The Perfect Couple

News of Nantucket’s “Murdered Maid of Honor” (222) spreads. Sage Kennedy, Merritt’s coworker at Brightstreet, is shocked to learn this victim is Merritt. She recalls Merritt’s affair with Travis Darling, the creepy co-owner of Brightstreet. Sage had been appalled by the vengeance with which Cordelia, Travis’s wife and Merritt’s boss, had bad-mouthed Merritt after finding out about the affair. Cordelia had even phoned Merritt’s parents about the affair, as if Merritt were a truant child. Benji’s friends and acquaintances too speculate about Merritt’s death.

Meanwhile, Benji is in his father’s study with Tag and Thomas, waiting to be questioned by the police. Benji is saddened by Merritt’s death, but also upset at Celeste for calling off the wedding. His parents have spent enormous amounts of time and money on planning a dream wedding for Benji, which will now amount to nothing. Apart from the practical worry, Benji is also devastated that he will not be spending his life with Celeste, whom he truly loves. Celeste’s reaction to Merritt’s death has shown Benji that Celeste is too single-minded to belong to him. When Benji met Celeste at the hospital, asking her to reconsider her decision to cancel the wedding, Celeste refused. Benji remarked that Merritt’s death should have hardly been a surprise to Celeste, since Merritt had always been troubled, depending on alcohol and drugs to deal with her problems.