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Dark Places Chapter 26 Summary

How It All Goes Down

Patty Day—January 2, 1985 9:12 p.m.

  • In the commotion after Runner leaves, Michelle says that she's heard about the bad things Ben did at school.
  • Patty asks Michelle if Ben has ever done this bad stuff to her, but she says no.
  • However, Ben does have "all sorts of weird stuff" (25.25) in his room.
  • Patty heads to her room and grabs the bolt cutters she keeps hidden near a stash of $520. She cuts the lock off Ben's door and goes inside.
  • Most of what Ben has is normal teen stuff—an unmade bed, notebooks, band posters.
  • But then Patty finds Satanic poetry, drawings of women giving birth to demons, and a paper filled with girls' names, including "Krissi Day" inside a heart.
  • The worst thing Patty finds is under the bed: it's a sack full of little girls' underwear.
  • Len the lender calls with a new offer for Patty to make some money, but he'll only meet her way out in a dark park.
  • Before she goes out there, Patty burns all the underwear in a big fire.
  • Out at the park, it turns out that Len isn't there. Another man with a mustache is.
  • This guy says he can help Patty… but the chapter ends before we find out how.