The Overnight Guest

Wylie breaks one of the windows by the backdoor and reaches inside, unlocking the door. She grabs a knife from a drawer in the entryway and searches the house. She finds the woman in front of the fire in the living room, still holding her hatchet. Wylie tries to approach, but the woman warns her off with her hatchet; the little boy then tries to hit her with a fire poker, but Wylie grabs the weapon out of his hands. Wylie then disarms the woman as the boy rushes to protect her.

Wylie deduces that the woman is the boy’s mother. The woman shushes the boy; Wylie takes control of the situation and collects blankets for the woman, grabbing her gun from the bedroom and hiding it in her pocket. Wylie tries to get information out of the woman, but she is evasive. When Wylie talks about calling the police, the woman rejects the idea.

Agent Camila Santos and her partner, Agent John Randolph, drive to the crime scene from Des Moines. When they arrive, a search party has already begun to walk the surrounding fields, trying to find Becky and Ethan. Santos possesses an aura of authority despite her small stature and quickly takes control of the crime scene. Levi takes them to the edge of the cornfield, where officers found a camo-colored shotgun earlier that day. Santos issues orders to the officers, and Levi stays behind to take pictures of the gun. He remembers seeing Brock Cutter the night before and wonders if the young man had lied about his reason for speeding.

Santos and Randolph enter the house to review the crime scene. When talking to one of the crime scene technicians, they learn that two types of shell casings have been found. Randolph spots a picture of Matthew and Ethan in which Ethan is holding the shotgun they found outside.

Wylie examines the woman and child from across the living room. As the woman sleeps, Wylie talks to the boy, promising that she has no intentions of hurting either of them, but she needs information. The mother wakes during their conversation. She sends the boy to go get blankets, then warns Wylie that they are fleeing a very dangerous man who will do anything to capture them again. The woman vows to do anything to keep the child safe.

Margo sits with her estranged husband, Kevin, and their children in their kitchen. She reflects on the events of the day and wishes for Becky to appear so she can be angry instead of frightened. Santos arrives and sends the children to the other room before describing the crime. Santos tells them they are bringing in search dogs; Kevin keeps saying that dogs are used to find dead bodies until Margo has a panic attack, slapping her hands against the table until she breaks a finger. Santos gently stops her outburst.

Levi alerts other police departments to search for Ethan’s missing truck before driving to a gas station, where Brock’s truck is parked. He waits for Brock to exit the store and questions him about Ethan, but Brock lies and claims they are not friends. Levi lets him leave.

In Nebraska, a state trooper sees a truck matching the make and model of Ethan’s driving down the highway. The truck drives in a way that suggests the driver is trying to evade notice. The trooper pursues the truck, but it takes an exit at high speed and escapes.

Santos searches Becky’s room for clues as to her whereabouts. She finds a journal in which Becky has drawn “BJA+ED” and deduces that Becky had romantic feelings for Ethan. She shows the notebook to Margo and Kevin and asks them about Becky’s romantic interest, but Margo insists that they did not have a romantic relationship because Becky is 13 years old and Ethan is 16 years old. Margo and Kevin interpret Santos’s line of questioning as implicating Ethan in the crime, but before Santos can fully respond, she is pulled away and informed of the runaway truck.

The little girl looks outside, where the trees have changed with autumn. She tries to read books as her mother tells her they are almost out of food. The girl’s father has not brought them food for several days. Their supplies dwindle until they completely run out of food, and the girl’s anxiety increases as she wonders what will happen if her father does not come. The girl’s mother tries to open the door leading out of the basement, but it is locked. She then gets a pen and takes it apart, using the ink tube and tip to trigger the locking mechanism.

For the first time, the girl enters the ground floor of their house. Her mother walks through the house and steps onto the front porch, staring out at the surrounding landscape. When the girl starts to walk onto the front lawn, her mother pulls her back into the house. The mother picks out a few food items and calls a number on the landline but does not speak to whomever she calls. She then takes the girl back into the basement, locking the door and swearing her to secrecy.

Wylie, now sympathetic toward the woman and boy, encourages the woman to go to the police for protection. The woman tries to leave with her child, but Wylie stops them, highlighting the dangers that await in the storm. When she calls the child a boy, however, the child speaks for the first time and reveals herself to be a girl. The woman emphasizes that their captor will kill them or entrap them and shows Wylie cuts on her wrists from being bound. Wylie decides to let the conversation rest in hopes of building trust with them.

Sheriff Butler stops outside the Henley farm. He remembers June as being a kind, sociable woman; her son, Jackson, returned home after serving in the Gulf War and has had several run-ins with the law related to his drinking. Butler watches Jackson help June out of their white pickup and into the house before approaching. He speaks to Jackson on the porch, asking for his help in re-creating the timeline of the day before; Jackson, clearly nervous, rejects his requests. Jackson walks away, and Butler knocks on the door until June appears and lets him inside the house.

In Nebraska, the hunt continues for the silver truck. Officers search McCool Junction and find a silver truck with no plates. Officers hold the driver, a teenager, and his young female companion at gunpoint. When one of the officers asks if she is Becky, she identifies herself as a local girl named Christina.

In the Henley home, Butler asks June about the girls stopping by her house; June provides a brief overview of their interaction. When he asks about Jackson’s nervousness, she reminds Butler that Jackson was arrested six months ago, giving him plenty of reason to be nervous around police. Butler’s line of questioning makes June defensive, and she withholds permission for him to search the property. Butler resolves to return with a search warrant.

Three days later, the father arrives in the basement with a fast-food chicken meal. When the mother confronts him, he savagely beats her until she collapses. He feeds the little girl and himself, forcing his daughter to ignore the mother. He drops the bones onto the floor while the girl carefully hides scraps of her food on her lap. The father throws away the leftovers and forces both the mother and girl to thank him before leaving. The girl tends to her mother and salvages the food containers for any remnants, feeding what is left over to her mother.

Santos meets with the other officers at the investigation’s makeshift command post. The officers share information about the Nebraska truck, which turned out to be an unrelated teenaged joyride, then describe other avenues of research. They discuss Ethan and speculate whether he and Becky ran away together. Randolph suggests that Ethan killed his parents and either killed Becky or kidnapped her. Levi tells his peers about his interaction with Brock and proves that Brock’s alibi is false. Santos identifies Ethan as their prime suspect but encourages everyone to keep their eyes open.

Josie is informed that she will move in with her grandparents before she is questioned by Santos, Butler, and Randolph. They ask her about Ethan, his friend groups, and his regular haunts. Josie affirms that Ethan and Brock are friends even though their parents dislike the relationship. Caroline explains that there is a long-standing feud between the Cutters and the Doyles because William purchased a piece of farmland that Randy claimed to own. The legal dispute ended in William’s favor, and ever since, William has blamed Randy for small, malicious acts on his property, though no evidence has arisen for or against Randy’s culpability. Santos asks Josie if Ethan is capable of hurting his family; although Josie vehemently opposes the idea, she also reveals that Ethan fired one shot as their truck drove away the night before. As the officers leave, Butler defends Ethan. Butler then gets a message that someone has been calling the Allen residence, claiming to be the person who kidnapped Becky.

Caroline drives Josie to her new home, though Josie is sick during the drive. At the house, Caroline takes Josie to her new room, and the two mourn together. Josie notices a police cruiser outside, and Caroline claims it is for Josie’s safety; Josie realizes that she is now a target because she is the only available witness to her parents’ murders. As she lays down for the night, Josie grapples with the part of her that believes Ethan is responsible for the murders. She turns on a light and falls into an uneasy sleep.