The Sun Down Motel

Viv thinks about Simon’s daughter: “There was a moment, a few minutes after it happened, when Viv thought of the little girl she’d seen through Simon Hess’s front window” (277). She thinks about Simon’s wife and briefly wonders what they will do now before calling the Fell Police Department from Simon’s room and asking for Alma.

Viv feels Betty watching. Alma answers the phone, and Viv says it’s a slow night. Viv is unsure if Alma is picking up on what she’s saying. She starts to wonder if she will be arrested, says she’ll talk to Alma later, and hangs up. She thinks to herself that she has to start thinking like a murderer: She has to get rid of Simon and the small bedside rug he’s on. She doesn’t regret killing him, knowing he will never kill again. It would be worth it even if she went to prison.

She pulls the rug and Simon’s body towards the door. She turns the lamp off, opens the door, and looks out. Nobody is in the parking lot. Betty is quiet and watching. Viv is so focused on pulling Simon’s body from the room that she doesn’t initially hear a car pull into the parking lot.