.
- Hodges and Jerome gain lawful access to Olivia’s computers, the likeliest route to Brady’s identity and methods.
Tension spikes from both ends: the villain future-proofs his massacre even as the hero decodes the past that leads to him. The collision course is set, and the clock is ticking toward it.