The Sun Down Motel

Viv thinks about Simon’s daughter: “There was a moment, a few minutes after it happened, when Viv thought of the little girl she’d seen through Simon Hess’s front window” (277). She thinks about Simon’s wife and briefly wonders what they will do now before calling the Fell Police Department from Simon’s room and asking for Alma.

Viv feels Betty watching. Alma answers the phone, and Viv says it’s a slow night. Viv is unsure if Alma is picking up on what she’s saying. She starts to wonder if she will be arrested, says she’ll talk to Alma later, and hangs up. She thinks to herself that she has to start thinking like a murderer: She has to get rid of Simon and the small bedside rug he’s on. She doesn’t regret killing him, knowing he will never kill again. It would be worth it even if she went to prison.

She pulls the rug and Simon’s body towards the door. She turns the lamp off, opens the door, and looks out. Nobody is in the parking lot. Betty is quiet and watching. Viv is so focused on pulling Simon’s body from the room that she doesn’t initially hear a car pull into the parking lot. Viv freezes, letting go of the rug and knowing there is no way to close the door now. Marnie asks if it’s Vivian inside the room. Marnie then sees Viv crouched by the body, the knife in Simon’s neck, and the bloody rug. She asks why Viv couldn’t have killed him more cleanly, like by hitting him over the head. Marnie asks what he said to her, and Viv tells her that Simon told her everything and that he thought he was in love with Betty. Viv asks Marnie why she’s there. She says she heard about Tracy Waters; she knew Simon killed her and that they could have stopped it.

Viv says she tried. She called the school and wrote to Tracy’s parents, but it wasn’t enough. Marnie tells Viv to go get the shower curtain. They wrap Simon and the rug in it, and Marnie tells Viv to take the knife out because it has her fingerprints on it. Viv wraps it in a towel to deal with it later. Marnie says they need his keys, and Viv finds them in his jacket pocket. There’s still nobody in the parking lot. They quickly carry him to the car and begin putting him in the trunk.

Marnie tells Viv to put the knife on the backseat; they’ll dump it. Headlights sweep across the parking lot, and Marnie drops the shower curtain as Viv slams the trunk. Alma approaches them and says she recognizes Marnie as one of the photographers the police use. Alma tells Viv they found Tracy Waters earlier that morning. Alma admits she might have been wrong and that she called Simon Hess to see if he’d come to the station for an interview. He wasn’t home; his wife said he’d gone out early in the morning. Alma says she will call the scheduling service. Alma gazes at the shower curtain, crumpled in Viv’s hand. There is blood on it. Alma asks what Viv did.

Viv says Simon told her everything. She tells Alma he admitted to every murder, though there might have been more. Alma asks if he explained his motives, and Viv says he killed because he liked it and could get away with it. Alma asks Viv if he hurt her, and Viv says no. Alma says Viv isn’t going home for a long time. If they get rid of the body, it can’t be traced back to Viv. Alma asks if anyone else saw Simon at the motel that night. Viv thinks of Robert White. She says that two people saw him.

Alma says nobody can place Marnie at the Sun Down except for them, so Marnie might as well leave. She refuses. She has an idea of where they can put the body. She explains that Martin Greer on Weston Road is moving to a retirement home, and his children don’t want the property. It’s huge and empty. Alma agrees it will work for a few weeks; if they come up with something better, they’ll move him. Marnie says she’s not helping after tonight. Alma asks Viv if she’s good with the plan, and Viv agrees. Alma and Marnie tell Viv she’s going to have to leave town to avoid police questioning. Alma asks for her notebook. Viv runs to the office and grabs the envelope of cash. Alma is behind the wheel of Simon Hess’s car wearing plastic gloves. Viv walks to Marnie’s car and gets in.

In Carly’s timeline, Callum’s car follows Carly as she drives onto Fell’s back roads. Carly wonders what she should do and realizes Callum might want to hurt her. She thinks about how he invited her out by lying to her and how his grandfather was the serial killer Simon Hess. Suddenly, Carly comes up with a plan. She takes the back roads to the west, away from the Sun Down, and pulls into Alma Trent’s driveway. Alma’s dog barks and her front porch light switches on.

Alma walks onto her porch. Carly stays in her car. Alma looks at her and then at the road where Callum’s car is idling. He pulls away. Carly gets out with shaky hands, and Alma asks if she’s having trouble. She says a guy was bothering her, and Alma offers to talk to him. Carly tells her his name is Callum MacRae. Alma says he can seem nice enough, but he’s a little unstable. Carly mentions that her aunt might be alive, and Alma tells her to come inside. Carly tells Alma about what Callum said, and Alma says he gets fixated on things. He may have borderline personality disorder, and he’s had more than one run-in with the police for bothering girls. She tells Carly he’ll stop if she talks to him, but Carly says he won’t if he thinks her aunt murdered his grandfather.

Alma doesn’t admit anything. Carly says that Marnie told her there’s a notebook at the Sun Down; she’ll go read it and find out what happened. Alma is surprised she’s talked to Marnie and says it’s time for Carly to learn the truth. She tells Carly to go get the notebook and do whatever Marnie asks.

Carly sees Nick’s truck in the parking lot of the Sun Down. Carly feels that Betty is watching her. She goes to Nick’s room and he pulls her inside. She asks about the notebook. He has retrieved it and says Marnie knows everything. The notebook includes all of the notes connecting the women’s deaths. He tells Carly that Viv was following Simon Hess for weeks. Carly wonders how her aunt left the night of Simon’s death without any of her things, and Nick says she had help. He asks if she smells smoke. Carly says it’s Henry. She looks at the parking lot and sees him standing there watching her. He lifts a hand and points at a man walking quickly along the shoulder of the road, his hands in his pockets, head down and shoulders hunched. The man disappears around the motel and Nick and Carly go to the office. It’s dark, but someone has kicked the door.

Carly tells Nick that Callum MacRae followed her from town so she had to drive to Alma’s. Nick asks what Callum wants with her. She isn’t sure but says tonight he told her he’s Simon Hess’s grandson. Carly follows Nick to the other side of the building, and Nick calls out Callum’s name. They discover a break in the fence around the pool. Carly is grabbed and screams. Callum curses at Carly and shoves her backwards into the empty pool. Carly lands hard on the concrete, losing her glasses, and feels pain shoot up her back and shoulder and into her chest.

Nick panics and calls down to her. She’s unable to speak as she tries to catch her breath. Finally, she tells Nick she’s okay and to go get Callum. Nick takes off after him, and Carly wonders if he has his gun. Carly looks for her glasses in the leaves, and she hears the little boy in the pool say he doesn’t feel good. She finds her glasses and tells the little boy she has to leave, starting for the ladder of the pool. The little boy follows and asks why he doesn’t feel good. She apologizes to the little boy, and he asks her to help him. She says she can’t and climbs out. He stands at the bottom of the ladder watching her.

Carly goes to the office and dials 911. The dispatcher asks her to stay on the line, but Carly says she can’t. She smells the cigarette smoke and hears footsteps. As Carly hangs up, Simon walks in. He asks for room 209. She gives him the key he wants, and he thanks her. The office door slams closed, and the lights on the motel sign go out. Carly knows it’s Betty. The office door won’t open, and the desk phone rings. Finally the door gives way. Carly hurries outside. The motel doors bang open and the lights go out.

Carly realizes she doesn’t have her car keys. She hurries to her car anyway and hides inside. Her cell phone rings: It’s Nick, but when she answers, there’s no sound. A car pulls into the parking lot. Viv leans over and opens the passenger door, telling Carly to get in. Viv drives and says she isn’t taking Carly far, but that it’s best to get out of the Sun Down for a little while. Carly tells her an ambulance and the police are coming and that Nick is back there. Viv asks her what happened. Carly is in shock that Viv is alive.

Viv tells Carly that she had to run after killing Simon. Carly snaps that her mother died grieving for Viv. She realizes by Viv’s reaction that she didn’t know her sister had died. They enter a diner, and Viv says she understands why Carly is mad but that they have to talk about what’s happening. Carly calls Nick but nobody answers. Viv asks Carly what set Betty off. Carly tells her Simon Hess checked in. Viv is surprised she checked him in and asks if there are any other guests there. Carly shakes her head. Viv says nobody else will get hurt but that whatever is going to happen will be bad.

Viv tells Carly to eat, as she’ll need it. Carly asks about Simon, and Viv says she killed him; if she hadn’t, he would’ve kept killing, starting with her. Carly says she understands that Viv didn’t do it alone and that Marnie called her and told her where the notebook was. Viv says the notebook explains why she did everything that she did but suggests that it wasn’t Marnie on the phone; she claims she acted alone. Carly asks about the photographs Marnie took of the barn, and Viv replies that maybe someone else used Marnie’s camera. Viv says Alma didn’t come to the motel that night, and neither did any other cop. Maybe it was Mrs. Bailey who called the police. She doesn’t know anything about a police investigation.

Carly doesn’t believe she could’ve done it alone, but Viv insists she did. Carly asks who she is now. Viv says Christine Fawcett. She tells Carly that Jamie Blaknik helped her but that he died a long time ago. Viv says she asked a lot of him and trusted him. He kept her secret and will always be important to her. Viv tells her she got married once after but that he left her because he felt she was distant. She tells Carly she can choose differently and asks how her sister died. Carly tells her it was cancer. Viv tells her it runs in the family and that she should get screened.

Carly tells her Callum MacRae pushed her into the pool. Carly is surprised Viv knows who Callum is and that she continued to live in Fell. Viv says that Fell is her home and nobody has ever recognized her. She’s passed Jenny on the street and even she hasn’t recognized her: “It’s amazing how quickly people forget” (311). Nick calls Carly in a panic asking where she is. She tells him she’s okay and isn’t far. He tells her he’s at the motel: The police and the ambulance are there, and he thinks Callum is dead. He tells her to come back.

The Sun Down is chaotic. As Carly approaches, a policeman stops her. She tells him she is the one who called 911 and that she’s the night clerk. He asks who Viv is and Carly says she’s her aunt, Christine Fawcett, and that she picked her up after Callum MacRae attacked her. Carly asks a cop where Callum is, and he replies,

From what we can piece together, after he pushed you into the pool, Mr. MacRae took off into the woods with your friend Nick in pursuit. Nick claims he lost Callum somewhere in the chase. After a while he gave up and came back to the motel. He found Callum on the second-floor corridor, unconscious. He was trying to wake him when we pulled up (313).

He asks if Carly has anything to add. She says no and that she needs to talk to Nick. The officer says that’s not possible: He was found over Callum MacRae’s body and has to be brought in for questioning. He tells Carly that a paramedic is going to look her over and asks if her aunt could wait at a distance. Viv squeezes Carly’s hand. Nick is taken in for questioning, and the paramedic examines Carly. An officer asks about the damage, flooding, leaks, and cracks in the walls. Carly says it wasn’t like that when she left. The cop says that’s what Nick said too. Carly thinks to herself that this is Betty’s version of trashing the place. Carly asks if she can get her things in the office. The cop says they’ll have someone get it for her and then take her home. Viv says she’ll take her home. Viv tells Carly they’re going to the police station to get Nick out. Viv tells Carly in the car that Betty killed Callum in some way that will look natural. Carly questions Viv about the family history of cancer. Viv says she had it too but beat it, though she implies that it might have returned.

The police make Viv and Carly wait for two hours. Viv steps away and makes a phone call that sounds like a disagreement. Carly asks who it was but she doesn’t tell her. Carly asks Viv if Nick will need a lawyer, and she says no. She tells Viv he really was in his bedroom the day his brother died, even if Alma doesn’t believe it. Carly reiterates that he’s not a criminal, and Viv says he isn’t, but she is. She says the police are going to identify Simon Hess and process the car. She squeezes Carly’s hand and gets up. Nick walks out and Viv tells the desk clerk she needs to speak with a detective. Carly doesn’t stop Viv, although she wants to. Viv tells the clerk she’d like to make a confession and follows the desk clerk into the police station.