This post discusses the events that took place before the chapter “Two Can Play at That Game” in The Last Thing He Told Me by Laura Dave. Make sure you’re all caught up!
Attempting to Solve the Mystery of The Last Thing He Told Me Too Soon
I love mystery novels and I love thrillers. The Last Thing He Told Me by Laura Dave has it all with its fast-paced plot and countless of twists and turns that makes me excited every time I pick it up.
Right now I’ve stopped a little past the 2nd half of the story, on page 152. Here we learned Owen isn’t exactly who he says he is. Jake informs Hannah there is no record of an Owen Michaels before he moved to Sausalito. He somehow erased his history before the year of 2009. To Hannah, it seems that every decision Owen made which seemed genuine is actually a calculated way to cover his tracks. Learning this news brings Hannah and Bailey closer together.
Now one very odd goal in my life is to correctly predict the ending to the mystery story I am reading before reaching its end. I haven’t been able to do it yet, but maybe this story will be the one.
So using my expertise on every mystery novel or movie I’ve ever consumed in the entirety of my life, I’m going to attempt to do just that. Here I present to you my predictions about the ending of The Last Thing He Told Me. Hopefully I don’t make a fool of myself when it’s all over.
My Predictions:
1. Owen isn’t the “Big Bad Wolf” of the Story
What I mean by this is that Owen isn’t the main enemy in the story. I don’t think he’s some evil criminal trying to fool everyone around him for personal gain. It would be too obvious if this were the situation. I think there’s a larger force at play.
I’m going to tack onto Hannah’s theory here and assume that there’s some greater organization or mastermind controlling his actions. Owen is either working for them or running away from them. And taking into consideration the note that says, “protect her,” it is more likely that he is running away from something—something more threatening than the police force. A threat once located in Austin, Texas that is now following him in Sausalito, California.
I don’t think we should turn on Owen quite yet. He is not the one pulling the strings.
2. Hannah was Handpicked for this Role
I won’t go as far to say the love between Hannah and “Owen” is fake, but it is possible that Hannah was handpicked to be his partner. Just like he purposefully chose to rent a floating home, I think there was logic in him dating and eventually marrying Hannah.
There must be something she has that Owen could’ve used, whether that be her woodworking business or a history we don’t yet know about. Or maybe it is as simple as him loving her for her caring heart. Whatever the case may be, entrusting her with thousands of dollars and his stepdaughter is a huge show of faith.
3. The Wedding in Austin
Even though the trip to Austin lead to a dead end, it is quite clear that the author didn’t write that section for no reason. If the church was truly burnt down, then maybe it’s because Owen was targeted. What if Owen is lying about how his first wife Olivia died? What if Olivia didn’t die in a car accident, but instead she died in this fire, and that’s why Owen is so concerned about the safety of Bailey?
The other possibility is that there was no fire or reconstruction at all, and this whole “fire story” was just another ploy by Owen to cover his tracks.
4. The Piggy Bank
Documents? Files? Money? It’s quite a mystery. I don’t have much to say here except that I think the piggy bank is more important than we know right now.
5. Owen’s Friend
The perpetrator is always someone we know. In any story, the bad guy is someone right in our face who we’ve somehow overlooked. It’s rarely ever a stranger.
Right now I’m thinking the bad guy might be Owen’s best friend Carl.
When we are first introduced to Carl, Hannah describes him as Owen’s first friend in Sausalito, a guy she can’t respect because he habitually cheats on his wife. It wouldn’t be surprising that he’s hiding something much more if he’s so comfortable with infidelity. Or maybe the whole infidelity story is a coverup for something much bigger. What if all the money that was supposed to go to his family went somewhere else, and not to Cara as he says it does. What if it’s the money sitting pretty in Hannah’s home, and that’s why Carl is waiting outside her house to speak to her?
Or maybe the bad guy is Jake. Or it’s his previous wife who somehow isn’t actually dead (It’s worth noting that Hannah mentioned how little Bailey seemed to resemble her mother in the photos). Okay…I think that’s enough brainstorming for now. I will certainly have a lot of fun looking back on this when I finish the story.
Final Thoughts
It’s hard because there are so many possibilities. If Owen lied about his past, then anything we think we know now might not even be true. Only time will tell.
If you’ve already finished the book, then perhaps you will laugh at how wrong I was. Or who knows, maybe I am actually onto something.
Do you think I’m right? What are your theories?
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