The Sun Down Motel

Carly feels at home at the Fell Central Library, though she struggled to get out of bed before it closed. Carly knew Heather hadn’t slept much and was still asleep, so she went without her. It’s now 4:00 p.m., and Carly goes upstairs to the Fell Archive Room. She looks up Viv Delaney and the Sun Down Motel. She finds an article titled “WHO WAS VIVIAN DELANEY?” and reads about the history of the Sun Down Motel, which was built in 1978 on a plot called Cotton’s Land. A farmer named Cotton sold it, and the motel’s inaugural photo shows Janice, Carl, and their son, Christopher McNamara. Carly recognizes Chris as the man who hired her. The photo confirms nothing at all has changed about the motel, and Carly feels like she’s living in the same time period.

A man named Callum MacRae brings Carly her printed pages he has gathered from the printer. He asks her if she’s figured out what it is she’s looking for, sitting down beside her. He tells her he knows of the Sun Down Motel and asks if Carly is a student. His mother is a professor at the college and he goes for free, but he doesn’t like it and instead hangs out in the archive room. Callum tells Carly about two other Fell papers she can find on the microfiches. He says Fell attracts people that are a bit morbid and helps her with the other papers from 1982.

Three hours later, Carly is catching up with Heather back at the apartment. Carly sees the photo of Viv from the parking lot. Carly isn’t sure why the photo was taken. Heather suggests talking to the police and says the previous chief, Edward Parey, might still be alive. Carly says maybe Callum can help. Heather and Carly have a serious conversation, and Heather says she can’t handle anyone touching her. Carly’s thoughts shift between Heather’s medications, Callum MacRae, and Nick Harkness, whom she is developing a crush on. She turns back to the photograph of Viv and learns it was taken by someone named Marnie Mahoney.

In Viv’s timeline, her night shift is ending when she sees that Helen and Robert are still there, as well as the green sedan that followed them. The car has been there all night. It’s 7:00 a.m. Sometimes Janice arrives to take over the shift and sometimes she doesn’t, but Viv locks the office and goes to the parking lot. She knocks on the passenger side window of the sedan. Viv tells whoever is inside the car that Helen and Robert will be leaving in 10 minutes. The window cracks, and the woman inside asks Viv what she’s talking about. Viv tells the woman what time Helen and Robert typically leave. The woman is flustered and tells Viv to get into her back seat before anyone sees her. Viv tells the woman she needs a favor and explains that when somebody makes a call she can listen to it. The woman introduces herself as Marnie and tells Viv to duck down as Helen emerges from room 109.

Marnie captures Helen with the camera and tells Viv that a lawyer for Helen’s husband hired her. Mr. White leaves his room. Marnie asks what Viv wants from her. Viv remembers Alma Trent telling her to bring her something about the traveling salesman. She asks Marnie about Betty Graham, and Marnie is familiar with the story. Viv tells Marnie about the traveling salesman, and Marnie agrees to help Viv by looking through some of the photographs she’s taken of the motel to see if she’s caught anything. Marnie tells Viv that when Betty Graham died every Fell woman was afraid. Viv moves to the front seat, and Marnie says they’re taking a tour of Fell.

Carly is in the amenities room with Nick. She says it took four days for anyone to realize Viv was missing. Nick is fixing the candy machine. They talk about how Viv went missing during her shift, how her belongings were left in the office, and how her roommate’s name was Jenny Summers. Nick fixes the machine and suggests Carly speak to Alma Trent. Carly asks Nick to go with her to meet some of these people, but he says he can’t. At home in bed, Carly wakes to Marnie returning her call: Marnie doesn’t remember Viv and says Carly should let it go before hanging up.

In Viv’s timeline, Marnie drives underneath the overpass where Cathy Caldwell was found. They then go to Betty Graham’s house, and finally to the jogging trail where Victoria Lee was murdered. Viv and Marnie talk about how the newspapers described Victoria and whether it was really her boyfriend who killed her. They speculate whether he could have killed all three women, or whether it was three different men. On the jogging trail, Viv notices a shortcut to the backyards of nearby houses.

Carly goes to Keenan Retirement Residence, where Jenny Summers still works. Heather is with her, and before they go inside, she asks about Callum and Nick. Carly says that Nick doesn’t pay much attention to her but Callum texts her constantly with different articles he’s found, which makes her uncomfortable. Inside the facility, Jenny takes them to the break room and says Carly looks like Vivian. Jenny didn’t know Viv had a sister and remembers Viv was moody, quiet, and seemed lonely. Viv liked to read in the archive room at the library. Carly is interested in any possible phone records and asks how it was possible that nobody knew Viv was gone for four days. Jenny had left town to visit her parents, but when she got back and realized Viv was gone, she thought maybe Viv was visiting home too. Jenny says she knows something happened to Viv and that it still haunts her.

Jenny explains that both she and Viv knew the dangers of working at night as young women. She mentions Cathy Caldwell, and Carly asks who that is. Heather explains that Cathy was murdered and dumped under an overpass in the late 1970s. Jenny adds that Cathy’s story became a warning to young girls not to end up like her. Jenny also mentions the jogger, Victoria Lee, and talks about how her own mother worried about her safety. Jenny and Viv were always careful, so she assumed Viv had gone somewhere sensible.

Carly thinks of her brother Graham and how he would tell her scary stories like the man who has a hook for a hand. Carly thinks about her mother’s fears about her being as a child and compares it to the danger Viv knew. Jenny adds that she always wondered why the police never asked her about the phone calls.

In Viv’s timeline, Jenny is often at the mall buying shoes and records. Alone at the apartment, Viv is busy trying to find the traveling salesman. She looks at the photos Marnie took, including one of herself, and questions who she is, wondering how others would describe her if something happened. She knows the traveling salesman’s car is in the photo. Viv calls the DMV and pretends she is the salesman’s wife to get information. She learns the car is registered to a Mr. Hess at Fairview Avenue.

She calls the residential number in the phonebook listed under Hess and Fairview. She pretends to be a secretary and speaks with his wife, who mentions Westlake’s scheduling service and says her husband’s name is Simon. Viv writes down Westlake Lock Systems. The final call Viv makes is to Robert White’s wife. When Robert’s wife answers, Viv tells the woman that her husband is cheating on her and hangs up.

Viv drives to Fairview Avenue, which is pretty with bungalows and front lawns. She parks around the corner and watches the driveway of Simon Hess’s home. Since she has been awake for nearly an entire day, she falls asleep as she opens her notebook. When she wakes up it’s dark out. Seeing the salesman’s car is now in the driveway, she walks over to the Hess house and crouches in the garden. She realizes what she’s doing is foolish, but she doesn’t care: Viv thinks about how she’s free from family, friends, home, and her normal life. Late-night shifts have skewed her sense of time, and as she watches people’s daytime routines, she wonders why they bother.

Viv watches the Hesses in their kitchen and then goes to the backyard and opens the gate. To her relief, she doesn’t see any signs of children. She goes to the driveway and crouches by his car, opening the passenger door and looking through the papers on the seat. They show his schedule, so she takes a paper off of the bottom of the stack and puts it in her pocket. When she looks up, she sees a face in the living room window: A 10-year-old girl is watching her with no expression.

Viv motions for the girl to be quiet and the girl points at the front door, indicating Simon is coming outside. Viv hurries to her car as Simon stands at the end of his driveway looking up and down the street. Viv knows he heard his car door shut and must be trying to figure out who called his wife earlier that day. Viv drives away knowing Simon now knows someone is following him.