Case Histories: A Novel

Amelia is angry at Julia for flirting with Jackson. She is also secretly jealous, because she is attracted to Jackson as well and wishes that he paid attention to her. She accompanies Julia to a fast-food place on an assignment for Julia’s secret shopping job. En route, Julia stops to pet a dog belonging to a young woman who is unhoused—this is Lily-Rose, though Amelia does not know the girl’s name. Amelia is horrified and judgmental, believing Lily-Rose is on drugs.

Amelia thinks over her past and despairs of her life. She loved books but failed her entrance exam to Cambridge, not understanding that literature degrees weren’t about reading books out of love. She hates her job teaching communication skills and feels lonely. She wishes that she could go back in time and rescue Olivia or take her place.

Jackson is late for his meeting with Theo, so Theo sits in the office and awkwardly chats with Marlee, who is also waiting. He thinks that Marlee seems more worldly than Laura did and thinks it is sad that girls know so much about the world. Jackson’s secretary leaves and tells Theo to look after Marlee until Jackson arrives. Theo is horrified that he is trusted with her since he is essentially a stranger, but he eventually takes her across the street to buy food. Jackson finds them and is initially furious, but he then apologizes to Theo and explains that the dentist appointment took a long time. He thanks Theo for watching Marlee.

On the way home, Theo looks for Lily-Rose and her dog, but he doesn’t spot them. He passes them often and worries about Lily-Rose’s safety.

Jackson interviews one of Laura’s friends, Emma Drake. Emma tells him that she doesn’t know who could have done killed Laura, but she mentions that Laura was close to her teacher, Stan Jessop, and used to babysit for him and his wife Kim. She says that Stan “fancied” Laura.

Jackson’s dentist cleans an abscessed tooth and tells him he needs to come back and have the root pulled. He is uncomfortable but also reluctantly attracted to her. Leaving the dentist’s office, he is horrified to find that his ex-wife Josie has left him a voicemail telling him that Marlee is at his office. There is no one at the office when he gets there, though he finds a note that says they will be back in 10 minutes. He is initially angry when he sees Theo with his daughter, but he apologizes when he notices the other man’s indignation.

Jackson takes Marlee with him back to the office, where a woman named Shirley Morrison is waiting to make an appointment. She says that she will come back another time, and Jackson and Marlee drive to the convent where Jackson speaks to Sylvia, the oldest Land sister who has become a nun who now calls herself Sister Mary Luke. She says she doesn’t know anything about Olivia’s disappearance but appears strangely unemotional. On the way back to Josie’s, Jackson receives a hysterical phone call from Amelia asking for his help. It turns out that their dog has died, and Jackson is disgruntled at being involved.

At Josie’s house, she chastises him for taking Marlee to strange places and he counters with an accusation that she lets her dress too sexually and that Josie’s boyfriend David shouldn’t be so close to her. Josie punches him and then so does David, and Josie angrily tells Jackson that they are moving to New Zealand with Marlee.

At home, Jackson is parking his car when someone attacks him from behind. He headbutts the other man but is concussed. He awakens in the hospital where Josie is furious that she is still his next of kin. She tells him to change it.

Caroline is unhappy in her marriage. Shortly after the wedding, Jonathan’s ex-wife left his two bratty children with him and the two of them love to torment her and their au pair. Her mother-in-law also hates her, and her only joy comes from working at the village school. She has recently discovered she is pregnant and worries that she is making a mistake. She thinks about her first child, revealing to readers that she is Michelle.

Julia teases Amelia constantly about her prudishness and asks her if Henry misses her. Henry is a boyfriend Amelia invented so that Julia and her coworkers would leave her alone. In actuality, the only man she has ever slept with is one of her colleagues, the married Andrew Vardy. They had very bad sex one time and Amelia has regretted it ever since.

Julia discovers Sammy the dog is dying, and Amelia calls Jackson in a panic, saying, “Please, Jackson, please come, I need you” (266). While she is initially thrilled at her passionate phrasing, feeling that she is a character in a play or novel, she is horrified when a disgruntled Jackson shows up with Marlee in tow. After he leaves, she lies in her bed and cries inconsolably over her life and Sammy’s death. Julia tries and fails to comfort her.