Dark Places Chapter 36 Summary

How It All Goes Down

Patty Day—January 3, 1985 2:03 a.m.

  • Patty wakes up at 2:02 a.m. and goes to the front door, ignoring the sounds coming from her daughter's bedroom, because they're noisy sleepers. Plus, "Calvin Diehl didn't seem likely to put up with late" (35.1).
  • Who's Calvin Diehl? Oh, he's the guy waiting to stab Patty outside the front door.
  • Calvin opens the door, and he stabs Patty in the chest.
  • As she falls to the ground, Debby comes down the stairs, yelling that someone is hurting Michelle.
  • Patty is helpless, bleeding to death on the ground, but she sees Calvin Diehl grab a nearby axe and kill Debby with it.
  • Patty pulls herself up and moves toward her daughter, but Calvin grabs the shotgun from above the fireplace.
  • Just before Calvin blows her head off, Patty thinks, "I wish I could take this back" (35.7).