Page 139 of Every Time I Go on Vacation, Someone Dies

Why?

Because we’ve reached the third act of this thing.

What’s that, you ask? Well, in a classic three-act structure (which applies to most books and movies), the first act is the setup (generally the first third of the book); the second act is the main engine of the story (middle third), where the protagonist (that’s me) faces multiple obstacles and dangers (hello, someone tried to kill me!); and the third act is where the main story and all of its subplots get resolved.

The third act also includes the climax of the book—where everything gets super tense as all the threads the author has been doling out intertwine and then, boom! The central question of the novel is resolved and the remaining characters can go about their new lives armed with the knowledge they’ve acquired over the course of the book about themselves and their relationships.

Ideally, the main character grows, changes, and emerges in a better place.

That’s how it’s supposed to work, anyway.

I’m not making any promises about growing or changing.

Anyway, to recap. In Act 1 (Chapter 1 to Chapter 10) you met the protagonist (again me) and the antagonist (Connor), and learned that while I was planning on killing him off in my next book, someone was planning on killing him off for real. You also learned about tensions with my sister, Harper, and my messy relationship with my ex, Oliver, and met all the other potential suspects (Guy, Allison, Emily, Shek, Isabella) and got some insight into why they might want Connor dead. Then Connor faked his own death for stupid reasons that didn’t accomplish what he wanted, but someone else died—Davide, the Good Samaritan. You didn’t meet him, but we can pour one out for him anyway.

In Act 2 (Chapter 11 to Chapter 22), the plot thickened. Some big secrets were revealed (Connor was behind the Giuseppe robberies; I knew about it and did nothing), and oh, fantastic, someone is trying to kill me, too, for reasons that I’m sure will be made clear eventually.176 Oliver and I decided that Shek was behind all of it, but then Shek died. Connor accused Allison of being responsible, and she was looking pretty good for it until the police arrived and another bombshell dropped that makes me, apparently, responsible for all of it, and I’m just waiting to get arrested in the morning.

Which brings us to Act 3 (Chapter 23 to Chapter 29).

What do you have to look forward to?

A couple things.

Shek’s murderer will be revealed.

You’ll learn whether someone was trying to kill Connor.

Ditto for whether someone was trying to kill me.

There are going to be some tense moments. It’s called a climax after all.177

There’s probably going to be another attempt on someone’s life. If I’m being honest, another body might drop.

A bunch of secrets are going to come out.178

Why am I telling you all this?

First of all, it’s fun seeing behind the curtain, isn’t it?

But second, I think it’s time for you to play along.

Yep, that’s right! You get to solve this!

How? Well, you have everything you need to know right now. I’ll even give you a clue.

I mean, more than the clues I’ve already given you, which have been a lot, I promise.

So it’s time for you to get to work. I’m not going to be the only one figuring this out here, right? You’re going to put some effort in, too?

Excellent.

Okay, look at the next page. Your clue is waiting for you.

CLUE: I’M NOT GOING TO GET ARRESTED.179

CHAPTER 23The Last Supper

“Hey, El, wait up,” Harper calls after me as I drift toward the dining room.

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