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Chapter 7-11 summariesChapter 7
July 26, 1986. Laura Juneau is at an economic conference in Oslo, trying to register as Alex Maplecroft and having some difficulty. Two young men, Nick Harp and Andrew Queller, approach and help, though Laura recalls a plan they all stay “separate from each other.” Laura, as Alex, is presenting on a panel with Andrew’s father, Martin Queller. Laura goes to the hotel bar and meets Jane Queller, Martin’s daughter. They talk. Laura retrieves a paper bag hidden in a restroom and goes to her session where she and Martin Queller debate. He’s head of a corporation that runs group homes for mentally ill clients for whom there are no longer state hospitals. He’s profiting because funding for hospitals dried up because of his theories' influence on government economic policy. On stage Laura confronts Queller with her husband’s story: mentally ill after a brain injury, shuffled in and out of group homes, unable to receive adequate care. He murdered his three children and took his own life. With that, Laura reaches for the gun in the paper bag and shoots Martin Queller, then herself.
Chapter 8
August, 2018. Andy is driving west and worrying about all the ways she could be tracked. Exhausted and hungry, she exits the highway. In her motel, she watches TV news and sees nothing about the guy she killed. In trying to better hide all of the cash, she finds yet more cash hidden in the car. Where did her mother get all this money? Andy goes to a bar and recognizes the man who accosted her outside the Savannah hospital. What’s he doing in a small town in Alabama at the same time as Andy? Mike explains to Andy a way in which the video shows evidence that Laura did not deliberately kill the shooter. Mike has a rabbit’s foot keychain. Later that night, Andy remembers that a truck parked beside the dead guy’s truck had a rabbit’s foot keychain in it. It was Mike’s truck, parked in the middle of the night in her Savannah neighborhood. Andy accesses her hometown news and learns the body of the man she killed has been found in the river. No foul play suspected.
Chapter 9
1986. The Queller children and Nick are home in San Francisco following Martin’s murder. Jane and Nick are lovers and she’s pregnant, though she hasn’t told anyone yet, including Nick. The eldest Queller child, Jasper is also there. They are being repeatedly questioned by federal and international law enforcement about their father’s murder and their activities. We learn that Andrew, Jane, and Nick are a cell within a revolutionary/terrorist group. Nick is their cell’s leader. The group organized Martin Queller’s murder. Jane is filled with doubt and worry about their actions and her relationship with Nick throughout this chapter and we see Nick manipulating her with his charm. Though Jane is aware of the manipulation, she's unable to resist it. An FBI agent talks to Jane about Nick’s charisma and how cult leaders use charm to bind their followers to them.
Chapter 10
1986 Jane ruminates about Andrew: addicted and in rehab multiple times, multiple suicide attempts. Nick is also an addict, kicked out of his family and has spent time homeless. Andrew is ill to the point of being significantly weakened but won't go to a doctor. Jane and Andrew go Nick’s apartment and Andrew shows Jane Nick’s collection of files showing the Queller corporation continuing to bill the government for clients’ care after discharge or death. Jasper’s signature is on these transactions. Among the hidden files there are pictures of Jane after Martin severely beat her. Jane and Andrew head for a cell meeting at a safe house. We meet Paula Evans, a devoted acolyte of Nick and more than a bit unhinged. Jane climbs hidden stairs to reach an upper room where the group is holding the real Alex Maplecroft hostage.
Chapter 11
2018 Weary of worrying about all the cash she’s carrying, Andy hides it in two storage facilities. She reaches Austin where she’s found that Paula Kunde, a woman mentioned by the man she killed, is living. She’s met with Paula's armed hostility. Andy has her usual problem speaking when she’s stressed. She sees Paula has been strangled in the same way as Laura and that opens some interchange. Paula invites Andy inside, still with hostility, suspicion, and derision. Andy learns Paula was in federal prison for 20 years. Paula doesn’t give Andy much information, but tells her the news says Laura has been cleared of murdering the shooter. Suspicious that Andy is there to somehow trap her, Paula threatens her with a shotgun. When Andy runs out, Mike is on the porch. Andy disables him and gets to her car, searches it, and finds a tracking device. She leaves the car, takes Mike's truck, and heads for Illinois where Paula has told her Clara Bellamy, a woman she should talk to, is living.
Cheesh, I was trying to edit the summaries and make them shorter than the previous thread, but I think they're even longer! I'm the original too-much-information woman.I was severely confused by Chapter 7. First, there are now two Lauras in the story. Are they the same woman? I was trying to get the time-line while continuing to read about a whole new cast of characters and was totally going in circles. At the end of the chapter, when Laura Juneau is dead, I figured out she wasn't Laura Oliver, haha, but who is she? After all, she said to Jane exactly the words that Laura Oliver said to Andy just before the diner shooting.*
I had to go back to Chapter 1 and figure out everyone's ages and probable birth years (complicated by Andy's changing birth date) to feel like I had it straight. Only, when I had it straight, I still didn't know what was going on.
So there was that, but I was also just a little let down by this chapter. I was all involved with Andy driving across America escaping ruthless murderers when all of a sudden I'm in Oslo. Serious loss of momentum until the murder at the very end.
Same with Chapters 9 & 10 about the Queller children and their terror cell. Too much rumination to fill in their back story. My look back had established Andy's birth year as 1986 or 1987, so Jane's pregnancy leads me to believe that she may be the incipient Laura Oliver, adopting Laura Juneau's name as a tribute.
Slaughter's making it a little easier in the later chapters. We go straight from a loony Paula in 1986 San Francisco to an equally loony Paula in 2018 Texas. Present day Paula has been in federal prison, another clue, and also an explanation for her extreme antipathy for Jane/Laura Oliver. I did think it was strange she asked if Andy's timidity came from her father--she knew Nick, knew he was anything but timid, and idolized him. Was she just goading Andy?
On that subject, I think it's interesting, assuming that Jane IS Laura Oliver, that Jane is portrayed as reticent, stammering, unassertive, just as Andy is, although Laura Oliver is the antithesis of that. Maybe Laura has developed some skills in years of hiding. I like Andy and I'm proud she's beginning to develop some gumption.
Who is Mike? Good guy or bad guy? I favor good guy, but it's creepy that he keeps showing up. Still creepy even after Andy has found the tracking device because he needs to declare himself. Guess Andy didn't give him much of a chance this round.
Anyone else remembering that Jonah Helsinger's sheriff dad was killed in a bank robbery? Could all of Laura's hidden cash have come from bank robberies? Recent bank robberies by a middle-aged bank robber? Is it possible that this snake of a plot will curl back and start swallowing itself? (I don't think I really believe this, but the connection of massive cash + bank robbery just clicked for me.)
*Laura Oliver/Laura Juneau's words to struggling young women: "You are magnificent because you are so uniquely you. You are talented, and you are beautiful, and you'll find your way and it will be the right way, no matter what, because it's the path that you set out for yourself."
I'm glad I typed this because at a certain point Andy realized that she didn't have to go to Idaho just because Laura had told her to. She literally set out on her own unique path and started making--stutteringly--some decisions on her own.
By the way, if it turns out that Mike is a good guy, I'm plumping for him to be Jasper Queller, atoning for his corporate misdeeds and continuing to look after Jane as he always did.If Laura Oliver is, in fact, Jane. Gads, it's all so up in the air. I feel like we're being led fairly strenuously to the conclusion that Laura is Jane and that makes me suspicious. I have another inkling about this and will post it later after I've done some more looking back.
Jan O'DescriptiveCat: Editing down is hard; and your summaries are beautiful. We will be able to discuss the segment easily as others chime in. Thanks! As for this segment; I was looking forward to layers peeling back and instead we seem to get a similar but different Laura - and how could this Laura be Andy's mother, Laura if she kills herself?
I was listening while driving so unable to go back and check timelines to try to figure out who Andy's parents are - there were a lot of "but wait, ..." moments in this set of chapters.
OMalleycat wrote: "Cheesh, I was trying to edit the summaries and make them shorter than the previous thread, but I think they're even longer! I'm the original too-much-information woman.
I was severely confused by Chapter 7. First, there are now two Lauras in the story. Are they the same woman? I was trying to get the time-line while continuing to read about a whole new cast of characters and was totally going in circles..."
Jan: I also noted the coincidence about both Jane's and Andy's inability to speak or assert themselves as first nature, then developing steely reserves when required. This led me to think that a pregnant Jane was likely to be Laura Oliver and probably named herself Laura now in tribute. But how did she get away and who is after her? Jane has thought to herself about the training in combat, etc. that she and the others had to endure at Nick's direction which could explain Laura's reserves of strength.Where did our modern Laura get the all of the money squirreled away in the storage room and how did she get hoodie's dead body out of the house after Andy killed him with the cast iron skillet?
I am speculating that the body disposal was accomplished by Mike. Could he be Jasper? Maybe. I'm not sure who else who could be but didn't get that impression of Jasper from the corporate evidence against Martin that included Jasper being in on the money crimes. (not sure that was true though)
Brother Andrew doesn't seem to have long to live in 1986 or the type of personality to be sober thirty years later - is is a coincidence that Laura Oliver named her daughter Andrea?
Could the money Laura has stored away be the kidnapping ransom for the real Dr Alex? Is Mike a good guy? perhaps. Funny that neither of us think he could possibly be Nick.
OMalleycat wrote: "I think it's interesting, assuming that Jane IS Laura Oliver, that Jane is portrayed as reticent, stammering, unassertive, just as Andy is, although Laura Oliver is the antithesis of that. Maybe Laura has developed some skills in years of hiding. I like Andy and I'm proud she's beginning to develop some gumption.
Who is Mike? Good guy or bad guy? I favor good guy, but it's creepy that he keeps showing up. Still creepy even after Andy has found the tracking device because he needs to declare himself. Guess Andy didn't give him much of a chance this round. .."
Jan: I am ready to get back to Andy and her growth as a person in the next segment. It was strictly coincidental that the chapter breaks I set up placed this action segmented from the first chapters and it worked well as a break point but was quite an abrupt change of pace that did take me out of the story. The POV of the original Laura was heartbreaking while the San Francisco storyline of the Patty Hearst-like / Charles Manson-like situation Jane and Andrew are caught up in was interesting but so far not clearly defined.
OMalleycat wrote: "I'm glad I typed this because at a certain point Andy realized that she didn't have to go to Idaho just because Laura had told her to. She literally set out on her own unique path and started making--stutteringly--some decisions on her own. ."
Jan O'CouldItBeSoCat: hmmm, I wonder if your inkling is the same as mine (which I only thought of after seeing you had another inkling) LOL. And is Nick Andy's father? I was confused enough in the early chapters of this segment to wonder if Nick was Jane's brother too and wouldn't that have been a kettle of fish. I realized he wasn't fairly soon... was there another brother?
OMalleycat wrote: "If Laura Oliver is, in fact, Jane. Gads, it's all so up in the air. I feel like we're being led fairly strenuously to the conclusion that Laura is Jane and that makes me suspicious. I have another inkling about this and will post it later after I've done some more looking back. ."
One more thought, stopping now I promise. I am also enjoying Andy's cross country trip. Her progress in miles and in breaking out of the depression that she was in even before Jonah shot up the diner; gleaning tidbits of her Mother's life, the pieces of her, is quite fascinating.OMalleycat wrote: "So there was that, but I was also just a little let down by this chapter. I was all involved with Andy driving across America escaping ruthless murderers when all of a sudden I'm in Oslo. Serious loss of momentum until the murder at the very end."
OMalleycat wrote: "Cheesh, I was trying to edit the summaries and make them shorter than the previous thread, but I think they're even longer! I'm the original too-much-information woman.I was severely confused by ..."
Wow, this section was long and has made the story more complicated. But in a good way. I have so many questions now. And reading your and Ann’s comments have brought even more to light!
I agree who could Laura Oliver be but Jane. But I’m still not 100 percent convinced! LOL We know the FBI may have figured out what they did to help kill Martin Queller. So maybe Jane had to go on the run before she was arrested? And Paula wasn’t so lucky and was sent to prison? Hence why she is mad at Laura and Andy? But why ask if she got her timidity from her father? I agree with you both that Paula should know Andy’s father is Nick. So that makes me question if Laura Oliver is Jane.
I found the background story about Nick being a cult like leader and bringing the siblings and others together to help kill Martin intriguing. And they obviously kidnapped the real Alexandra. And probably collected the ransom money. We were given a story that Martin was abusive to Jane. That explains one reason why they all did this. But I don’t think this is the whole story.
I do think Mike is a good guy. I thought he might be an FBI agent, not Jasper or Andrew or Nick. There was a sexual spark between them and only 8 years or so age difference between them, I believe. It was nice to see Andy finally get some guts and take charge of her situation with Mike. I so want to know more about what Andy will find out in Illinois. Who is Clara Bellamy? And I don’t think we know all the important information about what happened in 1986 yet.
Ann wrote: "The POV of the original Laura was heartbreaking"It sure was. I was pretty sure until the very end of Juneau's chapter that she was Laura Oliver. This made me very confused as the ages didn't make sense, but how often does an author have two different characters with the same name in the same book? I kept thinking that if Laura Oliver was a spy or some kind of highly trained secret war heroine she might have had plastic surgery and appear younger. This is how far the brain will go to try to reconcile two facts--the ages of both Lauras--that cannot both be true.
And Laura Juneau's story is heartbreaking. I anticipated she'd kill herself after killing Martin because it would be so hard to go on living when your three children have been killed in front of you and your husband committed suicide. Plus she makes reference to constant pain and she also survived cancer discovered from treatment for her bullet wounds. Plus her righteous and irresolvable anger at Quelcorp would be as painful as her wounds. Horrible.
Ann wrote: "hmmm, I wonder if your inkling is the same as mine (which I only thought of after seeing you had another inkling) LOL. "I'm sorry! I forgot to come back and talk about my inkling. Frankly I had to give it up pretty quickly. Instead of immediately reading back I read on for a few pages and it took only those few pages to prove my inkling completely wrong.
I had noticed when the group was in the safe house that no one referred to Jane by her code name. Paula was Penny, Nick was Nickel, Andrew was Dime, and Quarter was Quarter. When they're putting their coins on the table as an "I'm in" gesture, Jane doesn't participate. I wondered if Jane was Half Dollar or Dollar and even went to far as to google half dollars to see if they were still in everyday circulation in 1986. Because Jane didn't seem as committed a member as the others and I thought a dollar would be too much.
So when Paula hands Andy a dollar bill and tells her to find Clara Bellamy I had a brainstorm that Clara was Dollar and therefore Jane and the bill would give Andy a coded entry to speak to Clara/Jane.
Only the group arrives at the farm and Clara is there at the same time as Jane. If there were a cartoon "wah-wah" emoji, I'd insert it here.
Back to edit that I just realized that this is a spoiler for the next section but a small, incorrect spoiler that is only a few pages into Chapter 12. Forgive me.
Ann wrote: "And is Nick Andy's father? I was confused enough in the early chapters of this segment to wonder if Nick was Jane's brother too and wouldn't that have been a kettle of fish. I realized he wasn't fairly soon... was there another brother? ."I was confused about this too, Ann. Chapter 7 starts out with Laura Juneau talking about the Quellar children. She refers to "the girl" which made me think there were at least two sons. Then Nick and Andrew show up at the registration--different last names, but Nick seems to be the one who has the influence to get Laura Juneau into the conference. Then Jane talks to Laura about Jasper. When Chapter 9 opens in the family home, it took me a while to get the relationships straight and I too thought there might be an incestuous element.
I almost think Slaughter promoted this confusion a little, perhaps to suggest the unnaturally close and unhealthy relationships among Jane, Nick, and Andrew. I have a brother and wouldn't have dreamed in my twenties of undressing when he was in my room (even if his back were turned) nor would any of my boyfriends have appeared stark naked in front of him. That whole scene was kind of icky and I think the ickiness was intentional.
Geri wrote: "I agree who could Laura Oliver be but Jane. But I’m still not 100 percent convinced!."Geri, when an author is laying clues on as thick as Slaughter is to suggest that Jane is Laura, I tend to doubt it, if only because the trend in M/T's these days is to have shocking reversals and revelations. So I'm with you. I had my doubts despite evidence.
Geri also wrote: "We were given a story that Martin was abusive to Jane. That explains one reason why they all did this. But I don’t think this is the whole story."
My take on this is that Andrew and, even mores, Jane were angry with their father because he was abusive. Andrew could also be angry because he's been in Quelcorp facilities and the conditions and care weren't good. But I don't read Andew an especially Jane as true revolutionaries. They wanted to humiliate and even kill their father for familial reasons which Nick exploited for his bigger plans. And once they've been accessories to murder and kidnapping, there's no way out.
Jan and Geri: I got the impression that the siblings wanted to humiliate their father with the red dye that was supposed to be in the packet that Laura J. retrieved from the restroom (very Godfatheresque) But the gun changed everything. We know Nick was orchestrating this spectacle, so he knew it wasn't just a dye pack. Laura knew or she seemed to expect it. Andrew, I wasn't sure of his motivations at this point. Jane seemed sheep-like in her devotion to Nick and chafing at the tyranny of her father, but not murderous. There was no going back. Geri wrote: "We were given a story that Martin was abusive to Jane. That explains one reason why they all did this. But I don’t think this is the whole story.."
OMalleycat wrote: "But I don't read Andew an especially Jane as true revolutionaries. They wanted to humiliate and even kill their father for familial reasons which Nick exploited for his bigger plans. And once they've been accessories to murder and kidnapping, there's no way out.
."
OMalleycat wrote: "I almost think Slaughter promoted this confusion a little, perhaps to suggest the unnaturally close and unhealthy relationships among Jane, Nick, and Andrew. I have a brother and wouldn't have dreamed in my twenties of undressing when he was in my room (even if his back were turned) nor would any of my boyfriends have appeared stark naked in front of him. That whole scene was kind of icky and I think the ickiness was intentional. "
Part of this behavior was explained in the last section, so I won’t comment on that. But I do think Nick was showing his dominance over Jane and Andrew and how he could do anything he wanted without repercussions. I definitely see how Nick pulled them in. They were vulnerable because of the mistreatment by their father. I don’t know that I fully understand what Nick’s agenda really was. Did he really believe in this cause or was it a way to feel powerful by becoming this cult like leader? Or possibly both? Might be best to discuss this in the last section.
Thank goodness Andy finally started showing some gumption at the end of this section.I must admit, this has been pretty hard sledding for me. The parts set in the past were especially grating because of how pathetic Jane came off.
I hated Paula in the eighties but actually kind of liked her interactions with Andy. That last bit has given me a bit of hope that I can make it thru until the end.
Sandi: Jane is pathetic in the past with only glimmers of gumption. I would love to know if Karin planned the character traits of Mother and daughter this way as clues or comparisons. Sandi wrote: "Thank goodness Andy finally started showing some gumption at the end of this section.
I must admit, this has been pretty hard sledding for me. The parts set in the past were especially grating because of how pathetic Jane came off.."
OMalleycat wrote: "Chapter 7-11 summariesChapter 7
July 26, 1986. Laura Juneau is at an economic conference in Oslo, trying to register as Alex Maplecroft and having some difficulty. Two young men, Nick Harp and And..."
As usual, fabulous summaries Jan. You remind me of when I was summarizing the Greg Isles Mississippi trilogy.. I thought my summaries were way too long, but they had to be because there was so much detail.
I agree that this was a very confusing segment. It took me awhile to get the connection between the two time periods but eventually I got it. One thing continues to bother me. As far as we know Laurie reached into the bag when she was onstage expecting to find... something, I forget what, but not a gun. We were in her mind at the time I think and she expressed surprise. So... how did it come as a natural next step that she shoot Martin and then herself? I found that hard to swallow. Maybe it's me but shooting someone I think would take a LITTLE bit of thinking/convincing/ preparation, and as far as we know there was no discussion at all about a gun or shooting anyone. And then she turns the gun on herself? I would think that would take even more preparation/self-convincing. And it happened quickly; boom, boom. So it's not like she acted impulsively because she was so worked up (which I could maybe buy), realize the horror of what she'd done, and kill herself out of desperation. It happened so quickly that one would have thought it was planned. Just didn't buy it.
That didn't stop me from being riveted by the continuing story, however!
OMalleycat wrote: "By the way, if it turns out that Mike is a good guy, I'm plumping for him to be Jasper Queller, atoning for his corporate misdeeds and continuing to look after Jane as he always did.If Laura Oli..."
At this point I was thoroughly confused as to Mike's situation. He was set up as a potential bad guy, then when he and Andy flirted in the bar and kissed outside it (and after several comments from Andy about how handsome he was) I was all ready for him to be the good guy/romantic interest (even as I was creeped out by his seemingly following her for no reason I could discern. Then when he turned up at Paula's I was back to being 100% creeped out.
Ann wrote: "As for this segment; I was looking forward to layers peeling back and instead we seem to get a similar but different Laura - and how could this Laura be Andy's mother, Laura if she kills herself? ..."Yes, I kept going back and forth with this as well. Very sneaky of Slaughter to have two characters named Laura in two different timelines... messed with our minds!
Funny that both of you think Mike might be Jasper, and one of you that he might be Nick. I always thought of Mike as more of Andy's contemporary than Laura's.Ann wrote: "I am speculating that the body disposal was accomplished by Mike. Could he be Jasper? Maybe. I'm not sure who else who could be but didn't get that impression of Jasper from the corporate evidence against Martin that included Jasper being in on the money crimes. (not sure that was true though)
Brother Andrew doesn't seem to have long to live in 1986 or the type of personality to be sober thirty years later - is is a coincidence that Laura Oliver named her daughter Andrea?
Could the money Laura has stored away be the kidnapping ransom for the real Dr Alex? Is Mike a good guy? perhaps. Funny that neither of us think he could possibly be Nick...."
Carol: Yes, funny. Early inklings often are which makes half the fun of posting them on a segment. There was a lot of "who is this person now" in the book. The two Laura's were almost too easy - eventually - after the Laura in 1986 commits suicide in front of an audience to give closure to thinking she is Andy's very much alive mother. The rest had usgoing for most of the book. Carol/Bonadie wrote: "Funny that both of you think Mike might be Jasper, and one of you that he might be Nick. I always thought of Mike as more of Andy's contemporary than Laura's..."
Carol: I believe the original plan was to toss paint on Martin while on stage. It appeared to me that Laura was so despondent over the loss of her family that the discovery of a hidden gun rather than hidden paint in the restroom seems to have galvanised her resolve quickly to escalate the attack. Jane was in the dark of the change of plan, I'm not sure about Andrew or the others. Nick was exerting his power over the group to disastrous results. Carol/Bonadie wrote: "One thing continues to bother me. As far as we know Laurie reached into the bag when she was onstage expecting to find... something, I forget what, but not a gun. We were in her mind at the time I think and she expressed surprise. So... how did it come as a natural next step that she shoot Martin and then herself? I found that hard to swallow. Maybe it's me but shooting someone I think would take a LITTLE bit of thinking/convincing/ preparation, and as far as we know there was no discussion at all about a gun or shooting anyone. And then she turns the gun on herself? I would think that would take even more preparation/self-convincing
..."
Ann wrote: "Carol: I believe the original plan was to toss paint on Martin while on stage. It appeared to me that Laura was so despondent over the loss of her family that the discovery of a hidden gun rather t..."Yup, I get it. It was just a hard leap for me to make that Laura would bounce from paint-throwing to shooting, no matter how despondent. But as they say reasonable people can disagree, that's what make these discussions so interesting!
Carol: I agree with you, the shooting with such a last minute time frame was shocking. It seemed fast.While I did chalk it up to Laura Juneau's despondency, it could also have been the short time frame with not enough reflection time for her to reconsider. This was another indication of Nick's malicious manipulation. At that point it appeared that Nick was way ahead of the others.
To the point of gun availability; without a gun, cooler heads would likely prevail, with a gun at hand, those odds go down.
Ann wrote: "Carol: I agree with you, the shooting with such a last minute time frame was shocking. It seemed fast.While I did chalk it up to Laura Juneau's despondency, it could also have been the short time ..."
Just finished the book and will have more to say about this in the final posting thread.
OMalleycat wrote: "Cheesh, I was trying to edit the summaries and make them shorter than the previous thread, but I think they're even longer! I'm the original too-much-information woman.I was severely confused by ..."
I was also confused until I figured it out
Carol/Bonadie wrote: "As far as we know Laurie reached into the bag when she was onstage expecting to find... something, I forget what, but not a gun.."I think when Laura retrieved the package in the restroom she realized it was a gun. It would seem likely she'd realize something was up because of the weight and feel of the thing.
I also may be confabulating (my Kindle is all the way in the bedroom, so I can't check) but I remember having the impression that before retrieving the package she had an idea it would be a gun. Maybe Nick hinted to her?
Until you brought this up I hadn't really thought about her being prepared to kill herself. I can readily believe that someone who has endured such a tragedy and is also in constant physical pain might choose suicide, but it would seem to take more forethought than the short time between realizing she was carrying a gun and shooting Martin..
Ann wrote: "This (gun substituted for dye packs) was another indication of Nick's malicious manipulation. At that point it appeared that Nick was way ahead of the others. To the point of gun availability; without a gun, cooler heads would likely prevail, with a gun at hand, those odds go down."
I completely agree with you on both points, Ann, and this may be why I had the impression that Nick may have indicated to Laura Juneau in advance to expect a gun instead of dye. He was in complete control of all aspects of this plan.
If the first to post, please briefly summarize to guide the discussion.