Gone-Girl-by-Gillian-Flynn

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‘Hear the police are botching this royally,’ he said, tucking his hands into his armpits. ‘It’s a little early to say that.’ ‘Come on, man, these little pansy-ass searches? I seen more effort put into finding the mayor’s dog.’ Stuck’s face was sunburned; I could feel the heat coming off him as he leaned in closer, giving me a blast of Listerine and chaw. ‘Why ain’t they rounded up some people? Plenty of people in town to choose from, they ain’t brought a single one in? Not a single one? What about the Blue Book Boys? That’s what I asked the lady detective: What about the Blue Book Boys? She wouldn’t even answer me.’ ‘What are the Blue Book Boys? A gang?’ ‘All those guys got laid off from the Blue Book plant last winter. No severance, nothing. You see some of the homeless guys wandering around town in packs, looking real, real pissed? Probably Blue Book Boys.’ ‘I’m still not following you: Blue Book plant?’ ‘You know: River Valley Printworks. On edge of town? They made those blue books you used for essays and shit in college.’ ‘Oh. I didn’t know.’ ‘Now colleges use computers, whatnot, so – phwet! – bye-bye, Blue Book Boys.’ ‘God, this whole town is shutting down,’ I muttered. ‘The Blue Book Boys, they drink, drug, harass people. I mean, they did that before, but they always had to stop, go back to work on Monday. Now they just run wild.’ Stucks grinned his row of chipped teeth at me. He had paint flecks in his hair; his summer job since high school, housepainting. I specialize in trim work, he’d say, and wait for you to get the joke. If you didn’t laugh, he’d explain it. ‘So, the cops been out to the mall?’ Stucks asked. I started a confused shrug. ‘Shit, man, didn’t you used to be a reporter?’ Stucks always seemed angry at my former occupation, like it was a lie that had stood too long. ‘The Blue Book Boys, they all made themselves a nice little town over in the mall. Squatting. Drug deals. The police run them out every once in a while, but they’re always back next day. Anyway, that’s what I told the lady detective:
Search the fucking mall. Because some of them, they gang-raped a girl there a month ago. I mean, you get a bunch of angry men together, and things aren’t too good for a woman that comes across them.’ On my drive to the afternoon search area, I phoned Boney, started in as soon as she said hello. ‘Why isn’t the mall being searched?’ ‘The mall will be searched, Nick. We have cops heading over there right now.’ ‘Oh. Okay. Because a buddy of mine—’ ‘Stucks, I know, I know him.’ ‘He was talking about all the—’ ‘The Blue Book Boys, I know. Trust us, Nick, we got this. We want to find Amy as much as you do.’ ‘Okay, uh, thanks.’ My righteousness deflated, I gulped down my giant Styrofoam cup of coffee and drove to my assigned area. Three spots were being searched this afternoon: the Gully boat launch (now known as the Place Nick Spent the Morning of, Unseen by Anyone); the Miller Creek woods (which hardly deserved the name; you could see fast-food restaurants through the treeline); and Wolky Park, a nature spot with hiking and horse trails. I was assigned to Wolky Park. When I arrived, a local officer was addressing a crowd of about twelve people, all thick legs in tight shorts, sunglasses, and hats, zinc oxide on noses. It looked like opening day of camp. Two different TV crews were out to capture images for local stations. It was the July 4th weekend; Amy would be squeezed in between state fair stories and barbecue cookoffs. One cub reporter kept mosquitoing around me, peppering me with pointless questions, my body going immediately stiff, inhuman, with the attention, my ‘concerned’ face looking fake. A waft of horse manure hung in the air. The reporters soon left to follow the volunteers into the trails. (What kind of journalist finds a suspicious husband ripe for the picking and leaves? A bad low-pay journalist left behind after all the decent ones have been laid off.) A young uniform cop told me to stand – right here – at the entry to the various trails, near a bulletin board that held a mess of ancient flyers, as well as a
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To Brett: light of my life, senior
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CONTENTS Cover Dedication Title Pag
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Amy Elliott Dunne: Twenty-Six Days
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PART ONE BOY LOSES GIRL
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little Missouri hometown, in her fi
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some buttons for bartering, trying
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Yes, we thought we were being cleve
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Answer: C, totally C Anyway, the pa
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the one who will end up with a pie
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Without asking, she poured me a dra
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‘Treasure hunt,’ I said. My wif
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‘Paper is first year,’ I said.
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‘Don’t worry,’ I said. ‘It
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‘Amy!’ She wasn’t on the wate
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let me grow up, unencumbered by my
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Andys? No, just kidding, don’t wr
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NICK DUNNE THE DAY OF I waited for
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I was telling Riordan about the str
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need me to translate my English, Co
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‘What anniversary today?’ she a
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Delaware, a state of many rich iden
Page 44 and 45: NICK DUNNE THE NIGHT OF Boney and G
Page 46 and 47: was so completely true and I’d ne
Page 48 and 49: some good friends here? We’d like
Page 50 and 51: eing monitored, her photo circulate
Page 52 and 53: glasses, fussy with the table lamp.
Page 54 and 55: The police finished with their ques
Page 56 and 57: AMY ELLIOTT DUNNE APRIL 21, 2009 -
Page 58 and 59: of his own taxi, and he stands in t
Page 60 and 61: ‘Man, my wife, she’s been hyste
Page 62 and 63: technicality he never saw himself a
Page 64 and 65: It was silly but incredibly sweet,
Page 66 and 67: longtime response, the need to remi
Page 68 and 69: crook of the V of the Robert Indian
Page 70 and 71: your money.’ ‘Not according to
Page 72 and 73: I stay where I am for a few minutes
Page 74 and 75: hit, washed away the Riverway store
Page 76 and 77: I’m an adjunct professor there. H
Page 78 and 79: the clue say?’ I let him read ove
Page 80 and 81: have, more than once.) The quizzes
Page 82 and 83: touch me again. ‘Oh, okay. Good,
Page 84 and 85: Desi left school shortly after. But
Page 86 and 87: great! c) Until a new job comes alo
Page 88 and 89: grooves beneath his eyes. My mother
Page 90 and 91: NICK DUNNE TWO DAYS GONE I woke up
Page 92 and 93: ‘Oh, come on—’ ‘You’d be
Page 96 and 97: missing person notice for Amy, my w
Page 98 and 99: mantra of all attractive women. ‘
Page 100 and 101: four, and it’s spread to the live
Page 102 and 103: shuffling, like my bones hurt, a fe
Page 104 and 105: NICK DUNNE THREE DAYS GONE The poli
Page 106 and 107: around, as if he worried they’d o
Page 108 and 109: played Huck, we were out to dinner,
Page 110 and 111: celebrate us, not a test about whet
Page 112 and 113: hopped in the back, planted himself
Page 114 and 115: was what we had in mind. When we re
Page 116 and 117: signs that read Jewelry and Beauty
Page 118 and 119: I pulled out her photo. The Hillsam
Page 120 and 121: your housewarming? Have you thought
Page 122 and 123: Go grim-faced, her hair in barrette
Page 124 and 125: off and starts moving toward me aga
Page 126 and 127: ‘No, he just said she was afraid,
Page 128 and 129: in town. There are plenty of other
Page 130 and 131: up. I entered the headquarters a fe
Page 132 and 133: ‘Okay.’ She lingered, so I bega
Page 134 and 135: I should add, in Amy’s defense, t
Page 136 and 137: moment. I punished you for being a
Page 138 and 139: genuinely annoying and then swung b
Page 140 and 141: know he loves me.’ I admire Mo’
Page 142 and 143: NICK DUNNE FOUR DAYS GONE She was s
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her hair? Also: What were Amy’s f
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who left the bar early if a woman w
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sweater. Don’t be that guy, I tho
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the miserable situation, assuming t
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shoulder. ‘Maybe—’ I could fe
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AMY ELLIOTT DUNNE JULY 21, 2011 I a
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Instead, we wait. It takes two hour
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NICK DUNNE FIVE DAYS GONE I leaned
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‘Nick, this is a little drastic.
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I phoned Go and she said, ‘Well,
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‘You had a very intense relations
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didn’t know - you’d think they
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‘It was interesting to meet you,
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me full on the lips, and he touched
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NICK DUNNE FIVE DAYS GONE I sat in
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‘It’s kind of a woodwork situat
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‘I don’t know what you want me
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‘Not Wednesday night?’ Boney as
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south. Amy’s parents had to borro
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wife in those photos?’ They gave
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AMY ELLIOTT DUNNE OCTOBER 21, 2011
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from a night out drinking, and I’
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NICK DUNNE SIX DAYS GONE The first
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wasn’t sure if it was Andie or Am
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town, this town that Amy loved, tha
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We both gasped. He held his fist in
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NICK DUNNE SIX DAYS GONE Go pushed
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‘It’s a lot different. But you
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‘You walked all the way here?’
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letters, a beautiful antique wooden
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NICK DUNNE SEVEN DAYS GONE It was t
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‘She was definitely pregnant.’
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pregnant.’ ‘Is pregnant.’ Tan
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Tanner tightened his tie, twisted a
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‘We’ll prep you for the convers
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PART TWO BOY MEETS GIRL
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no blood has dripped where it shoul
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persona because they’re too lazy
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else - than I ever have been before
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a word to the woodshed. ‘Look,’
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The beginning of a wonderful new st
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Amy put in where she’s hidden som
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AMY ELLIOTT DUNNE THE DAY OF You kn
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I’ve always thought I could commi
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event? It was fun, mostly. I’d wa
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NICK DUNNE SEVEN DAYS GONE I had to
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near the door. ‘You are such a sp
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‘Let me go, Nick, or I swear.’
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picked up my story. She has to, I c
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fish. A couple of times now, he bri
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know that. Not for sure. For now it
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cop line, but it’s the truth.’
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flipped Amy off - she wouldn’t le
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ead it, but it’s also another pla
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AMY ELLIOTT DUNNE SEVEN DAYS GONE I
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machine, showing a toddler asleep o
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Needs Me’ is basically a lilting
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watch TV.’ I bring a fresh tomato
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She is looking right at me, and I w
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NICK DUNNE EIGHT DAYS GONE We searc
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‘Lets see if we can reach out to
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‘Hives. Stress.’ I turned away
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smiling. A tear dribbled on his chi
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‘Well.’ Tommy called again for
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anonymous, typed, says: Maybe next
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‘You’re up,’ Greta says to me
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nuances, the structure. Just good o
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finding the angle, exploiting the w
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fish-smuggling ring? ‘I’ am gam
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NICK DUNNE EIGHT DAYS GONE As soon
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as an idea and not really for who s
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oardwalk psychic. ‘No. I have no
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‘Because I realized I’d be stuc
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presence known, and then she was ba
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‘I’ll give it context,’ she s
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just happens to be the coolest girl
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gives me pause. My husband has fini
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goodbye.’ He steps toward me, and
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He pats me on the arm as they leave
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The doorbell rang, and I opened the
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I’m not fucking around here: This
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alternate theory. She has a good re
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She turned the camera on, sat down
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ejuvenative picture?’ Betsy asked
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NICK DUNNE TEN DAYS GONE We spent t
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AMY ELLIOTT DUNNE TEN DAYS GONE I h
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my eyes bigger, my cheeks flushed.
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singers.’ He says the word dubiou
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house. If you feel cramped by me, i
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privacy to heal during this very pa
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make any excuses for it. I let myse
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said. ‘Not gonna bite you.’ The
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She looked startled and held up a f
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AMY ELLIOTT DUNNE TEN DAYS GONE We
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year. ‘My goodness, Desi,’ I sa
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handwriting. ‘You know what else
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‘Is she crazy, Nick?’ Boney sai
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‘The visor hat, that’s an old i
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the bag. He doesn’t like the smel
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to be Amy’s hero, and when I lost
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NICK DUNNE FOURTEEN DAYS GONE I wok
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that—’ ‘Yeah, that would be g
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senses. Those fucking bitches. I’
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AMY ELLIOTT DUNNE TWENTY-SIX DAYS G
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I look at Desi with outright disgus
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AMY ELLIOTT DUNNE FORTY DAYS GONE I
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‘Oh, darling, not silly at all. I
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NICK DUNNE FORTY DAYS GONE Out on b
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I wanted to kill her. Had we been a
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a good man. But … I guess it does
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with creases from being folded too
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B: So he stabbed you? The angle is
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like I was nosing around in somethi
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NICK DUNNE THE NIGHT OF THE RETURN
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to have Amy back? How wonderful do
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hated her. I was afraid of her. ‘
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‘Ha! Never thought I’d hear you
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I paused. ‘That was my original p
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the words she suctioned to me: aver
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possible way. You don’t really lo
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‘Shut up, Amy. I mean it.’ ‘J
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Amy was exactly right. So maybe the
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know, would love to arrest me. But
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NICK DUNNE THIRTY DAYS AFTER THE RE
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more of her lies …’ ‘We shoul
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me, like, actually sleep. It will b
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NICK DUNNE NINE WEEKS AFTER THE RET
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AMY ELLIOTT DUNNE TEN WEEKS AFTER T
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I felt a giant bubble of joy - I co
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Yes, I am finally a match for Amy.
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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I’ve got to start
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laugh till I fall down. The guy who
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ALSO BY GILLIAN FLYNN SHARP OBJECTS
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Copyright A Weidenfeld & Nicolson e
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