The Perfect Couple

In her interrogation, Featherleigh tells Nick she found Merritt crying in the rose garden at Summerland while the rest of the young people were out in town. Trying to comfort the young woman, Featherleigh took Merritt along in the search for some alcohol. Featherleigh found a bottle under a tent on the beach and settled in with Merritt. Though Merritt did not drink as her stomach was upset, the two women confided their affairs to each other. Featherleigh does not know the identity of the married man with whom Merritt was in love. Soon, she and Merritt ran into Tag and Thomas on the beach, and they all ended up partying together. Featherleigh corroborates Tag’s story about her bringing Merritt water, which Merritt gulped down. After Thomas was called up by Abby, Featherleigh left Summerland; she did not want to be around Tag, fearing Greer’s wrath. Greer disapproves of Featherleigh and is also a chronic liar. Featherleigh feels that novelists are habitual liars as they forget the line between real life and fiction. Nick is intrigued by her comment.

Nick believes most of Featherleigh’s story with the exception of her time of departure from Summerland. Featherleigh claims she left the beach around one o’clock in the morning, but the manager of her inn says she didn’t arrive back until 5:30 am.