WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:03.080 Welcome back to The Deep Dive. Today, we are 00:00:03.080 --> 00:00:05.679 opening the case file on a book that didn't just, 00:00:05.679 --> 00:00:08.400 well, didn't just continue a series. It effectively 00:00:08.400 --> 00:00:11.279 redefined an entire career. Oh, absolutely. Yeah. 00:00:11.580 --> 00:00:14.259 We're looking at Sue Grafton's sixth entry in 00:00:14.259 --> 00:00:17.000 the alphabet mystery series FIs for Fugitive. 00:00:17.219 --> 00:00:19.640 And we have a lot of great source material today 00:00:19.640 --> 00:00:23.019 to help us unpack this plot summaries, character 00:00:23.019 --> 00:00:26.500 breakdowns, and some really interesting publication 00:00:26.500 --> 00:00:28.920 history. Which is so crucial for this specific 00:00:28.920 --> 00:00:31.620 book. because this is widely considered the pivot 00:00:31.620 --> 00:00:33.700 point. I mean, it's the moment Kinsey Mahone 00:00:33.700 --> 00:00:36.039 goes from being a, you know, a beloved genre 00:00:36.039 --> 00:00:39.299 favorite to a massive commercial force. Right. 00:00:39.340 --> 00:00:41.700 Published in 1989. And it was actually the first 00:00:41.700 --> 00:00:43.979 of her novels to hit the paperback bestseller 00:00:43.979 --> 00:00:46.460 lists. It really just changed the scale of what 00:00:46.460 --> 00:00:48.740 Grafton was doing. It put her on the map in a 00:00:48.740 --> 00:00:50.439 completely new way. The reviews were glowing 00:00:50.439 --> 00:00:52.820 too, right? Yeah. Kirkus Reviews called it a 00:00:52.820 --> 00:00:55.380 winner. They specifically praised the ambience, 00:00:55.600 --> 00:00:58.100 and Publishers Weekly noted the incredibly complex 00:00:58.100 --> 00:01:00.460 plot, basically saying, OK, this series is going 00:01:00.460 --> 00:01:03.159 to last all the way to Z. Which is a bold, bold 00:01:03.159 --> 00:01:05.120 promise to make when you're only on letter F. 00:01:05.219 --> 00:01:08.579 Exactly. But before we get into the really heavy 00:01:08.579 --> 00:01:12.120 stuff, the murders, the family secrets, all that 00:01:12.120 --> 00:01:15.540 small town claustrophobia, I want to start with 00:01:15.540 --> 00:01:18.120 a what if for you listening, because this book 00:01:18.120 --> 00:01:20.140 almost had a completely different identity. It 00:01:20.140 --> 00:01:23.459 did. Yeah, Grafton was originally dead set on 00:01:23.459 --> 00:01:26.099 calling it FS for forgery. Right. Which, I mean, 00:01:26.280 --> 00:01:27.640 that implies a totally different kind of story. 00:01:28.079 --> 00:01:31.239 Exactly. You hear forgery and you think white 00:01:31.239 --> 00:01:34.340 collar crime. You think paper trails, maybe some, 00:01:34.340 --> 00:01:36.700 I don't know, handwriting analysis. Nuts of sitting 00:01:36.700 --> 00:01:39.540 at desks. Right. It's cerebral, but it's dry. 00:01:39.879 --> 00:01:42.439 And Grafton realized that, thankfully, she was 00:01:42.439 --> 00:01:44.480 doing all this research on check fraud and document 00:01:44.480 --> 00:01:46.879 tampering and she just hit a wall. She actually 00:01:46.879 --> 00:01:50.340 decided forgery was, her words, too boring a 00:01:50.340 --> 00:01:52.540 crime to carry the weight of a full novel. Yeah, 00:01:52.540 --> 00:01:54.560 she needed physical sakes. She needed actual 00:01:54.560 --> 00:01:57.040 danger. So she scrapped the paperwork and pivoted 00:01:57.040 --> 00:02:00.950 to fugitive. And that shift is everything. Because 00:02:00.950 --> 00:02:04.349 a fugitive implies a chase. It implies a ticking 00:02:04.349 --> 00:02:06.849 clock, right? It moves the story from an office 00:02:06.849 --> 00:02:09.689 setting to a manhunt. Yeah. And that allowed 00:02:09.689 --> 00:02:11.949 her to construct a plot that wasn't just a puzzle, 00:02:12.289 --> 00:02:14.949 but a real thriller. So our mission today is 00:02:14.949 --> 00:02:17.900 to dive into how that switch paid off. We're 00:02:17.900 --> 00:02:20.159 going to look at the incredibly messy dynamics 00:02:20.159 --> 00:02:22.800 of the Fowler family, the specific psychology 00:02:22.800 --> 00:02:25.360 of the town of Floral Beach, and why this book 00:02:25.360 --> 00:02:28.280 works so well. Let's do it. To understand why 00:02:28.280 --> 00:02:30.280 this story hits so hard right out of the gate, 00:02:30.500 --> 00:02:32.599 we really have to look at where the main character, 00:02:32.860 --> 00:02:35.479 Kinsey Mahone, is personally when the book opens. 00:02:35.560 --> 00:02:37.879 Because usually, you know, the detective is the 00:02:37.879 --> 00:02:39.939 stable center of a chaotic world. Usually, yes. 00:02:40.039 --> 00:02:43.080 But here, Kinsey is arguably in more chaos than 00:02:43.080 --> 00:02:45.340 her actual client. She is completely displaced. 00:02:45.340 --> 00:02:47.610 If you recall the end of the previous book, E 00:02:47.610 --> 00:02:50.069 is for evidence. Such a crazy ending. Right. 00:02:50.169 --> 00:02:51.969 Kinsey's garage apartment, which is basically 00:02:51.969 --> 00:02:54.830 her sanctuary, was firebombed. It was completely 00:02:54.830 --> 00:02:57.569 destroyed. Yeah. So when F begins, she is effectively 00:02:57.569 --> 00:02:59.810 homeless. She's living out of a suitcase while 00:02:59.810 --> 00:03:02.389 her landlord, Henry Pitts, tries to rebuild her 00:03:02.389 --> 00:03:05.270 place. It strips her of her armor. It really 00:03:05.270 --> 00:03:07.629 does. It makes her vulnerable. Kinsey is usually 00:03:07.629 --> 00:03:10.030 very guarded, very self -efficient. But here, 00:03:10.289 --> 00:03:13.439 she's unmoored. She doesn't have a routine. And 00:03:13.439 --> 00:03:15.699 that displacement is really the only reason she 00:03:15.699 --> 00:03:18.300 accepts a case out of town in Floral Beach, California. 00:03:18.979 --> 00:03:21.219 She just needs somewhere to be. Exactly. She 00:03:21.219 --> 00:03:22.879 needs the money, sure, but she also just needs 00:03:22.879 --> 00:03:25.099 to escape her own chaotic reality for a bit. 00:03:25.259 --> 00:03:29.599 So she trades her own chaos for the Fowler family's 00:03:29.599 --> 00:03:32.479 chaos. Let's talk about that setup. Who exactly 00:03:32.479 --> 00:03:35.840 brings her into this mess? Her client is Royce 00:03:35.840 --> 00:03:39.159 Fowler. And the stakes are established immediately 00:03:39.159 --> 00:03:41.229 because Royce is dying. Right. He has terminal 00:03:41.229 --> 00:03:43.990 cancer. He's bedridden. And he has one final 00:03:43.990 --> 00:03:45.969 objective before he passes away. He wants to 00:03:45.969 --> 00:03:48.849 clear his son's name. The son being Bailey Fowler, 00:03:49.050 --> 00:03:52.430 the actual fugitive of the title. Yes. And Bailey's 00:03:52.430 --> 00:03:55.789 backstory is legally fascinating. 17 years ago, 00:03:55.789 --> 00:03:58.289 he was accused of murdering a local girl named 00:03:58.289 --> 00:04:00.889 Jean Timberlake. Now most people assume if you're 00:04:00.889 --> 00:04:03.530 hiring a private investigator, you've been actively 00:04:03.530 --> 00:04:05.710 fighting the charge for years. You've been maintaining 00:04:05.710 --> 00:04:08.150 innocence. But Bailey actually pleaded guilty. 00:04:08.409 --> 00:04:11.090 That's the part that trips people up. If he pleaded 00:04:11.090 --> 00:04:14.030 guilty, case closed, right? Why are we digging 00:04:14.030 --> 00:04:16.610 this up two decades later? Well, it was a strategic 00:04:16.610 --> 00:04:19.329 plea. He pleaded to voluntary manslaughter to 00:04:19.329 --> 00:04:21.709 avoid a first degree murder charge and the gas 00:04:21.709 --> 00:04:24.189 chamber. Okay, so self -preservation. Exactly, 00:04:24.250 --> 00:04:27.089 not a confession of truth. But, and this is where 00:04:27.089 --> 00:04:29.149 the fugitive part comes in, shortly after getting 00:04:29.149 --> 00:04:32.689 to prison, he just walked away. He escaped. And 00:04:32.689 --> 00:04:34.490 he didn't just go hide in a basement somewhere, 00:04:34.490 --> 00:04:37.689 he built a whole life. For 17 years. He lived 00:04:37.689 --> 00:04:40.779 under an alias, had a job, paid his taxes, he 00:04:40.779 --> 00:04:43.740 was a model citizen. He basically proved he wasn't 00:04:43.740 --> 00:04:47.019 biologically wired for crime. But bad luck caught 00:04:47.019 --> 00:04:49.819 up with him. He was recaptured. Wow. And now 00:04:49.819 --> 00:04:52.180 that he's back in the system, that old plea deal 00:04:52.180 --> 00:04:54.899 is worthless to him emotionally. He claims he's 00:04:54.899 --> 00:04:57.240 innocent and he wants his name back. So Royce. 00:04:57.339 --> 00:04:59.920 The dying father believes him. He hires Kinsey. 00:05:00.079 --> 00:05:02.139 She heads out to Floral Beach, which is this 00:05:02.139 --> 00:05:05.100 isolated kind of run downtown. And instead of 00:05:05.100 --> 00:05:07.379 getting a hotel, Kinsey stays with the Fowler 00:05:07.379 --> 00:05:09.680 family at their motel. And this is where the 00:05:09.680 --> 00:05:12.519 book brilliantly shifts from a standard procedural 00:05:12.519 --> 00:05:16.420 to this intense domestic drama. The tension is 00:05:16.420 --> 00:05:18.319 wild. You have to picture the atmosphere in this 00:05:18.319 --> 00:05:22.199 house. You have Royce dying in one room. You 00:05:22.199 --> 00:05:24.839 have his wife, Orabel, who is also an invalid. 00:05:25.300 --> 00:05:27.399 She has severe diabetes. She's bitter. She's 00:05:27.399 --> 00:05:29.300 incredibly difficult to deal with. And running 00:05:29.300 --> 00:05:32.420 the entire show is the daughter, Anne Fowler. 00:05:32.699 --> 00:05:34.939 Anne is the absolute archetype of the dutiful 00:05:34.939 --> 00:05:36.660 daughter. She's five years older than Bailey. 00:05:36.829 --> 00:05:39.370 She's a high school counselor, so she's professionally 00:05:39.370 --> 00:05:42.230 empathetic. And she has taken a leave of absence 00:05:42.230 --> 00:05:44.930 from her career to become a full -time nurse 00:05:44.930 --> 00:05:48.029 for her parent. The dynamic is just so palpable. 00:05:48.430 --> 00:05:50.870 You have Bailey, the criminal son, who ran away 00:05:50.870 --> 00:05:53.870 and caused all this trauma. Yet, he is the absolute 00:05:53.870 --> 00:05:56.870 center of his parents' universe. Royce is spending 00:05:56.870 --> 00:06:00.149 his dying breath trying to save him. Meanwhile, 00:06:00.310 --> 00:06:02.410 Anne is there, changing sheets, giving insulin 00:06:02.410 --> 00:06:05.870 shots, cooking meals. And she is basically treated 00:06:05.870 --> 00:06:08.180 like Cart of the furniture. Exactly. It's the 00:06:08.180 --> 00:06:10.220 prodigal son syndrome in full effect. The bad 00:06:10.220 --> 00:06:11.620 child gets all the attention because they are 00:06:11.620 --> 00:06:14.240 the crisis. The good child gets ignored because 00:06:14.240 --> 00:06:16.319 they are the solution. That's a great way to 00:06:16.319 --> 00:06:18.959 put it. Kinsey picks up on this resentment immediately. 00:06:19.040 --> 00:06:21.800 It's just thick in the air. Ann is dutiful, but 00:06:21.800 --> 00:06:23.579 she's tight. She's clearly holding something 00:06:23.579 --> 00:06:27.060 back. So Kinsey has to navigate this incredibly 00:06:27.060 --> 00:06:30.060 toxic household while trying to solve a 17 -year 00:06:30.060 --> 00:06:33.199 -old Coles case. Let's look at the victim, Jean 00:06:33.199 --> 00:06:35.339 Timberlake, because in a lot of mysteries the 00:06:35.339 --> 00:06:38.259 victim is just a name in a file. But Jean feels 00:06:38.259 --> 00:06:41.199 very present in this town's memory. Grafton Painter 00:06:41.199 --> 00:06:44.899 is a really tragic figure. Jean was 17. widely 00:06:44.899 --> 00:06:48.180 described as a problem child. She was doing poorly 00:06:48.180 --> 00:06:51.579 in school, very rebellious. But the autopsy revealed 00:06:51.579 --> 00:06:54.939 the detail that anchors the entire plot. Right. 00:06:55.120 --> 00:06:57.360 Jean was pregnant when she died. Which changes 00:06:57.360 --> 00:06:59.600 the motive profile completely. This isn't just 00:06:59.600 --> 00:07:02.399 a random teenage fight gone wrong. Pregnancy 00:07:02.399 --> 00:07:05.139 implies paternity, and paternity implies massive 00:07:05.139 --> 00:07:07.300 secret. Exactly. If you find the father, you 00:07:07.300 --> 00:07:09.500 very likely find the killer. And Floral Beach 00:07:09.500 --> 00:07:12.360 is a small town. Everyone knows everyone. The 00:07:12.360 --> 00:07:14.500 list of potential fathers isn't long, but it 00:07:14.500 --> 00:07:16.660 is very dangerous. Who are the main players on 00:07:16.660 --> 00:07:18.420 that suspect list? Because it's quite a web. 00:07:18.639 --> 00:07:20.740 Well, you have the respectable men. There's white 00:07:20.740 --> 00:07:23.100 shales. At the time of the murder, he was a teacher. 00:07:23.670 --> 00:07:25.810 Now, in the present day, he's the high school 00:07:25.810 --> 00:07:28.310 principal. He's a pillar of the community. And 00:07:28.310 --> 00:07:31.350 he's very helpful to Kinsey, almost eager to 00:07:31.350 --> 00:07:33.490 assist. Which is always a red flag in a murder 00:07:33.490 --> 00:07:36.569 mystery. Always. Then you have Dr. Dunn, the 00:07:36.569 --> 00:07:39.410 local physician. A man with a lot of status to 00:07:39.410 --> 00:07:42.439 lose. And we also have Shana Timberlake, Jean's 00:07:42.439 --> 00:07:45.560 mother, who is a single mom struggling with alcohol, 00:07:45.860 --> 00:07:49.459 very uncooperative. She refuses to identify Jean's 00:07:49.459 --> 00:07:52.379 father initially. Right. And Kinsey, being Kinsey, 00:07:52.560 --> 00:07:54.779 starts pulling on all these threads, and the 00:07:54.779 --> 00:07:56.560 fabric of the town just starts tearing apart. 00:07:57.199 --> 00:07:59.300 She discovers that the paternity issue is actually 00:07:59.300 --> 00:08:02.139 double layered. This part is wild. Through blood 00:08:02.139 --> 00:08:04.560 typing and medical records, Kinsey establishes 00:08:04.560 --> 00:08:07.699 that Dr. Dunn is Jean's unknown biological father. 00:08:07.870 --> 00:08:11.529 So the respected local doctor is her actual dad? 00:08:11.750 --> 00:08:14.389 Biological father, yes. But that's actually a 00:08:14.389 --> 00:08:16.509 red herring in terms of the pregnancy motive. 00:08:17.430 --> 00:08:19.350 Kinsey finds out that Dwight Shales, the principal, 00:08:19.750 --> 00:08:21.589 was having an affair with Jean. He was her teacher. 00:08:22.089 --> 00:08:24.050 And he is likely the father of the baby she was 00:08:24.050 --> 00:08:27.019 carrying when she died. That is a massive scandal 00:08:27.019 --> 00:08:29.339 waiting to happen. You have the biological father 00:08:29.339 --> 00:08:33.200 and the lover, both powerful, respected men in 00:08:33.200 --> 00:08:36.240 a small town, both desperate to keep their connection 00:08:36.240 --> 00:08:39.279 to this dead girl hidden. And this is where Grafton 00:08:39.279 --> 00:08:42.039 really critiques that small town myth. We tend 00:08:42.039 --> 00:08:44.539 to think of small towns as safe because everybody 00:08:44.539 --> 00:08:47.720 knows everybody. Right. But Grafton argues the 00:08:47.720 --> 00:08:51.539 exact opposite here because everyone knows everyone. 00:08:51.659 --> 00:08:54.320 Everyone has leverage. The secrets are currency. 00:08:55.049 --> 00:08:58.149 Jean Timberlake was a literal threat to the reputation 00:08:58.149 --> 00:09:00.350 of the town's elite. And we can't forget the 00:09:00.350 --> 00:09:02.090 other side of the tracks in this town. There's 00:09:02.090 --> 00:09:05.789 Tapp Granger. He was Bailey's old accomplice 00:09:05.789 --> 00:09:08.429 in some robbery. Right. Tapp represents the life 00:09:08.429 --> 00:09:10.549 Bailey left behind. He's still in town, still 00:09:10.549 --> 00:09:13.590 causing trouble. And he actually becomes the 00:09:13.590 --> 00:09:16.830 catalyst for the book's shift from a slow burn 00:09:16.830 --> 00:09:20.490 mystery to a full on thriller. Let's talk about 00:09:20.490 --> 00:09:22.409 that escalation, because right in the middle 00:09:22.409 --> 00:09:23.909 of the book there is a scene that feels like 00:09:23.909 --> 00:09:26.330 an action movie. Bailey has been recaptured, 00:09:26.409 --> 00:09:28.409 he's been reined in court, and suddenly all hell 00:09:28.409 --> 00:09:32.029 breaks loose. It's total chaos. Tav Granger pulls 00:09:32.029 --> 00:09:34.870 a gun in the courtroom. He stages a holdup right 00:09:34.870 --> 00:09:37.149 in front of the judge. As a rescue mission. Yeah. 00:09:37.350 --> 00:09:38.889 That's what it looks like on the surface. Yeah. 00:09:39.129 --> 00:09:42.070 And in the confusion, Bailey manages to escape 00:09:42.070 --> 00:09:44.809 custody again. He's now two for two on prison 00:09:44.809 --> 00:09:47.820 breaks. But... Tapp doesn't make it out. He's 00:09:47.820 --> 00:09:49.679 killed in the shootout during the escape. So 00:09:49.679 --> 00:09:51.799 now Bailey's on the run again. The only witness 00:09:51.799 --> 00:09:54.919 to the escape plan is dead and Kinsey is basically 00:09:54.919 --> 00:09:58.200 back to square one. Or so it seems. But Kinsey 00:09:58.200 --> 00:10:01.320 investigates Tapp's motives. She talks to his 00:10:01.320 --> 00:10:03.759 widow and she learns that Tapp didn't do this 00:10:03.759 --> 00:10:06.419 out of loyalty to his old buddy Bailey. He was 00:10:06.419 --> 00:10:08.860 paid to stage that distraction. That changes 00:10:08.860 --> 00:10:11.200 everything. That proves there is an act of conspiracy. 00:10:11.639 --> 00:10:13.759 Someone wanted Bailey out of jail. Or they wanted 00:10:13.759 --> 00:10:16.720 him dead. Think about it. If Bailey is a fugitive, 00:10:16.899 --> 00:10:19.679 he's a moving target. If he's shot while escaping, 00:10:20.019 --> 00:10:22.620 the case is closed forever. It proves someone 00:10:22.620 --> 00:10:24.940 is pulling strings to ensure Bailey never stands 00:10:24.940 --> 00:10:27.759 trial. Because if he goes to trial, he might 00:10:27.759 --> 00:10:31.320 talk. And this someone isn't done. The body count 00:10:31.320 --> 00:10:33.440 starts rising in the present day. This is what 00:10:33.440 --> 00:10:35.919 I find so brilliant about this book. The cold 00:10:35.919 --> 00:10:38.519 case aggressively bleeds into the present. It 00:10:38.519 --> 00:10:41.179 gets extremely dark. Remember Orabel Fowler? 00:10:41.889 --> 00:10:43.909 The sick mother. The one Anne is taking care 00:10:43.909 --> 00:10:46.289 of. She dies. And it's not from the diabetes 00:10:46.289 --> 00:10:49.190 taking its natural course. Her insulin was tampered 00:10:49.190 --> 00:10:51.269 with. It was adulterated. That is such an intimate 00:10:51.269 --> 00:10:54.350 way to kill someone. Poisoning via daily medication 00:10:54.350 --> 00:10:57.090 requires access. It requires deep trust. You 00:10:57.090 --> 00:10:59.049 literally have to look the person in the eye 00:10:59.049 --> 00:11:01.190 while you administer it. And Anne is the one 00:11:01.190 --> 00:11:03.409 administering the medication. Exactly. It points 00:11:03.409 --> 00:11:06.490 the finger squarely inside the house. And then 00:11:06.490 --> 00:11:08.870 Sheena Timberlake, the victim's mother, is murdered 00:11:08.870 --> 00:11:11.929 too. She is killed while trying to meet Dr. Dunn. 00:11:12.139 --> 00:11:14.460 Kinsey actually finds the body and has to flee 00:11:14.460 --> 00:11:16.279 because the police are starting to look at her 00:11:16.279 --> 00:11:18.440 as the common denominator in all this chaos. 00:11:18.840 --> 00:11:21.299 So the walls are rapidly closing in. Orabel is 00:11:21.299 --> 00:11:24.159 dead. Shuna is dead. Tapp is dead. Jean is dead. 00:11:24.799 --> 00:11:27.379 Who benefits from this specific pattern of elimination? 00:11:27.840 --> 00:11:30.240 This brings us to the psychological profile Kinsey 00:11:30.240 --> 00:11:33.620 builds. She realizes this isn't just about covering 00:11:33.620 --> 00:11:37.019 up a crime anymore. It's deeply emotional. Every 00:11:37.019 --> 00:11:40.379 single victim is connected to one person. Dwight 00:11:40.379 --> 00:11:43.480 Shales. The principal. The one who had the affair 00:11:43.480 --> 00:11:46.000 with Gene. Right. Kinsey realizes the killer 00:11:46.000 --> 00:11:48.419 is driven by a pathological jealousy regarding 00:11:48.419 --> 00:11:51.299 Dwight. So who in this tangled web is obsessed 00:11:51.299 --> 00:11:53.379 with Dwight Shales? It's the person everyone 00:11:53.379 --> 00:11:56.100 completely overlooked, Anne Fowler. The dutiful 00:11:56.100 --> 00:11:58.940 daughter. The martyr. The counselor. Let's really 00:11:58.940 --> 00:12:01.840 break this down. Why Anne? I mean on paper, she's 00:12:01.840 --> 00:12:03.820 the responsible one holding the family together. 00:12:04.019 --> 00:12:06.500 That's the mask she wears. Underneath, she is 00:12:06.500 --> 00:12:08.929 seething. It turns out Anne was secretly in love 00:12:08.929 --> 00:12:11.830 with Dwight Shales for years. But 17 years ago, 00:12:12.009 --> 00:12:13.950 Jean Timberlake, who was her student, came to 00:12:13.950 --> 00:12:17.269 her for counseling. Jean confided in Anne that 00:12:17.269 --> 00:12:19.590 Dwight was the father of her baby. That is a 00:12:19.590 --> 00:12:22.250 brutal betrayal of trust. The student confesses 00:12:22.250 --> 00:12:24.409 to her counselor, having no idea the counselor 00:12:24.409 --> 00:12:26.950 wants that exact man for herself. Anne snapped. 00:12:27.789 --> 00:12:31.389 She killed Jean in a rage of pure jealousy. She 00:12:31.389 --> 00:12:34.850 eliminated the competition. And... And this is 00:12:34.850 --> 00:12:37.509 truly the darkest part. She let her own brother 00:12:37.509 --> 00:12:39.830 Bailey take the fall for it. Why destroy her 00:12:39.830 --> 00:12:42.070 brother, though? Just self -preservation. No, 00:12:42.070 --> 00:12:45.230 it was deeper than that. She resented him. She 00:12:45.230 --> 00:12:46.990 hated that Bailey was the favorite child, the 00:12:46.990 --> 00:12:49.950 golden boy, despite being a total screw -up. 00:12:50.309 --> 00:12:52.289 By sending him to prison, she removed him from 00:12:52.289 --> 00:12:54.769 the family picture. She finally got to be the 00:12:54.769 --> 00:12:57.269 only child. She got her parents all to herself. 00:12:57.490 --> 00:12:59.850 But then why kill her mother now, in the present? 00:12:59.990 --> 00:13:02.309 Why poison Orabel after taking care of her for 00:13:02.309 --> 00:13:06.100 so long? Greed. and impatience. Anne's master 00:13:06.100 --> 00:13:08.519 plan was to inherit the family money so she could 00:13:08.519 --> 00:13:11.100 offer financial stability to Dwight. She thought 00:13:11.100 --> 00:13:13.299 she could basically buy his love, or at least 00:13:13.299 --> 00:13:15.899 tempt him into marrying her. Orville was taking 00:13:15.899 --> 00:13:17.980 too long to die, so Anne hurried the process 00:13:17.980 --> 00:13:20.639 along. That is ice cold, committing matricide 00:13:20.639 --> 00:13:22.840 just to speed up an inheritance check. And she 00:13:22.840 --> 00:13:24.840 killed Shanna Timberlake because Shanna was getting 00:13:24.840 --> 00:13:27.299 friendly with Dwight. Anne viewed any woman getting 00:13:27.299 --> 00:13:29.340 close to Dwight as a mortal threat that had to 00:13:29.340 --> 00:13:31.480 be silenced permanently. So Kinsey figures all 00:13:31.480 --> 00:13:34.700 this out. And she finds the hard evidence, the 00:13:34.700 --> 00:13:36.940 holdup gun that Tapp Grainger used in the courtroom. 00:13:37.799 --> 00:13:40.659 Kinsey finds it in Anne's room. It links Anne 00:13:40.659 --> 00:13:43.419 directly to the escape plot. Anne set up that 00:13:43.419 --> 00:13:46.460 whole courtroom disaster to keep Bailey discredited. 00:13:46.799 --> 00:13:50.090 Kinsey goes to confront Anne. and the mask comes 00:13:50.090 --> 00:13:53.350 off completely. Anne isn't the meek, dutiful 00:13:53.350 --> 00:13:56.250 counselor anymore. She's waiting for Kinsey with 00:13:56.250 --> 00:13:58.690 a shotgun. Which leads to the climax. And this 00:13:58.690 --> 00:14:00.610 is honestly one of the most tragic scenes in 00:14:00.610 --> 00:14:03.149 the entire alphabet series. It's not just a standard 00:14:03.149 --> 00:14:05.990 shootout. No. Royce Fowler intervenes. The dying 00:14:05.990 --> 00:14:08.289 father physically gets out of his deathbed. He 00:14:08.289 --> 00:14:10.590 walks right into the confrontation. The man who 00:14:10.590 --> 00:14:13.110 hired Kinsey to save his son. He finally sees 00:14:13.110 --> 00:14:15.669 the truth. He realizes that the monster wasn't 00:14:15.669 --> 00:14:17.870 the son who ran away, but the daughter who stayed. 00:14:18.120 --> 00:14:21.159 He wrestles the shotgun away from Anne. He has 00:14:21.159 --> 00:14:23.320 to disarm his own child. And in the struggle, 00:14:24.039 --> 00:14:26.720 the gun goes off. Royce accidentally shoots Anne 00:14:26.720 --> 00:14:29.159 in the foot. Wow. It's a maiming shot, not a 00:14:29.159 --> 00:14:30.940 kill shot, but it ends the standoff right there. 00:14:31.259 --> 00:14:34.039 The irony there is just crushing. He spent his 00:14:34.039 --> 00:14:36.480 final days trying to save one child and ends 00:14:36.480 --> 00:14:38.639 up having to physically shoot the other to stop 00:14:38.639 --> 00:14:41.240 a killing spree. It destroys the family completely. 00:14:41.659 --> 00:14:43.960 Anne is arrested for the murders of Shayna and 00:14:43.960 --> 00:14:46.340 Orabel. Does she go down for the original murder? 00:14:46.960 --> 00:14:49.840 For Jean Timberlake? That's the realistic touch 00:14:49.840 --> 00:14:52.679 Grafton adds to the resolution. There isn't enough 00:14:52.679 --> 00:14:55.379 physical evidence after 17 years to prove she 00:14:55.379 --> 00:14:58.419 killed Jean. The forensic chain is totally broken. 00:14:59.220 --> 00:15:01.539 But the new circumstances and the other murders 00:15:01.539 --> 00:15:04.740 are enough to clear Bailey's name. So Royce does 00:15:04.740 --> 00:15:07.700 get his wish. He does. His son is finally free. 00:15:08.179 --> 00:15:11.100 But the cost was his wife and his daughter. He 00:15:11.100 --> 00:15:13.240 saved the family name, but he lost the family 00:15:13.240 --> 00:15:15.879 itself. It really recontextualizes the title. 00:15:16.090 --> 00:15:19.230 F is for fugitive. Obviously Bailey was the literal 00:15:19.230 --> 00:15:21.850 fugitive from the law, but it feels like Anne 00:15:21.850 --> 00:15:24.450 was a fugitive from reality. That's spot on. 00:15:24.629 --> 00:15:26.830 She was running from herself. She created this 00:15:26.830 --> 00:15:30.169 entire narrative where she was the victim, the 00:15:30.169 --> 00:15:32.950 martyr, the deserving one, and she was perfectly 00:15:32.950 --> 00:15:35.690 willing to kill anyone who threatened that story. 00:15:36.389 --> 00:15:38.470 It validates the publisher's weekly sentiment 00:15:38.470 --> 00:15:41.080 we mentioned at the start. This really proved 00:15:41.080 --> 00:15:44.120 Grafton could handle complex, multi -layered 00:15:44.120 --> 00:15:46.799 plotting that goes way beyond a simple hood unit. 00:15:47.539 --> 00:15:49.840 It's a tragedy about a family that rotted from 00:15:49.840 --> 00:15:52.740 the inside out. Anne wanted to be the protagonist 00:15:52.740 --> 00:15:55.500 of her own life so badly that she burned the 00:15:55.500 --> 00:15:58.139 whole stage down. And it serves as a really stark 00:15:58.139 --> 00:16:00.220 reminder of that small -town paradox we touched 00:16:00.220 --> 00:16:02.799 on earlier. We think those communities are tight 00:16:02.799 --> 00:16:05.690 -knit. But Grafton is saying that proximity does 00:16:05.690 --> 00:16:08.070 not equal knowledge. Exactly. You can live next 00:16:08.070 --> 00:16:09.649 to someone for 20 years and not know them at 00:16:09.649 --> 00:16:11.230 all. Which brings me to the thought I want to 00:16:11.230 --> 00:16:13.950 leave you with today. I can't stop thinking about 00:16:13.950 --> 00:16:16.289 the character of Race Fowler. He lived in that 00:16:16.289 --> 00:16:18.710 house with Anne for 17 years after Jean's murder. 00:16:19.190 --> 00:16:21.710 She cared for him. She fed him. She washed his 00:16:21.710 --> 00:16:24.129 clothes. He looked her in the eye every single 00:16:24.129 --> 00:16:26.590 day, completely blind to the fact that she was 00:16:26.590 --> 00:16:29.309 a deeply disturbed murderer. It is terrifying 00:16:29.309 --> 00:16:31.889 when you really think about it. He saw what he 00:16:31.889 --> 00:16:33.870 needed to see. He just saw the good daughter. 00:16:34.169 --> 00:16:36.570 It forces us to ask a really uncomfortable question. 00:16:37.190 --> 00:16:40.190 In a small town or even in our own homes, how 00:16:40.190 --> 00:16:42.529 much do parents really know about their children's 00:16:42.529 --> 00:16:46.330 darkest secrets? Are we ever capable of truly 00:16:46.330 --> 00:16:48.990 knowing the people we share a roof with? Or do 00:16:48.990 --> 00:16:51.190 we just project who we want them to be right 00:16:51.190 --> 00:16:53.870 up until the moment they pull a shotgun? We interpret 00:16:53.870 --> 00:16:57.110 people based on our own needs, not their reality, 00:16:57.409 --> 00:17:00.289 until it's too late. A chilling thought to end 00:17:00.289 --> 00:17:02.529 on, but that is exactly why we read Grafton. 00:17:02.990 --> 00:17:06.230 That is it for this deep dive into F is for Fugitive. 00:17:06.410 --> 00:17:08.630 Thank you for helping us unpack the Fowler family 00:17:08.630 --> 00:17:10.490 files. It was a pleasure. If you want to see 00:17:10.490 --> 00:17:12.630 a master of the genre at work, go pick up the 00:17:12.630 --> 00:17:14.349 book. It absolutely holds up. We'll see you on 00:17:14.349 --> 00:17:15.130 the next deep dive.