Jane's got a gun
Was Jane really going to shoot the guy, and did she have any plan going in the meeting? And could she be our murderer?
shareAnd Perry's got a pillow, and doesn't hesitate to use it! Obviously the therapist believes Celeste's life is in danger. The train is racing toward the wreck!
Regarding Jane, I was about to write "what was she thinking," but I realized that she's not thinking at all. Her talk with Maddie showed that she is completely emotionally repressed and that her anger has taken over her brain. If she kills the rapist, Ziggy loses his mother. The closest thing Jane had to a plan for that contingency was to ask Maddie to pick him up after school. I guess she hopes that Maddie will give him a good home. But what if Ed, like Nate, has been practicing on the firing range? Ziggy might find himself orphaned in yet another one-parent household. Of course, if Ziggy ever finds himself left alone with Renata for over 10 seconds, he won't be able to worry about anything ever again!
Which leads to a thought about who is abusing Amabella: remember Celeste's therapist's argument about the effects of the violence on her sons. It could well be they've already learned that violence is how you show affection. Maybe one of Perry's sons had a crush on Amabella. If so, why didn't she rat him out? It's obvious that popularity is a high value to her, perhaps more than is freedom from fear. Perry's sons are popular, whereas nobody even knew Ziggy.
Yes, she wasn't thinking at all. It's understandable, to a degree, after the trauma she went through. Maybe Celeste needs to reffer her to the therapist (btw, I loved the "We need to make a plan" bit). Maybe she wasn't really going to shoot him, just scare him. Get all that anger out. But things are escalating for her, mentaly, so by the end of the series she might just explode (this goes for the other "suspects" as well). Maddie really opened a big can of worms with suggesting to go meet the guy. And what was Ed really going to do when he went with them?
I like your idea that one of the twins might be the bully. Kids are like sponges at that age. You might think they don't notice something, but it's surprising how much they do. I don't remember exactly, but from what I do, didn't she point to Ziggy just at the first day of school. Other than that, she's been silent as to who's bullying her. It's the adults jumping to conclusions after that. Maybe she's scared to say who it really is, and what's going on. And Renata seems a bit overbearing, so that's not exactly inviting to Amabella to share. All the yelling at her to say what's happening is scaring her even more, I think. All you're going to achieve with that, is the child shutting down.
And Jane's doubts and worries about Ziggy are a little heartbreaking. That's probably in the back of her mind constantly.
Renata's so overbearing, she could intimidate a steamroller into backing down! And you're right about how many parents underestimate what their children are learning from them, for ill as well as good. I think it would break Perry when he realizes how much he has harmed his sons. One of the wisest quotes I've ever read is, "The best thing that a man can do for his children is to love their mother."
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