Hidden Pictures

In the morning, Caroline apologizes to her. They hug, and Caroline again offers the guest bedroom, but Mallory again refuses. While Mallory cleans, she sees a toy cabin that Teddy built under the table. She says she wants to see more drawings, but he reminds her that his mother said no: “She says you’re not well, and scary pictures could make you sick again” (112). Mallory then watches him play with the toy animals and admires his imagination.

Later, she hears him talking about something he and Anya could try, and he says that something is cold. Mallory hears whispering and the sound of drawing. While on a walk, Teddy asks why she has “bumps poking through” her swimsuit and shirt (116). When she is showering, he asks through the door if Mallory can see her girl parts. Caroline seems alarmed when Mallory tells her about Teddy’s questions. The next day, Caroline brings home an assortment of sexual development books, which are more explicit than the ones Mallory remembers. Caroline makes dinner and doesn’t invite Mallory to join them.

Mallory sees that Teddy’s hands have black smudges on them, as if he has been drawing with charcoal. She searches his room while he uses the bathroom but doesn’t find any new drawings. On Monday, when she hears the trash pickup, she realizes she didn’t check Teddy’s garbage can. She finds nine pages just before the men take the can. The pictures get more detailed and disturbing with each one, showing new details of the woman being strangled in the forest and the man digging the grave.

Mallory does not believe Teddy drew the latest pictures, which show a higher degree of skill than he possesses. She wonders if the Maxwells might be aspiring illustrators. On Monday evening, Mallory goes to a bookstore. A performer on a stage plays the Eric Clapton song “Tears in Heaven,” which she always associates with her sister’s memorial. She sees Adrian reading a Star Wars novel and joins him. Mallory says she watches Hallmark movies for the same reason he reads books like Wookie Vengeance. When he sees her psychology books, she tells him about her investigation.

Adrian says Annie Barrett is the local boogeyman. She shows him the drawings and tells him her theory: She thinks they improve progressively because Annie is learning to draw with someone else’s arm, which feels clumsy to her since she must manipulate someone else’s body from within. Adrian says the drawings remind him of the hidden picture series from the children’s magazine Highlights, where pictures would be hidden within pictures. He says his mother can search for pictures of Annie in the archives. He says, “When you eliminate the impossible, all that remains, however improbable, must be the truth. That’s Spock in Star Trek VI, but he’s paraphrasing Sherlock Holmes” (134).

They walk home, and he points out various local sights, including the house of a woman named Tracy Bantam. Tracy is the Penn State point guard, and Adrian assumed Mallory would know her. Mallory still doesn’t tell him the truth and continues to lie as he quizzes her about her past and family.

The cottage light is burned out when they arrive. She goes inside after saying goodbye to Adrian. On the way in, her foot hits a rock on the porch that is weighing down three new drawings. They are like the ones Ted threw away, but they are the most advanced drawings yet.

The next morning, Teddy pretends the table is a restaurant, with his stuffed animals sitting in the chairs. Diana Farrell leaves a voicemail from Spring Brook Elementary as Caroline answers the call. Then, she tells Teddy it was his new principal and that she can’t wait to meet him. When Mallory asks him about the new pictures, Teddy denies that he left them outside of the cottage and insists that he doesn’t draw Anya anymore.

Russell invites Mallory to the Cheesecake Factory that night. She leaves the drawings in her nightstand. Russell is worried about her training and her poor sleep. He is also concerned that she didn’t tell Adrian she is in recovery. He admits that he called because Caroline called him. She told Russell she had noticed a change in Mallory, that she saw Mallory digging in the trash, that she is talking about ghosts, and that she met with Mitzi. Russell also asks if Ted has crossed any boundaries, which Mallory denies.

At the Maxwell home, Mallory uses the Viper to illuminate the path and then shows Russell the cottage. She takes the drug test for him, and it is negative. When he leaves, she sees new drawings on her refrigerator, held by magnets. They show someone drawing a hot air balloon on pages held with an easel. The pages are limp and warm. Mallory barricades the door with the bed. She thinks the drawings must have been put there by Teddy, Ted, Caroline, or Anya. As she tries to sleep, she creates a plan to find out.