Love in the Time of Serial Killers

Phoebe begins to find her work more difficult: Although her subject matter is dark, it doesn’t typically bother her. Since arriving at her father’s however, she gets creeped out reading about murder when she’s alone, especially late at night. She’s increasingly grateful for Conner’s presence when he comes over. They have a dumpster now, though sorting through their father’s belongings is fraught: Phoebe shares with her mother a lack of sentimentality about objects—or anything, really. Conner is more attached to their father’s possessions and doesn’t want to throw everything out. Their father wasn’t very loving but did care about them. Their mother, although outwardly more affectionate, had a curated sort of personal aesthetic that meant she kept and displayed Phoebe’s school projects, but only the pretty ones, those that matched her décor.

Conner tells Phoebe that he asked Josue about Sam and learned that Sam recently went through a difficult breakup and that he’s interested in Phoebe. Phoebe’s heart flutters, but she tries to brush it off. Talk turns to her work and their family. Conner brings up a difficult camping trip during which their father was continuously angry at them. Phoebe reflects that the book she’s reading about Florida’s Sunshine Slasher, written by his daughter, helps her to think about her own father.