Then She Was Gone

Floyd thinks about Laurel and reflects on what a wonderful woman she is. All throughout their relationship, he felt so lucky that “a woman like her would want to be with a man like [him]” (323). He sees her parked outside his house, and from the seriousness of her face, realizes his charade is over.

While Poppy wraps gifts upstairs, Laurel and Floyd have a drink and exchange gifts. Floyd gives Laurel an envelope, then says he has to get her other gift out of his car. Inside the envelope is a letter telling Laurel he is thankful for the time they had together, but that he has something of hers. He directs her to the study, where he left a video message waiting on his computer. 

In the video message, Floyd explains that he saw the Crimewatch reenactment of Ellie’s disappearance earlier that year, and immediately noticed the similarities between Ellie and Poppy. He also saw that the reenactment took place just down the street from Noelle’s house, and put the pieces together. Noelle told him once that she was not Poppy’s mother, but that a girl named Ellie had the baby for her.