Home Before Dark

Maggie returns to the house. Before going inside, she calls Allie, who reminds her that she doesn’t have to do anything at the office. Maggie hopes to spend the summer renovating the house so that she can sell it. Allie is uneasy that Maggie wants to dig around in the house during her work, looking for clues, but Maggie has agreed to call or text Allie daily. As she drives past the gate, she perceives it as a way to lock people in, not to keep them out.

Dane Hibbets—Walt’s handsome grandson and the current caretaker—startles her at the house. He offers his condolences for her father’s passing. Maggie is surprised when Dane says her father was still paying the Hibbets and the Ditmer families before he died. He also tells her that Elsa Ditmer now has Alzheimer’s, and that Ewan visited once a year to check on them. Now Maggie is even more confused about why her father was so adamant that she stay away. Dane says Ewan always came on July 15; the night they left the house for good. He only ever stayed for one night. When Dane hints that he could use some work, Maggie hires him.