The Housemaid Is Watching
by Freida McFadden
Contents
Chapter 55
Overview
While police search her home, Millie investigates Enzo’s account of Martha by visiting Martha’s house. Martha’s drunken husband says she left earlier in the week, which makes Millie believe Enzo’s story checks out. The visit strengthens Millie’s resolve to trust Enzo even as the legal pressure intensifies.
Summary
After dropping the kids off at school, Millie avoids returning home during the police search and makes a stop she feels she needs for peace of mind.
Millie drives two towns over to a weather-worn white house in a rough neighborhood and knocks until a man in his sixties answers, already smelling of whiskey. Millie asks for Martha and quickly improvises a cover story that Martha used to clean Millie’s house and left a coat behind.
The man, Martha’s husband, responds bitterly that Martha “took off” earlier in the week and is not there. He implies Martha will have to beg when she returns, then coughs and slams the door in Millie’s face.
Walking back to her car, Millie feels relief because the encounter supports Enzo’s story about why he got involved with Martha. Millie reasons that if Enzo had come to this house and found Martha injured, he would have tried to help her, driven by guilt over not saving his sister years ago. Millie ends the chapter wanting to trust Enzo, even as the investigation continues.
Who Appears
- MillieVisits Martha’s home to confirm Enzo’s story and reassure herself.
- MarthaFormer cleaner; revealed by her husband to have left home earlier this week.
- Martha’s husbandDrunken, hostile man who says Martha ran off and may return to grovel.
- EnzoAbsent but central; Millie’s visit reinforces belief he tried to help Martha.