All the Dangerous Things

In the past, Isabelle and Margaret play tea party outside on a muggy morning, wearing matching nightgowns picked by their mother. Margaret tells Isabelle that she also noticed the muddy footprints on Isabelle’s carpet. She asks if the sleepwalking is tied to “what happened,” prompting Isabelle to remember a previous evening when she saw their mother covered in blood (69). When Margaret claims the house is creepy, Isabelle reassures her that it is her sleepwalking that makes it seem so.

Isabelle tries sleeping pills, but they make her groggy. She returns to the online article she found the day before and reads more comments that point to her dubious past and discuss Mason’s victimhood. One comment reads, “He’s in a better place” (72), and Isabelle emails Detective Dozier, asking to track the IP address. She departs for a bistro to meet Waylon. He startles her and is both eager and uncomfortable to hear her story. Isabelle admits she grew up in Beaufort, an hour away from Savannah, but is unwilling to provide further details.

Waylon asks Isabelle about the night of Mason’s disappearance. Isabelle shares Mason’s bedtime routine and the family’s schedule preceding his disappearance. When Waylon wonders if Ben could have gotten out of bed without her waking, Isabelle defends Ben. She relays some of the basic information of the case, including the footprints found outside the house (which were difficult to examine due to the surrounding marshy terrain). Mason’s stuffed dinosaur was later found in the marshes, but divers never located anything else. Mason’s baby monitor was out of batteries at the time, so it did not record the events of the evening.

Isabelle spirals into guilt, thinking of all the ways she is to blame for Mason’s disappearance. Waylon tells her that she is not at fault, making her cry. She cannot escape the feeling that she is missing something.

Isabelle stays out with Waylon until past midnight. At home, she checks the online article again, only to find that the ominous comment is gone. She takes Roscoe on a walk to calm her nerves, ruminating on new beginnings and feelings of entrapment. As they return home, Roscoe growls at an old man sitting on a porch. Isabelle tries to break the tension by providing small talk, but the man does not respond to her inquiries. After she returns home, she is struck by the realization that the old man could have been watching her for a long time.

In the past, Isabelle sneaks to her father’s office, where she overhears an argument between her parents. Isabelle’s father works in Congress and travels during the week, but Isabelle’s mother implores him to stay home. He rejects her request and then initiates a kiss. Isabelle tries to sneak away but steps on a squeaky floorboard. Her parents find her, and Isabelle notes that her mother looks frightened.

The next morning, Isabelle thinks about the old man on the porch and realizes she doesn’t recognize him, which is unusual due to the scope of her investigation into her neighbors. Waylon arrives. As he gently questions her about the house, Isabelle confesses that Ben moved out. Waylon sets up his audio equipment. He notices Isabelle’s wall of evidence, and the two briefly talk about its scope. They begin recording an interview.

Isabelle and Waylon spend several hours talking about Mason’s case. Afterward, Isabelle gives Waylon a copy of the police report. Waylon asks if there are other people he can interview, and Isabelle firmly establishes her own family as off-limits. She also warns Waylon that Ben won’t want to participate. They talk about the different ways that people perceive Isabelle’s efforts, as some think she is being exploitative while others support her. She describes the difficulty she has had compared to Ben’s acceptance that Mason is dead.

Waylon asks about her wall of evidence, and Isabelle describes its features. She talks about her map, which indicates where all the sex offenders within 30 miles live. She confesses that she attacked a man who works at the local grocery store when she found out he was on the sex offender registry; she later found that his offence was public indecency for urinating outside. This event hurt her and Ben’s relationship and caused the police to stop involving her in their investigation.

Isabelle questions Waylon’s involvement in true crime, and he admits his sister was murdered; her case was never solved. Isabelle feels hopeful, believing she has finally found a person who understands what her life is like.

In the past, the air conditioning at Hayworth Manor stops working. Isabelle and Margaret paint in their mother’s art studio until the afternoon, making plans to spend the night in Isabelle’s room. Isabelle leaves to get Margaret a new canvas but finds one of their mother’s works-in-progress. It depicts a girl in a nightgown standing in a marsh. Margaret claims it is Isabelle.

The next morning, Isabelle walks to the house where the old man sat. She wonders if she hallucinated his existence, linking it to past hallucinations caused by sleep deprivation. She sits in the man’s rocking chair and realizes he has a perfect view of her backyard and Mason’s window. Isabelle is startled when a redheaded man steps out of the house. They recognize each other, but he does not offer his name. Isabelle tries to ask him about the old man, but he threatens to call the police, a threat he repeats when she asks if he went to Mason’s vigil. When she continues pressing for details, he screams at her until she leaves. At home, she looks through her files but cannot identify either of the men as neighbors. Isabelle leaves a voicemail for Detective Dozier about the encounter and then receives a text from Kasey reiterating her offer for drinks.

Kasey’s texts trigger a memory for Isabelle. At The Grit’s annual holiday party, Isabelle saw Ben arrive with his then-wife, Allison. Isabelle was struck by how similar she and Allison looked. She introduced herself and Allison departed for the bathroom, leaving Ben and Isabelle alone. Ben asked about Isabelle’s work but made thinly guised references to a past kiss. Isabelle responded flirtatiously.

Isabelle ignores Kasey’s texts and reaches out to Waylon. He explains that he is on his way home but will return in a few weeks; as a self-funded podcaster, he does not have enough money for lengthy hotel stays. Isabelle offers him the use of her guestroom. Although they both have reservations about the arrangement, Waylon accepts. Isabelle prepares for his arrival and sorts her mail. She receives a blank sympathy card from her parents with a check inside. She believes this is “blood money” but has no other income (118).

In the past, Isabelle and Margaret take a cold bath while their father tinkers with the broken air conditioning. Their mother assures them that they will soon be comfortable again. The girls go to Isabelle’s room, and Isabelle briefly admires the view from the marsh before crawling into bed. Their mother reminds them to say their prayers and wishes them goodnight but seems upset when Margaret demands her to acknowledge her doll, Eloise.

Waylon arrives at Isabelle’s house and offers to cook dinner as a show of appreciation. As he does, Isabelle asks him about a cold case he helped solve through his podcast. It was a 30-year-old missing child case; Waylon uncovered a witness who had been seven years old at the time and was too frightened to come forward. Using his tip, the police were able to identify the killer and bring the girl’s remains home. Isabelle shares details of her past, intimating that she left The Grit to be with Ben.

As Waylon cooks, Isabelle reflects on her relationship with Ben. Although the two were not physically intimate while he was married to Allison, she knows they were having an emotional affair. She confesses to Waylon that Ben was married once before but his wife died.