Not Quite Dead Yet
by Holly Jackson
Contents
Chapter 19
Overview
Jet and Billy return to the Mason house to check whether Jet’s Lotrel pills were tampered with, but Jet’s capsules appear normal. They then inspect Jet’s father’s Lotrel and discover the capsules have been opened and refilled with table salt, depriving him of medication and worsening his PKD and blood pressure.
Jet concludes Sophia has been poisoning Jet’s father for months and may have targeted Jet too. Jet flushes the salted pills, swaps in Jet’s untampered Lotrel to protect her dad, and decides to confront Sophia herself rather than rely on police focused on JJ.
Summary
Jet returns home with Billy and greets Reggie, joking through her grief as she accepts she may die soon. As they head upstairs, Jet explains her growing suspicion that Sophia’s motive could be money and inheritance, especially if Jet’s father planned to keep the company from passing to Luke.
In Jet’s bathroom, Jet and Billy inspect Jet’s Lotrel capsules. They pour the pills out, open one, and taste the powder, but nothing looks obviously wrong; Billy notes that tampering would likely leave visible dents and misalignment on the capsule shells. Jet realizes the surveillance footage of Sophia taking “Jet’s” pills may have been misleading.
Jet abruptly connects the dots: Sophia likely took Jet’s father’s Lotrel instead, since he uses the same medication. Jet and Billy go to Jet’s parents’ en suite bathroom and open Jet’s father’s pill bottle. Several capsules show dents and poor alignment, and opening them is easier, as if they were already opened once.
When Jet tastes the powder from Jet’s father’s capsule, Jet recognizes it immediately as table salt. Billy confirms, and they find capsule after capsule filled with salt, meaning Jet’s father has been deprived of his blood-pressure medication while ingesting something especially harmful for PKD and hypertension.
Jet concludes Sophia has been slowly killing Jet’s father and that Jet’s own attack may be part of the same willingness to murder in-laws. Jet refuses to involve the police, believing they are fixated on JJ, and instead flushes Jet’s father’s tampered pills while keeping one as proof. Before leaving, Jet replaces Jet’s father’s bottle location with Jet’s untampered Lotrel as a last attempt to protect him, then decides to confront Sophia directly, with Billy waiting down the street.
Who Appears
- Jet MasonInvestigates tampered medication; realizes her father is being poisoned and decides to confront Sophia.
- BillyHelps inspect pills, confirms salt substitution, and agrees to wait nearby during Jet’s confrontation.
- ReggieJet’s dog; greets them at home and stays close while they search for evidence.
- SophiaSuspected perpetrator; implied to have swapped Jet’s father’s medication with salt.
- Jet's fatherVictim of medication tampering; his worsening health is linked to Sophia’s salt-filled capsules.