Cover of The Housemaid's Secret

The Housemaid's Secret

by Freida McFadden


Genre
Thriller, Suspense, Mystery, Crime
Year
2023
Contents

Chapter 17

Overview

Millie follows Douglas Garrick through the East Village and watches him enter a brownstone with a blond woman, convincing her he has a mistress. When Brock calls, Millie lies to cover why she ran off. The discovery of the familiar black Mazda near the brownstone shifts Millie’s fear from Xavier to Douglas and suggests the stalking may predate her job.

Summary

While out with Brock in the East Village, Millie spots Douglas Garrick crossing the street against the light. She suddenly doubts her assumption that Xavier has been the one following her and impulsively leaves Brock to tail Douglas.

Millie watches Douglas walk along Second Avenue with a blond woman carrying a brown purse. The woman appears upset and is raising her voice, but Millie stays back to avoid being seen. Douglas and the woman stop at a small brownstone apartment building with no doorman.

The blond woman unlocks the front door, and Douglas goes inside with her. Millie concludes Douglas is having an affair and suspects their argument may be about his marriage to Wendy and his unwillingness to leave his wife.

Brock calls, confused and concerned about Millie running off. Millie lies that she saw an old friend and promises she is walking back to the restaurant, even as she worries Brock will press her for the truth.

On her way back, Millie freezes when she sees a black Mazda with a cracked right headlight—matching the car she has repeatedly noticed near her apartment and near the Garricks’. Seeing it parked near the mistress’s building makes Millie suspect Douglas may be connected to the stalking, and the realization turns frightening when she remembers she felt watched even before she ever worked for him.

Who Appears

  • Millie Calloway
    Follows Douglas, lies to Brock, and realizes the stalker car may be linked to Douglas.
  • Douglas Garrick
    Seen in the East Village entering a brownstone with a blond woman; possibly connected to stalking.
  • Brock
    Calls Millie after she runs off, worries about her, and offers to handle the bill.
  • Blond woman
    Argues with Douglas on the street and lets him into a brownstone Millie suspects is her apartment.
  • Xavier Marin
    Referenced as the person Millie originally believed was following her.
  • Wendy Garrick
    Referenced as Douglas’s wife, used as cover for Douglas’s suspected affair.
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