Check out our episode here! Sadie by Courtney Summers
Danny Gilchrist, host of Always Out There, would like to tell you about a new serialized podcast, The Girls, available to download now on the Macmillan website. It’s created and hosted by West McCray, one of the producers on Always Out There. The Girls will explore “what happens when a devastating crime reveals a deeply unsettling mystery.”
The Girls, Episode 1
West McCray introduces the listeners to Cold Creek, Colorado, and interviews local residents May Beth Foster, a grandmotherly figure who is the manager of Sparkling River Estates trailer park, and resident Carl Earl, who contacted 911 on October 3rd after seeing smoke in the sky over the abandoned schoolhouse. The body of Mattie Southern was found by the fire crew between the burning schoolhouse and the apple orchard. Mattie was 13 years old and had been reported missing three days earlier. Mattie has a 19 year old sister, Sadie Hunter, a surrogate grandmother in May Beth Foster, and her mother, Claire Southern, who has not been in the picture for a while. West explains in a voice over that he heard about the story of Mattie when working in the area but it wasn’t until a year after the fire, sitting in his New York office, that West considered investigating after receiving a phone call from May Beth. In June, Mattie’s sister Sadie, disappeared. In July, a car with Sadie’s belongings was found abandoned in Fairfield, Colorado. May Beth reached out to West in hopes of finding Sadie. Alive.
Sadie
Sadie buys a Chevy from Craigslist. She went to meet the seller on the side of the road, her backpack on and a switchblade in her back pocket. The seller, Becki with an i, takes the wad of cash, but still asks Lera (Sadie’s middle name) some questions. When they stray from yes and no answers, Sadie is forced to reveal her stutter, a telling feature when she’s trying to conduct a low-key deal. When the papers are signed, Sadie takes out a couple of expired license plates from May Beth’s collection and attaches them to her new car. Sadie doesn’t think May Beth will be too surprised when she knocks on her door and finds her missing. May Beth knew Sadie had something in her head and heart.
The Girls. Episode 1
West mentions that “Girls go missing all the time” and it was the urging of his boss, Danny Gilchrist, to dig deeper into Mattie and Sadie’s story. West plays an interview with May Beth; in it she talks about Mattie’s death breaking Sadie. The episode cuts to Detective George Alfonso who helped investigate Mattie’s disappearance. An amber alert was issued and persons of interest talked to, but nothing. Forensics after the fire were poor as it wasn’t established until afterward that there was a murder. The only clue is a witness, Norah Stackett, proprietor of Stackett Groceries, who says she saw Mattie get into a pickup truck the night she disappeared. Interviewing May Beth, she describes finding all of Sadie’s belongings in the dumpster. She knew she wouldn’t be coming back. West describes the trailer the two girls shared, Mattie’s room is messy and looks lived in, Sadie’s was sparse. May Beth admits that for the week before Sadie disappeared, she knew something was up. She was planning something. They then talk about Claire, the girls' mother. Claire was born for trouble. She was a drug addict and had arrests for misdemeanors. Shortly after Claire fell pregnant, she lost her own mother. May Beth tried to step in to fill the breach, she’d made a promise to Claire’s mom.
Sadie
Sadie dyes her hair a muddy blonde in a public bathroom. She’s thinking about Mattie’s laugh and how much she looks like their mother. They do not share a father. They do not look like sisters. A short while later, Sadie pulls up to Whittler’s Truck Stop and heads into Ray’s Diner which sells the best apple pie in Garnet County! After ordering a coffee, Sadie asks the waitress if Ray is around. He died a few years ago. Shit. Taking out an 8 year old picture of Sadie, Mattie, their mom and her then boyfriend Keith outside a trailer, Sadie shows it to the waitress. She’s trying to find Keith. When asked who wants to know, Sadie tells the waitress she’s his daughter, but the waitress denies knowing him. She’s lying and Sadie calls her out. One of the other customers points Sadie toward a shady character, Caddy Sinclair, a dealer who hangs by the dumpsters. Sadie is unsurprisingly in a bad mood when she approaches Caddy. He starts to mock her stutter so she sticks the photo in his face and demands information. What does she want to know about Darren Marshall? He’ll give her more information but it’ll cost and he isn’t talking money. Grabbing Sadie, he hauls her into the shadows, undoing his belt.
The Girls, Episode 1
West and May Beth are looking through a photo album. In the recording, May Beth says how much Claire hated being a mother, that Sadie looked like her own mother and she hated it. Sadie’s father is unknown, no one is even sure if Hunter is her correct surname. Sadie’s childhood was lonely. At this point, they play a cassette recording of two year old Sadie. School was hell for Sadie, both the children and the teachers were harsh. When Mattie came, she became Sadie’s whole world. Sadie took care of Mattie, made Mattie believe their mother was sick, not neglectful. Claire loved Mattie too, she was blonde like her and she treated Mattie like a doll. Mattie adored her big sister right back. As they reach the end of the album, May Beth notices a photograph is missing.
Sadie
Sitting in her car, turning a switchblade over and over in her hand, Sadie is thinking violent and murderous thoughts. She is going to kill him. She remembers when Mattie was five and she was eleven and she would try to protect Mattie and let her sleep in her bed with her. Keith would tell Sadie “Nobody talks like that who’s got a choice” after he smacked her. When Keith was around, he would pretend to be their dad and make a big production of it in front of people, but he didn’t stay. When Sadie was nineteen and Mattie was thirteen, Keith came back. The switchblade was his. It's Sadie’s now.
The Girls, Episode 2
West continues to give the listeners an idea of Mattie and Sadie’s home life with their mother, or rather without. Claire left the girls when Mattie was ten and Sadie was sixteen. By this time, Claire was completely lost to her addiction. May Beth tried to tell Claire to get her shit together, but she left the girls the day after May Beth left for a vacation. Sadie worked at McKinnon Gas station, and now Marty McKinnon is interviewed by West. When Sadie first started working for him, she was a scared, desperate girl. Marty was the one Mattie called when Sadie fell ill and needed to go to the hospital while May Beth was away. May Beth flew back and described Mattie getting depressed at the thought of losing Sadie, too. When she told Sadie, she dropped out of high school to take care of Mattie. They got a postcard from Claire not long after, “Greetings from Sunny L.A.!” May Beth describes how that postcard caused a rift between the girls. It revitalized Mattie, and made her want to look for their mother. Sadie did not. Mattie became aggressive with Sadie, and Sadie bore it and forgave her. West comments that everyone seems to agree that the drift was the catalyst for Mattie’s disappearance. She went to find her mother and got into her killer’s truck.
Sadie
Sadie has spent the night sleeping in her car. She's in a small town called Wagner and is waiting to visit Marlee Singer. That’s the name Caddy gave her when his trousers dangled around his knees and her switchblade was pressed to his throat. When Sadie goes to her house, Marlee doesn’t want to talk. For hours Sadie sits on her stoop until Marlee finally invites her in. She’s obviously suspicious. Sadie gives her the story that her name is Lera and that she’s looking for Keith/Darren who is her father. Marlee knew Keith/Darren but neither are his real name. She knows this because her brother went to school with him. Years later, he came back to Wagner, came for dinner and didn’t leave for a while. When she found a Polaroid picture in his jeans while doing laundry, she had to turn him out, it was a very bad picture. Finally, Marlee relents and tells Sadie his real name is Jack Hersh.
The Girls, Episode 2
West tells the listeners that May Beth collected Sadie’s backpack from Fairfield Police Department in July. West interviews Detective Sheila Gutierrez, who argues that they did all they could to find Sadie. West sees a sale notice found in Sadie’s Chevy and interviews Becki with an i. She describes Sadie as “awfully twitchy” who got bitchy with her when she questioned her over her stutter. There is a recording played of a phone call with Danny Gilchrist where West says he doesn’t think there is much of a story here and that Sadie's just a runaway. Danny insists there is a real human element and West needs to chase down the leads.
Sadie
Kendall Baker is Sadie’s way to Silas Baker, Marlee’s brother. Sadie finds Kendall Baker on the internet through her social media, and learns that she frequents Cooper’s Bar in Montgomery with her brother, so she goes to see her. Silas seems to have it all: college education, good investments, decent looks, a loving wife and children. Sadie manages to assimilate herself with Kendall, her brother Noah, and friends Carrie and Javi. They assume she has moved into the Cornells' place and is one of the Holdens and she goes along with that story. When Sadie asks if they know Jack, Keith or Darren Marshall, she is met with blank looks and ‘what the fucks.' Javi is really nice to Sadie and they hit it off. He gives Sadie the in she needs when he invites her to Kendall’s house the next day. If she can get into the house, she’s one step closer to Silas.
The Girls Episode 2
In a voice over, West describes the contents of Sadie’s backpack. One item sticks out: a menu for Ray’s Diner. Detective Gutierrez confirms on a recorded call that it was looked into but yielded nothing. West needs to dig himself. He meets Ruby Lockwood, longtime waitress at Ray’s and Ray’s wife before he died. It wasn’t Ruby who talked to the Fairfield PD but Saul, Ruby’s brother-in-law. In an interview, Saul confirms a girl came around with a photograph that she was trying to find someone on it. The police left a picture of the girl which Ruby hadn’t seen. West shows Ruby a picture of Sadie and she recognizes her instantly.
Sadie
Silas Baker lives in a house on a hill in a picturesque town. Sadie hates it. Waiting outside the Baker’s house in her car, Sadie remembers Mattie’s birth. She was the first to hold Mattie and she didn’t want to ever let go. Silas unlocking his car door wakes her from her reverie and when he pulls away, Sadie follows him. Silas parks near what looks like an abandoned house, does he know she is following him? She parks a little way away and on foot, heads for the house. He’s inside and can hear her. He calls out, “who’s there?” Silas leaves so Sadie investigates the house. It’s trashed and full of garbage, musty and decayed. Upstairs, Sadie finds a hole in the wall behind a painting. Inside is a small metal box with a padlock. She takes the box outside and beats it with a rock until it finally opens.
The Girls, Episode 3
The interview with Ruby Lockwood continues. She recalls seeing Sadie, but she was blonde, “rail thin, a wisp of a thing." Ruby also recalls her stutter which jogs Saul’s memory. Ruby tells West Sadie was looking for her father and showed her a picture of him. Ruby knew him as a regular a few years ago. Ruby admits to telling Sadie she did not know the person in the picture, but she did. Darren was a real good guy who kept to himself and never caused trouble. He was living with a woman called Marlee Singer at the time. She hasn’t seen him in a few years, but he sent a beautiful bouquet of flowers to Ray’s funeral. Ruby tells West that Sadie was a rude girl who called her a liar and she is sure she was running a con. West leaves a photo of Sadie at the diner. A day later he gets a phone call from Caddy Sinclair.
Sadie
Sadie is in Lili’s Café. She is dirty and hungry and feels sick. Fuck Marlee and her brother. Silas took Darren under his wing, probably because like attracted like. Silas just hid it better. Fuck Marlee. She must have known. Now Sadie starts wondering if she needs to kill Silas Baker too? Borrowing a cell phone from a nice lady, Sadie calls Javi and asks him to meet her at the café. He gets there quickly and buys her breakfast. Sadie struggles to eat, it’s agony, but she needs the food and has to force her body to comply. Javi is concerned for her.
The Girls, Episode 3
The listeners hear Caddy Sinclair’s interview. West describes him as an “interesting contradiction,” he wants to be left alone but a Google search shows a teenager with dreams of being the next Eminem. In Caddy’s interview, he tells West he thinks the missing girl is dead. She was out of her mind and more than likely would get into trouble or mess with the wrong person. Caddy confirms the guy in Sadie’s picture is Keith/Darren and says that Sadie threatened him with a knife, so he pointed her in the direction of Marlee Singer. He’s also going to get her charged with assault. West confirms with May Beth that Sadie isn’t a violent person and in a studio voice over asks, why did she feel like she needed the switchblade?
Sadie
Breakfast is heavy in her stomach as Sadie pulls up to Silas Baker’s house again. This time, she heads around back, following the sounds of Kendall and Noah. Javi isn’t with her but she tells the siblings he is meeting her there. Their parents aren’t home at the moment. As Sadie walks into the house with Kendall to borrow something to wear for the pool, she realizes they don’t know their father is a monster. Suddenly Silas speaks from behind her. She escapes to the bathroom, out of his sight. Sadie remembers a girl of eleven in the bath, hiding her body from a man, calling for her mother’s help. She won’t get out until he leaves, but he won’t. The man says, “Sadie, … We’re family now.” Ever since Mattie died, ugly memories keep floating to the surface. Leaving the bathroom, Sadie quietly investigates but finds nothing. Back in the kitchen, Silas is alone on his phone. He sets it down to get Sadie a drink and she quickly touches the screen to keep it unlocked. He makes idle chit-chat and when Kendall and Noah draw his attention away, Sadie takes the opportunity to pocket his phone and hurry out the front door. Fumbling to get in her car as she looks through the contacts for Keith... for Darren… she finds Jack H and an address in Langford. From behind her, Silas demands his phone back.
The Girls, Episode 3
In a voice over, West describes the town of Wagner and its similarities to Cold Creek, except it’s less defeated. He’s come to meet Marlee Singer. She contacted him when he was set to go back to New York, and she wants to go on record that she knows nothing. West also tells the listeners that it's frustrating not being able to find a girl who made little effort to cover her tracks. West catches up with May Beth. She tells him about three men in Claire’s life that stood out: Arthur McQuarry who is dead now; Paul, the last man she was with, and Keith, who was around when the girls were little. May Beth just can’t wrap her head around Sadie looking for her father.
Sadie
Silas Baker is angry. Sadie can see it under the surface. He rips his phone from her grasp as she repeats Jack’s address in her head, “451 Twining Street, 451 Twining Street” and demands to know who she is. He knows she isn’t a Holden like his children said because he met the Holdens' daughter. He also knows she was the one following him that morning. They grapple and the switchblade comes out. Sadie's face is cracked against the steering wheel of the car by Silas and blood pours from her nose. Silas demands to know what she wants and what she knows. The fight draws Kendall and Noah, who try to call the police, but Silas stops them. He just wants Sadie, whoever she is, gone. Beaten up and bloody, Sadie leaves.
The Girls, Episode 4
West begins the episode assessing the three names May Beth gave him: Arthur, Keith and Paul. West has been able to confirm that Arthur died of an overdose two years after leaving Claire, Keith has no record but he has a team on it. In an interview, May Beth says how Keith stuck around the longest and that he was her favorite. He didn’t start bad like most others, yes Claire picked him up in a bar but he was sober, got her home and introduced himself to May Beth. He treated her with respect, like she was the girls' real grandmother. He was also a god-fearing man and he tried to teach the girls religion. May Beth recalls that he’d always wanted kids and that Mattie and Sadie were the next best thing. Mattie liked him, but Sadie never did. It ended between Claire and Keith after a year, in the middle of the night with her screaming at him. Claire got tired of her men quickly and would kick them out. He waved goodbye as he left, and that was the last May Beth saw of him. Back to the voice over, West talks about Paul Good. He was with Claire during a difficult time in his life for about eight months, but it’s a time he doesn’t want to revisit. In his phone interview, Paul talks about how he met Claire by nearly running her over. It wasn’t until he moved in that he realized how bad Claire was, but he loved her and made himself sick for her. He stayed out of the girls' way. They didn’t hate each other, just didn’t need each other. He left when he found Claire with another guy. Once he left, he got clean. After speaking with Paul, West calls May Beth and the recording is played on the episode. He tells May Beth the investigation has come to a standstill and he needs to step back and wait for new developments. May Beth sounds panicked. She doesn't want West to give up. She might have some information, but she doesn’t want Sadie to get into trouble.
Sadie
Sitting in her car looking at the postcard from LA, Sadie remembers a rare moment of affection from her mother. Late one night, Sadie had fallen asleep in front of the TV. Claire came in, sat next to her, stroked her hair and whispered “I made you," both pretending Sadie was still asleep. Starting the car back up, Sadie heads to 451 Twining Street, Langford, but she’ll need a library or something to find directions, and she needs to get gas. As she passes the outskirts of Montgomery, Sadie spots a lone female hitchhiker soaked through from the rain. Against her better judgment, she pulls over and gives her a ride. The girl, Cat, offers to pay for gas and has a phone for directions. Perfect. They talk on the drive. There are a lot of bad memories, sad stories and half truths until Sadie skids the car and is forced to take a break off the road.
The Girls, Episode 4
May Beth tells West about the day Mattie disappeared. She has a rule, it's not decent to call on someone before 9am, so at 9:01, Mattie would come pounding on May Beth’s door, and the day she disappeared was no different. Mattie didn’t have any plans that day. May Beth had encouraged her to reconcile with Sadie since they’d been fighting about Claire again. Mattie wanted to find Claire in LA, Sadie did not. After dinner that day, May Beth talked to Sadie about it, and Sadie admitted “I don’t think I’ll ever be enough for Mattie.” West plays a recording of Marty McKinnon who says Sadie worked a long shift and clocked out late that day. Going back to May Beth, she confirms Sadie came back to her place and fell asleep on her couch. May Beth texted Mattie to let her know where Sadie was. In a voice over, West tells the listeners that Mattie never got that text, or any text Sadie sent her the following day. West describes the agony and turmoil in May Beth’s voice and in her demeanor, and that she is carrying a lot of guilt and responsibility. She gives West something found in Sadie’s car. It’s a credit card belonging to Cat Mather. West is easily able to track her down.
Sadie
Waking up from a short sleep, Cat sitting next to her, Sadie heads back on to the road but something is off with Cat. Pulling into a gas station, Cat shoves money into Sadie’s hand and gets out to stretch her legs. Sadie pays for the gas, a bottle of water and a jar of peanut butter inside the store, but when she returns to the car, Cat is nowhere to be seen and all her stuff is gone. Going back into the store, she checks with the clerk who saw Cat hitch a ride with some guy in a yellow truck.
The Girls, Episode 4
West, in a voice over, describes Cat Mather. She was once a missing girl, now she lives in Topeka, Kansas. Cat is what West expected Sadie to be, “Restless, reckless, dramatic.” Two months ago, she was caught driving a stolen car, now she lives with her aunt awaiting a court date. Reluctant at first, West persuades her to talk. In her interview, Cat admits that Sadie scared her a little. She explains she’d lost the credit card, Sadie didn’t steal it, and that she met her hitchhiking out of Montgomery. Cat said Montgomery isn’t this picture perfect place, it’s black under the surface, both she and Sadie could tell, and the latest news confirms it. The episode cuts to a studio voice of West explaining that pillar of the community, Silas Baker, was arrested for sexually abusing young children he coached in T-ball over the last seven years. The children aged from five to eight years old. Back to Cat’s interview, she explains how messed up Sadie had been from a fight, and it must have just happened. She didn’t get bad vibes from Sadie, but she found a very bloody shirt and a switchblade on the backseat, which made her wary. West asks if Cat knew where Sadie was headed, and she says yes, actually. The episode cuts to a conversation between West and Danny Gilchrist, but is interrupted by a call from May Beth. Claire is back.
Sadie
At 4am, Sadie gets to Langford. She heads to the 24 hour laundromat where the old clerk tells her that at 451 Twining Street is the Bluebird Motel. A short time later, Sadie is idling outside the motel in her car. She goes to rent a room, but the man behind the counter wants an ID. Damn it. Sadie tries her luck and mentions Darren Marshall, and the guy knows him and says he’s a good pal. He forgets about the need for ID and gives her a 5% discount, saying “any friend of Darren’s…” and all that. He’s also able to confirm Darren isn’t around but he should be soon. After a shower and in clean clothes, Sadie crawls into bed. Half asleep, she feels the dip of the mattress, a touch on her ankle and a male voice asking if she has said her prayers. When he sees she is asleep, he tells her he’ll go and make sure Mattie has said hers. Sadie’s eyes snap open.
The Girls, Episode 5
West has gone back to Cold Creek. It’s still dark, but May Beth insists he come over. Claire refuses to talk to him and May Beth says she is being typically selfish. West can hear May Beth and Claire shouting at each other. Claire had broken the locks to Sadie and Mattie’s trailer and May Beth found her curled on Mattie’s bed. It takes two hours, but Claire finally comes to talk. West is surprised by Claire, she’s put on weight and though she is chain smoking, she isn't using. Claire tells West she found out about Mattie from the news and she tried to kill herself, but a friend helped her get clean instead. She only found out Sadie was missing that night. Claire said she got clean for Sadie. May Beth interrupts the interview, and Claire breaks down again. West is able to get May Beth inside, but Claire is visibly agitated. She will only tell West that she too was a kid, she was a drug addict, she had Sadie as a child, she lost her own mother as a child. She ends the interview.
Sadie
Sadie heads back to the motel office and someone different is at the desk this time. Sadie asks about Darren, and the attendant says that he has Number 10 permanently rented out. He has been friends with Joe, the manager, for years, he saved Joe’s life. Darren’s a good guy. He offers to take a note, but no, he won’t let Sadie into the room to leave a surprise. Sadie pushes the attendant, Ellis, too much, so he stops answering her questions about Darren and starts asking about her and her beat up face. Ellis tells her that he met Darren online and that they share a common interest, that Darren helped him out of a tough spot and got him this job. He’s a great guy. Wait. They met online? He was in a tough spot? They have the same interests? This causes major warning bells to go off for Sadie, so she leaves. She tries the door at Number 10 but it’s locked and she punches it in frustration. Heading around the back of the building, she sees small windows into the rooms. She can get through one of those. When it gets dark, Sadie punches through the glass to Keith’s room. Huge mistake. Her arm is torn to shreds, it’s a bloody cut up mess and hurts so bad. Fighting back screams, she crawls into Keith’s room. She wraps her arm in towels and starts to search the room. Under his mattress she finds an envelope filled with fake IDs. He has so many different names: Greg, Connor, Adam, Toby, Don, and Keith. Nearly all of them have an X scratched over the picture. Sadie searches more and finds pieces of cloth, parts of shirt collars with names written on them in black marker. Trophies. Mementos. She scrambles for the photo she has been carrying around and notices the shirt she was wearing in it… and finds a matching piece of collar with her name on it. Sadie grabs them, she can’t leave them there. Suddenly Ellis is standing in the doorway. Sadie shoves him against the wall, she cries “are you like him?” Ellis doesn’t understand. Sadie screams, “do you fuck little girls?” Ellis denies it, tells Sadie he met Darren in an online game. He isn’t lying. He looks at her arm, her face, he wants to help her.
The Girls, Episode 5
West continues Episode 5 in Langford, heading to the address Cat Mather gave, the Bluebird Motel that West describes generously as “rustic." The owner, Joe Perkins, has sold the property to Marcus Danford who will demolish it. West interviews Joe, usually he can’t remember guests, they’re just a blur but he remembers Sadie when West shows him her picture. She was looking for a friend of his, Darren. West asks about Darren. Joe tells him Darren saved his life, that he got hit by a drunk driver who never stopped. Darren was behind him and stopped him from bleeding out until the ambulance arrived. He doesn’t know where he is now, he comes and goes. He's a great guy, but never seems to have his shit together. Joe hands West Darren’s phone number but there is no answer. Joe also doesn’t believe Darren would abandon a daughter, “he wasn’t the kinda guy." West asks to see Darren’s room, but Joe is reluctant.
Sadie
Sadie is in the office with Ellis who uses a first aid kit to try to bandage her arm. Next to her are Keith’s IDs and the trophies. Ellis tries to tend to her arm as best as he can. He hasn’t made a move to call the cops yet because he doesn’t know what to do. Sadie explains what the tags are and Ellis looks ill, but he doesn’t know what to think. Ellis urges Sadie to call the police, but she won't. He can’t imagine Darren as this person she describes despite the evidence in front of him… he got him this job, he saved Joe’s life, he’s a decent guy! Ellis seems to know where Keith/Darren is, so Sadie pleads with him.
The Girls, Episode 5
The recording continues in Darren Marshall’s room which is a mess. Furniture upended, clothes tossed about, bedsheets ripped off, all the doors and drawers open, food spoiled in the fridge. Joe Perkins steps into the bathroom, notices the smashed window and blood. West takes photos of the room with his phone. As West examines the room, he notices a matchbook from Cooper’s Bar on the bedside and a photograph on the floor of Claire, Mattie, Sadie and Keith from a few years ago. West shows Joe the picture who confirms that Keith is Darren, then asks what is going on. Stepping outside, West calls May Beth who confirms that it’s the missing photo from her album.
Sadie
Langford is miles behind Sadie. She’s now heading to Fairfield, which was the last place Ellis said Darren was. She has to pull over to be sick. Sadie remembers the year Keith lived with them, when she was eleven and Mattie was five. She never slept. Claire would come home drunk and loud, but Keith would be sober. When her mother was done shuffling about and Keith was finished tidying the kitchen, she knew what would happen next. Usually Sadie would give herself up for Mattie, but one night she just couldn’t do it and the next morning Keith was gone. Sadie carries that guilt with her. She was Mattie’s first word, she held Mattie in her arms as a baby. Sadie remembers the day when she was nineteen and Mattie was thirteen. Mattie came home and announced that she had seen Keith. Mattie told him Claire was in LA and Keith offered to take her there to find her. Mattie crept away during the night and got into his truck. These thoughts cement Sadie’s resolve to kill him.
The Girls, Episode 6
Keith is Darren, West says. He shows the picture he found to Ruby Lockwood at Ray’s Diner who confirms that it’s the one Sadie had. West also wants to make sure that Keith isn’t Sadie’s father. May Beth said she’ll check with Claire, but she doubts it. In a recording of a phone call with Danny Gilchrist, West gives an update on his investigation. Sadie is looking for Keith who is also known as Darren. Sadie is saying he is her father, but that it’s highly unlikely. So who is Keith/Darren? West has got people looking into it. As West is talking to Danny, he realizes that Cooper’s Bar is the place in Montgomery owned by Silas Baker who has been charged with sex crimes and that Marlee Singer, who refuses to talk to him, is his younger sister. There are too many coincidences. West has a bad feeling about this. In a voice over, West describes the Silas Baker case. Local eighteen year old Javi Cruz reported a dead body at an abandoned house. Police didn’t find a body but they did find a collection of pornographic photographs of local children. West interviews Javi, who is having a hard time with the Baker loyalists. He recounts his time with Sadie. He was instantly aware of her and wanted to be in her orbit. He tells West about Lili’s Café, how he could tell something was wrong, so she showed him. She took him to the house where he saw the pictures. He left that house screaming. Sadie told him to report it, and if necessary say there was a dead body. After 10 minutes of pacing in front of the payphone Sadie dropped him off at, he made the call. West tries Marlee Singer again, but gets her voicemail. He contacts May Beth and learns that Claire has disappeared again. He heads back to Cold Creek.
Sadie
At Fairfield, Colorado, Sadie parks outside a rundown two-story house. She’s waiting for Keith. Sadie closes her eyes for a while and when she opens them, there is a little girl, about ten, sitting on the stoop. Sadie gets out of her car and approaches the girl. She looks frail, surrounded by scribbles and a battered copy of the Babysitters Club. Sadie makes small talk about the book. The little girl wants to buy the whole secondhand set in the book store but doesn’t have the money. Sadie finds out her name is Nell. She says she is a friend of her mom’s boyfriend, “You know Christopher?” but she says this with fear. Sadie also finds out that he’s inside, asleep, and her mom is at work. As Sadie tries to go inside, Nell starts to panic. Sadie urges Nell to come with her, to leave this place because it’s not safe. As Nell starts to scream for her mom, Sadie digs into her pocket and pulls out a twenty, tells her to go and get some of the BSC books. Nell takes the money and runs off. Sadie faces the house and lets herself inside. As Sadie searches the house, she finds Nell’s room and is transfixed. As she is looking at her neat room, her drawings and tiny clothes, a voice behind her says “Always wondered if you’d show up on my doorstep one day.” Keith. As Sadie looks him over, she braces herself. When she blinks however, he has disappeared, but the back door is open. As she steps outside, everything in her head explodes in stars and pain and blackness.
The Girls, Episode 6
Claire still hasn’t returned to Cold Creek, May Beth thinks she’s in a bar somewhere, but West finds her in the orchard where Mattie’s body was found. They talk about Sadie and that Claire actually does love her daughter, despite all the evidence to the contrary. Claire has spent the last three years in Harding’s Grove, not far from Cold Creek. She never sent a postcard from LA. Sadie was a clever girl and had been forging Claire's signature on permission slips since she was seven. She would sign Claire’s name on Mattie’s birthday and Christmas gifts. It was Sadie who sent the postcard. In a voice over, West explains that this piece of information reveals so much, Sadie unknowingly caused the crack in her relationship with Mattie by throwing her a lifeline, and because of that postcard, Mattie ran away and was murdered. Back in the recording in the orchard, West mentions that Sadie was looking for Keith and the interview moves to May Beth’s trailer. May Beth defends Keith before Claire can say anything other than he was a mistake. May Beth is asked to leave. Claire tells of how Keith helped keep her sick, he never drank himself, but kept giving her money to do so. Claire kicked him out because he always seemed too interested in the girls, and she didn’t like the way he was looking at Mattie. Claire found him in Mattie’s room. She was wasted but can’t be sure if her memory is right. The next day, every time his name was mentioned, Mattie seemed fine so she thinks she got there in time. Claire breaks down when West asks if Keith ever abused Sadie because she doesn’t know. In a recording of May Beth, she struggles with this information. As West is talking to Claire and May Beth, Joe Perkins calls. He needs West to come talk to a kid who used to work for him, Ellis Jacobs.
The Girls, Episode 7
Ellis was kicked out of his home when he was seventeen and was effectively homeless until, at twenty-four, he met Darren. They met on an online game and struck up a friendship. Darren got Ellis the job at the Bluebird. He tells West about Sadie asking about Darren, and how her insistence about getting into Darren’s room made him check on it. He found her inside, Sadie asked if he was like Darren, Ellis tells West her exact words. He recounts their time in the office, him fixing her arm up and her talking about Darren’s time as Keith, how he hurt her little sister. Ellis also tells West about the fake IDs and the trophies, and how one of the names was Sadie. When she told him Keith did something to her little sister, he told her where to go next, though he urged her to call the police. He didn’t call the police either. West heads to Fairfield, Colorado, but he is struggling. In a recorded call with Danny Gilchrist, he admits this but Danny tells him he can do it. West approaches the rundown two-story in Fairfield. A woman opens the door. When he shows her a picture of Keith/Darren, the recording picks up her gasp. Then she tells West the man in the picture is dead.
The Girls, Episode 8
The episode begins with a voice over. It's a year after West was told Keith is dead. The lady who Keith was living with is Amanda, her surname is withheld, she no longer lives in Fairfield. In her interview, Amanda says she met the man she knew as Christopher in the bar she was working at. He was nice and attentive. Her daughter never told her anything was wrong, but as her mother, she should have known. Her daughter is in therapy twice a week now. The usual red flags like his unemployment seemed overridden by him being so nice. West asks how he died. Amanda got home a little early that night after a shift swap, she found her daughter home alone with an armful of new Babysitter Club books. Christopher came back around 9pm looking awful and dirty. He told her he got mugged and beaten up, but the police were not called. She told him they should at least go to the hospital, but he refused. They had dinner, he had a shower, he went to bed. At about midnight, she called 911 because he was unresponsive. Off interview, West fills in some of the gaps. Christopher had a stab wound that became infected and he died of sepsis a few days later. When Amanda went through his belongings, his money was in his wallet so the mugging story didn’t add up. In his truck was an ID with his picture but not his name. This ID belonged to Jack Hersh. Amanda managed to get in touch with his estranged parents about the funeral. Jack had a difficult childhood with devout parents and a drunk father. Jack was known as a creep, he publicly exposed himself at age twelve and at seventeen, out of the blue, became friends with Silas Baker. Marlee Singer has finally agreed to an interview and she says they probably recognized it in each other. She sent Sadie to her brother because she always felt powerless against Silas. Returning to Amanda’s interview, she said her daughter was relieved when Christopher died. When West turned up on the door with the photo, they called the police. Amanda’s daughter remembers Sadie, she thought she was trying to take her but really, it seems she was trying to save her. In a phone recording with Danny Gilchrist, West asks, where is Sadie?
It seems there was an altercation between Sadie and Jack. West wants to believe Sadie survived it. In a voice over, West says “If I’ve learned anything about Sadie Hunter, it was that she was almost a secondary player in her own life.” May Beth calls to let West know that DNA found at Mattie’s crime scene matches Jack. The investigation to find Sadie is ongoing. It’s Claire’s idea to call the show The Girls, for all the girls that Sadie must have saved. In his sign off, West pleads to Sadie, that if she is out there, let him know, because he “can’t take another dead girl.”
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