Everyone in My Family Has Killed Someone

Ernie and the others meet with the McAuleys: Edgar and Siobhan. The couple instantly surmises that Ernie is there on Michael’s behalf, sent to collect money from the couple in exchange for their daughter’s body. Ernie suspects that Michael was the middleman who transferred the money between the McAuleys and Alan Holton. He also believes that Michael planned to use money from the McAuleys to pay Holton for whatever it was Holton had wanted to sell to him.

Ernie reveals that Michael is dead, and the McAuleys explain that he had promised them proof of the murderer in the form of photos. Detective Allison Humphreys—Robert Cunningham’s handler—led the investigation at the time but was later murdered by the Black Tongue serial killer. Ernie suspects her death was due to her attempt to reopen the cold case of Rebecca McAuley. Ernie wonders if the McAuleys might know the dead man who was discovered in the snow the day before, but Juliette does not have the photo with her. Ernie tells them, finally, the location of Rebecca’s corpse and then, before leaving, asks the couple if Marcelo visited them the other night. They say he did not but that Ernie’s mother, Audrey, did.

On the ride back, Ernie speaks to Juliette about the real estate agreement he had seen on her desk. He proposes that Gavin wishes to buy the property from her, and she concedes, saying Gavin’s intent is to demolish the resort. She has been against it since the resort has always been owned by her family and has value for that reason, but Gavin has recently increased his offer.

When they return, Lucy’s body has been discovered in a snowbank. Juliette says that now they must all vacate the resort. Ernie and Sofia talk briefly, agreeing that Lucy took her own life by jumping from the roof.

Audrey has handcuffed herself to the bed, refusing to leave Michael’s body behind. Ernie confronts her about her visit to the McAuleys. She admits to knowing that Robert possessed photos that would implicate Rebecca’s murderer, but she was never able to find them. Ernie untangles a critical component in the mystery: On the day that Audrey’s workplace was robbed, it was the photos the men were looking for. When Audrey could not produce the photos, they kidnapped Jeremy from the car. This secret is why Audrey did not immediately hold a funeral for her son—she endured the seven-year span until Jeremy could legally be declared dead.

Ernie is suddenly able to piece the clues together and summons the family to gather so that he can explain the solution to the mystery.

Ernie shows Marcelo the GPS device he removed from Marcelo’s car. Ernie suspects Marcelo is the investor Gavin procured to help him buy the resort from Juliette, and Marcelo concedes. He asserts that he has not killed anyone, but Ernie insists he has killed “me” (316), i.e., Ernie himself.

Ernie accuses Marcelo of plunging the truck into the lake in order to protect Michael by preventing the bodies from being discovered. He admits Ernie is right but claims he was unaware Ernie was inside the truck at the time.

He then turns to Katherine, insisting she was the one who snuck into Sofia’s chalet and made the phone call. Katherine intended to call Andy so that he could check the time and help her avoid detection by the snow camera. Katherine’s aim was to take the oxycodone pills that Sofia is addicted to and detoxing from on the trip. Sofia confirms this claim and also confirms Ernie’s accusation that she needed the $50,000 she requested of him to pay off a debt: She stole Marcelo’s Rolex when she performed his shoulder surgery.

Ernie goes on to explain how he concluded that the Rolex contained a microdot—tiny text only readable with a magnifying glass (in this case, the jeweler’s loupe that Michael carried). Ernie suspects it was Alan’s pawn shop to which Sofia sold the watch and that Alan realized it belonged to Robert and contained the photo in the form of the microdot. Michael planned to sell this watch and the body of Rebecca to the McAuleys for double the amount of the original ransom. Audrey concedes that she knew of Michael’s plan.

Finally, Ernie suggests that Lucy did indeed jump from the roof but did so because she was escaping the killer who had killed the man in the snow, whose face she had recognized as the police officer who gave her a speeding ticket on her way to the lodge. Then, Ernie accuses Officer Crawford of actually being his deceased brother Jeremy.

Jeremy Cunningham has been masquerading as Darius Crawford. The dead body is the police sergeant, whose clothing Jeremy took to disguise himself as the police officer who discovered the body. Ernie proposes that Alan, instead of killing Jeremy, turned the boy over to a couple as a foster child to be raised. The couple was Mark and Janine Williams, who were also killed by the Black Tongue killer; Jeremy admits he killed them out of anger upon learning his true identity. When he wrote to Michael in prison, but Michael presumed it to be some sort of ploy, Jeremy then contacted Lucy instead, hoping through her he would be able to be reunited with his family. Ultimately, Jeremy’s aim was to be reunited with his true family and accepted as one of them: a killer.

In a rage, Jeremy grabs the fire poker, and the books quickly catch, setting the rest of the room on fire. He tries to break a window to escape, but a tussle ensues between him and Katherine. Jeremy attempts to strangle Katherine, but Andy attacks him with the poker, and the rest of the family escapes.

The group gathers outside, joking about Juliette’s willingness to now sell the burning resort to Gavin. Then, someone appears in the distance. Ernie, seeing that it is Jeremy, approaches him, and they talk briefly as Jeremy struggles to breathe.

Ernie returns to the group, telling them Jeremy stopped breathing.

Ernie and Erin make plans to sell their home. Part of the ransom money is given to Lucy’s family and used to pay for her funeral. A small funeral is held for Michael. Ernie recalls Michael writing something on his bingo card, taking his time in doing so. With a magnifying app from his phone, Ernie locates the incriminating photographs, there on the bingo card. The killer of Rebecca McAuley is her father, Edgar, already dead before the ransom ploy was set in motion. With the photos, Ernie contacts the police.