67 pages • 2 hours read
Charlie DonleaThe Girl Who Was Taken
Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 2017A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Part 4Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Part 4, Chapter 28 Summary
This chapter returns to the present and follows Livia’s third-person perspective. Following her previous failure and admonishment by her professor, Livia is determined to do a better job when presenting her findings to a panel of professors. She also resolves to treat each body on her table with the dignity and compassion she would apply to her own sister’s autopsy. Emboldened by her new perspective, she delivers a stellar presentation and receives admiration from her professor and her fellow medical residents. She leaves feeling pleased with her efforts as she drives to meet Megan. After discovering the ketamine connection, Livia wants to ask Megan what she remembers about being drugged. She is hoping to find similarities between Megan’s experience, Nancy Dee’s, and Nicole’s kidnapping.
Livia admits to herself that she is predisposed to dislike Megan. She knows that it’s unfair, but she resents Megan for escaping when Nicole did not, and she feels that Megan’s memoir is a self-aggrandizing grab for money and attention. However, as she talks with Megan, Livia realizes that her impression was wrong. Megan reveals that she did not write the memoir herself; her therapist ghost-wrote it and based it on the information Megan shared in her therapy sessions. She only consented to the book’s publication because her parents wanted it so badly. In reality, she feels disgusted by the book; it does not reflect the truth of who she is or how she feels. She also tells Livia that she is angry about the media’s treatment of Nicole. She finds it unfair that national news outlets are preoccupied with her survival when they should be generating awareness about Nicole. She offers to use her job at the courthouse to help Livia search for information. Megan thinks about Nicole every day and is also eager to find her.
Part 4, Chapter 29 Summary
Chapter 29 shifts to Megan’s perspective in the present. She visits Mr. Steinman, and they play cribbage together. He again encourages her to be honest with herself and her family. As before, their visit comes to an abrupt end when a noise from another room—a noise that sounds like a moan to Megan—causes Mr. Steinman to jump up and reach for the keys that are clipped to his pocket.
Megan offers to help him with whatever has caused the noise, but Mr. Steinman politely brushes her offer aside and urges her to enjoy the rest of her evening. Megan bids him an affectionate farewell and leaves without wondering what caused the noise or why Mr. Steinman never accepts her offer to help.
Part 4, Chapter 30 Summary
Chapter 30 is narrated from Livia’s third-person perspective in the present as she and Megan investigate case files at the courthouse. They also slip into the evidence locker at the nearby police station and search through the items that were cataloged as evidence following Nicole’s disappearance. Most notable is a scrap of green fabric and a set of barbecue tongs, which were found in Nicole’s car.
Although it is illegal, Livia takes the items so that she can test them in her lab. Megan promises to conceal Livia’s theft from her father, the chief of police. Livia races back to her lab, suspecting that the barbecue tongs are responsible for the mysterious head wounds she found on Casey’s body.
Part 4, Chapter 31 Summary
Livia connects with a colleague at the ballistics lab. His forensic analysis of the items proves that the scrap of green fabric came from the shirt Casey was wearing the night he died. He also confirms that the barbecue tongs caused Casey’s head wound.
Part 4, Chapter 32 Summary
This chapter returns to the perspective of the unidentified man who is keeping a woman captive. He sits in his car outside the bunker where she is being held and evaluates his next steps. Although he drew the three black Xs indicating that their relationship has run its course, he is reluctant to let her go.
He knows that ending their relationship means ending her life, and he wishes that they could try again. He is horrified when he considers how close she came to escaping, and he knows that if she had, his secrets would be discovered. He muses that his life very nearly imploded when his former “girlfriend” escaped, and although he survived that, he would not be able to recover from losing his current “love.”
Resolving to improve their relationship, he leaves his car and enters the room where she is being held. He immediately smells the scent of death and decay and realizes that his punishment the night before killed her. Feeling broken by his grief, he sinks to the floor and cries, wondering why all his relationships with women end in death. Later, as he attempts to compose himself, he hears the sound of a train whistle and planes taking off in the background.
Part 4, Chapter 33 Summary
Three weeks before her abduction, Nicole flirts with Matt and criticizes him for being romantically interested in Megan. Although Matt has previously ignored Nicole’s flirtations, on this occasion, he finally snaps and threatens her with physical violence if she refuses to leave him alone.
Part 4 Analysis
A common crime novel trope, Part 4 introduces some red herrings—false clues that misdirect the reader, heighten suspense, and extend the mystery. The first are the strange noises coming from Mr. Steinman’s home. The moan that Megan hears and Mr. Steinman’s cagey behavior afterward suggest that someone might be captive in his home. However, it is later revealed that these noises are made by his sick wife. Second, Matt threatens Nicole after she harasses him, raising the specter of physical retribution. As the book progresses, it is revealed that Matt never attacks Nicole, removing him from the suspect list. Meanwhile, more hints are given about the real perpetrator—details in his narration, including his escaped captive and the sounds of train whistles and planes, confirm that he is Megan’s kidnapper. His newly dead captive—still unnamed—introduces the possibility that Nicole cannot be rescued. This increases the narrative tension, creating a sense of dread and raising the possibility that he will find a new victim before Livia and Megan can crack the case.
The Psychological Impact of Crime on Victims and Their Families is illustrated through Livia’s and Megan’s experiences in these chapters. In Chapter 28, Livia’s internal struggle to cope with her sister Nicole’s disappearance and presumed death is evident, but she shows character growth by using her distress to motivate her work outside of Nicole’s case. Her determination to perform better in her forensic presentations is driven by her desire to honor her sister. Her newfound appreciation for treating each body with dignity, as seen in her improved presentation, reflects a deeper understanding of how trauma affects not just the living but also the way we handle the deceased. Her meticulous approach in Chapter 31, where she connects the barbecue tongs and the green fabric to Casey Delevan’s death, demonstrates The Role of Forensic Science in Solving Crimes. The analysis of this evidence connects Casey’s death directly to the items found in Nicole’s car, revealing critical details about the circumstances of his demise. This use of forensic science bridges the gap between past traumas and present realities, providing tangible evidence that can lead to justice.
In Chapter 30, Livia and Megan's teamwork moves the case forward, emphasizing how community and supportive relationships are necessary to overcome trauma. Their illegal yet determined investigation in the courthouse and police station emphasizes the lengths to which investigators must sometimes go to uncover the truth. Similar to earlier observations in the novel that the police cannot be trusted, this illegal action hints that the authorities are hindering, not helping, the investigation. This insinuates that not only are Livia and Megan on their own when it comes to finding Nicole, but they might also be targeted by officers who are abusing the legal system to get away with crimes.
Related Titles
By Charlie Donlea
