Chapter 28
Contains spoilersOverview
Olivia confronts Vincent with a disturbing closet message and a film clip that contradicts his memory of a pivotal fight with Danny. Vincent dismisses the threatening graffiti as part of a treasure hunt and reluctantly watches footage showing he was the aggressor. Pressed, Vincent connects the fight to Danny revealing that Olivia's mother had previously been pregnant and had an abortion with someone else, admitting that was when he learned the news.
Summary
Olivia shows Vincent a photo on her phone of his handwritten threat in Poppy's closet. Vincent claims it was part of an elaborate treasure hunt he and Poppy played, involving spoken clues and written puzzle pieces guided by themed words, and says the ominous rhyme about "dead" was chosen only to rhyme with "shed." When Olivia challenges why he would write something so threatening, he insists she is reading too much into it.
Vincent reminisces that one hunt theme was "dark places," which led Poppy to discover Danny's marijuana and their father's Playboy magazines. When asked about their mother, Vincent says her dysfunction—alcohol, later pills—was out in the open, especially after the murders. Olivia reflects on her dual role as ghostwriter and daughter, recognizing the personal trauma intertwined with the case.
Olivia then shows Vincent a digitized home movie labeled May #4, Clip #9, filmed in late May 1975, which she found under Poppy's closet floorboards. The footage shows Danny leaving his room before teenage Vincent tackles and attacks him, clearly the aggressor. Their mother walks past without intervening, and their father pulls Vincent off Danny. Vincent looks directly into Poppy's camera with visible sadness before lunging to cover the lens, ending the clip.
Confronted with the discrepancy between his account and the film, Vincent grows defensive and evasive. Olivia presses him on what the fight was about and what he did not want Poppy to see or hear. He resists specifics, claiming not to remember and reacting combatively to the timeline Olivia provides.
Eventually, Vincent links the fight to Danny's pattern of provoking him with painful revelations. Vincent explains that Olivia's mother, who once favored Danny, had become Vincent's girlfriend after tutoring him; Danny then told Vincent that she had been pregnant and had an abortion. Vincent cannot name the father, saying only that it was not him and that he either never knew or has forgotten.
Vincent confirms that the moment captured on film was when he learned about the pregnancy and abortion. This admission reframes the fight as Vincent reacting to Danny's disclosure, contradicting Vincent's earlier narrative that Danny attacked him and highlighting Vincent as an unreliable narrator about the events leading up to the murders.
Who Appears
- Olivia Taylor Dumont
narrator/ghostwriter and Vincent's daughter; confronts Vincent with Poppy's closet graffiti and a film proving he attacked Danny; elicits admission about the pregnancy revelation.
- Vincent Taylor
subject of the memoir; claims the threatening closet message was part of a treasure hunt; is shown attacking Danny on film; admits he learned then that Olivia's mother had been pregnant and had an abortion that was not his.
- Danny Taylor
Vincent's brother; appears in the film being attacked by Vincent; characterized by Vincent as provoking him with hurtful information.
- Poppy Taylor
Vincent's sister; her film captures the fight; her closet hid the reels and the graffiti clue; central to the treasure-hunt context.
- Taylor mother
appears in the film walking past the fight without intervening; mentioned as openly dysfunctional with alcohol (and later pills).
- Taylor father
appears in the film pulling Vincent off Danny.
- Olivia's mother
discussed; had previously been pregnant and had an abortion with someone other than Vincent; had tutored Vincent and later dated him.