The Housemaid's Secret
by Freida McFadden
Contents
Chapter 45
Overview
Millie is released from the station with orders not to leave town, but she returns home to find the police have torn through her apartment and her landlady has given her an eviction deadline. Hoping to understand what’s happening, Millie watches the news and is stunned when Wendy publicly praises “Douglas” as a wonderful husband. The biggest shock comes when the televised photo of Douglas Garrick is a man Millie has never seen, forcing Millie to realize she may have killed someone else entirely.
Summary
Detective Ramirez unexpectedly releases Millie from the police station, warning her not to leave town. Outside, Millie reaches for her phone and realizes she has no one to call now that Brock has abandoned her; she considers calling Enzo because he would believe her, but refuses to ask him for help.
Needing answers, Millie calls Wendy to confirm what was supposedly agreed on the night before, but Wendy’s phone goes straight to voicemail. With no money, no car, and nowhere else to go, Millie takes the train back to her Bronx apartment, exhausted and shaken.
At the building, Mrs. Randall confronts Millie about the police search of Millie’s apartment and accuses her of bringing trouble. Mrs. Randall gives Millie one week to move out and threatens to change the locks, leaving Millie feeling trapped and even momentarily imagining jail might be easier than homelessness.
Upstairs, Millie finds her apartment ransacked and cannot bring herself to clean. She turns on the television and sees the news coverage of Douglas Garrick’s murder, with Millie described as a “person of interest.”
The broadcast shows Wendy giving an emotional interview praising Douglas as kind and brilliant, which horrifies Millie given the abuse Wendy suffered. Then the news displays a photo labeled “Douglas Garrick, CEO of Coinstock,” and Millie realizes she has never seen that man before; the person she shot was not the man in the photo. Millie is left with a terrifying question: if that was Douglas Garrick, who did she kill?
Who Appears
- Millie CallowayReleased by police; returns home, faces eviction, watches news, realizes the “Douglas” photo is a stranger.
- Detective RamirezQuestions Millie, then releases her with instructions not to leave town.
- Wendy GarrickUnreachable by phone; appears on TV praising Douglas, contradicting Millie’s understanding of the abuse.
- Mrs. RandallMillie’s landlady; reports police searched the apartment and gives Millie one week to move out.
- Douglas GarrickShown on the news as the murdered CEO; the photo doesn’t match the man Millie killed.
- EnzoPerson Millie considers calling for help, but she refuses to rely on him again.
- BrockMillie’s ex; absent here but referenced as the person she can no longer call.
- TV newscasterReports Douglas Garrick’s murder and labels Millie a person of interest.