The Housemaid Is Watching
by Freida McFadden
Contents
Chapter 18
Overview
Millie wakes thinking there’s an intruder, only to learn Enzo gave their maid Martha a key and she is cleaning at dawn. Millie catches Martha searching through a desk drawer, then wrongly blames her for a shattered vase until Nico admits he broke it during a late-night snack run. Martha’s pointed comment about being treated like a criminal deepens Millie’s fear that Martha may be digging into her past.
Summary
At 6 a.m., Millie wakes to loud footsteps and banging downstairs and believes someone has broken into the house. She wakes Enzo and insists on calling the police, but Enzo says it is Martha and reveals he gave Martha a key so she can clean without waking the family.
Unable to go back to sleep, Millie showers and comes downstairs. She finds Martha not cleaning but rifling through a drawer in the living-room desk; Martha claims she was searching for a pen and paper to leave a note that they are nearly out of cleaning spray. Millie doubts the excuse and feels increasingly uneasy about having Martha in the house.
Millie then notices the vase from the coffee table has shattered, leaving lilies and broken glass scattered across the living room floor. She confronts Martha, but Martha denies breaking anything and claims she has not started cleaning the living room yet.
Enzo comes in and suggests Nico likely did it, then wakes Nico to ask directly. Nico admits he broke the vase in the middle of the night when he came downstairs hungry, and says he did not clean it up because Millie told him not to touch broken glass.
Millie apologizes to Martha for accusing her. Martha coldly says she did not appreciate being made to feel like a criminal, a word that hits Millie hard and makes her fear Martha might know about Millie’s prison past; Enzo and Millie begin cleaning the glass. Even with Nico’s confession, Millie cannot shake the belief that Martha was snooping for a reason.
Who Appears
- Millie AccardiWakes to noises, catches Martha snooping, misaccuses her, then worries Martha knows her prison past.
- MarthaArrives early to clean with Enzo’s key; is seen searching a desk drawer; bristles at being treated like a criminal.
- Enzo AccardiReassures Millie it’s Martha, admits giving her a key, questions Nico, and pushes apologies to Martha.
- Nico AccardiAdmits he broke the living-room vase during a late-night trip downstairs for food.
- Ada AccardiOffstage; mentioned as a reason Enzo got rid of his gun and as a child who could be hurt by glass.
- Suzette LowellOffstage; Martha’s recommender, fueling Millie’s distrust and fear of gossip about Millie’s past.