Someone We Know: A Novel

Robert Pierce reflects on his short, troubled marriage to Amanda. They rarely confronted each other, instead playing games, using tools like her secret burner phone. He suspected her affairs were arranged through a pay-as-you-go cell phone, which he found after drugging her. The next day—the Friday she disappeared—they did not acknowledge the incident. Detective Webb and his forensics team thoroughly search Robert’s house. They find two sets of fingerprints that Webb thinks belong to Amanda’s or Robert’s lovers. Olivia hopes that Amanda’s murder will distract her neighbors from her apology letters.

Detectives Webb and Moen question Jeanette Bauroth, whose house sits directly across the street from the Pierce house. She saw Becky Harris emerging from the Pierce house late on Saturday night. The detectives visit Becky, who admits to chatting with Robert over the backyard fence but denies anything further.

Olivia Sharpe continues to worry about her husband’s moodiness. When Raleigh asks his parents if they knew Amanda Pierce, Paul denies it but makes an odd expression. Olivia realizes that the police may find Raleigh’s fingerprints in the Pierce house.

The detectives summon Becky Harris for further questioning; she is hiding her affair with Robert Pierce. She believes it unfair that Robert’s wife was murdered, as it will reveal her short-lived affair. Webb asks her directly if she had a sexual relationship with Robert Pierce, and she bursts into tears, finally confessing to sleeping with him once in August and again the weekend his wife disappeared. She says that she was lonely, with her husband away on business and her twin sons away at college. She says that Robert could not have murdered his wife. The detectives take her fingerprints, which they hope will eliminate one of the two unknown sets of prints in the Pierce house. As she drives home, she acknowledges a sense of love for Robert. She decides not to tell the detectives about Amanda’s affair. She does not believe Amanda’s lover murdered her.

Detective Webb again asks Robert about his activities on the weekend of his wife’s murder, and Robert confesses to sleeping with Becky Harris on Saturday night. He maintains that he does not know who the second intruder could be or whether or not his wife was having an affair. He says his wife intended to end her pregnancy. The detectives dislike him and consider him a suspect.

Olivia suggests taking Raleigh to therapy, but Paul scoffs at the idea. The forensics team extracts little evidence from Amanda Pierce’s water-soaked car. The detectives match one of the two sets of prints in Robert’s bedroom with Becky Harris. Robert, who has taken the week off from work, wanders the house, worrying. He thinks to himself, without guilt, that he used Becky for sex. He sees her in her backyard and goes out to probe her for information, trying to conceal his disgust over her haggard appearance. She tells him that he is a suspect, and an unknown neighbor saw her coming out of his house that night, which disturbs him. He warns Becky against telling the police of his wife’s suspected affair, claiming that it is untrue. Becky knows this is a lie. Robert smiles, hoping that he has frightened her.

Carmine’s door-to-door quest for information takes her to the Sharpe house, and Olivia responds to her questions with evident guilt, which she tries to cover by claiming to have been ill. Olivia lies that she has never had any problems with Raleigh, but Carmine seems unconvinced. Olivia says goodbye and runs to the bathroom to vomit. Feeling that things are closing in on her and Raleigh, she asks Glenda to come over. Glenda tells her that she shouldn’t blame herself for trying to protect her son. She urges Olivia to tell Paul about the letters she sent. The two women commiserate over their troubled sons, as well as their uncertainty about the guidance and attention they have given them. Glenda’s son, Adam, was a good student and an athlete but developed a substance use disorder. Glenda thinks of her relationship with her husband, Keith. They’d enjoyed dinner at the Sharpe house the previous Friday, which allowed them to forget their problems. Little did they know that Raleigh was off breaking into houses that night.

Olivia tells Paul about the anonymous letters. Paul is furious, but Olivia tells him about Carmine Torres’s possible realization about Raleigh. Raleigh, overhearing, enters the room. Olivia tells Paul that Raleigh broke into the Pierce house, but the police don’t have Raleigh’s fingerprints on file. Raleigh vows to work harder to be a good person.

Becky feels lonely and wishes she had a full-time job. She can’t stop thinking of Robert lying to her about his suspicions about Amanda. She remembers seeing Robert and Amanda in their backyard the previous summer, wrapped in an embrace. She noticed that Amanda seemed to be struggling and sobbing in his arms. The memory makes her wonder if Robert is more dangerous than she’d thought.