The Lovely Bones: Chapter 15 Summary & Analysis

Susie delves into Mr. Harvey’s childhood. He and his mother would often sneak away from home—and Harvey’s father—and his mother would shoplift. His mother was often caught, and in those moments, he would experience the sickening feeling of fear. She soon began using George to hide the things she stole, calling him her “little accomplice,” and a successful steal would always put his mother back in a wonderful mood. Once, driving down a highway in Texas, George’s mother pointed out a white wooden cross on the side of the road and told him that he needed to learn to look past the dead—sometimes there were good trinkets to be taken away from them. As his mother pulled over the car and picked over the cross, stealing two charms and a bunch of roses, George felt ashamed but also excited.

That night, the two of them slept in the truck. In the middle of the night, they were awakened by three men peering through the truck windows. George’s mother told him to remain quiet, and explained that she was going to pretend to open the truck door—she needed George to reach forward and turn the keys in the ignition. They pulled the maneuver off, and as George’s mother drove away, she hit one of the men and pitched his body up on the roof. George realized in that moment that being a “child or a woman” were the two worst things to be in the world.

Now, as Mr. Harvey watches Lindsey race through his yard, his heart beats wildly before calming. He sees that his notebook has been disturbed, and is missing a page. He takes the knife which he used to kill Susie and drops it into a hole in the basement, before retrieving his “charms”—tokens from the women he has killed—from the metal shelving down there. He places all of this, too, into the hole, and then calls the police—he tells them that his home has been broken into, calculating how he will tell “his version” of the story while also trying to figure out how quickly he can leave, and how much he can carry with him.

Jack calls the station and asks for Len Fenerman, but Fenerman cannot be located—the police tell Jack that two officers have already been sent to investigate. When the officers arrive at Harvey’s door, they find “a man who [i]s tearfully upset.” Though the officers, over the radio, obtain information about the nature of the stolen drawing, they are “impressed” by Harvey’s willingness to have his home searched—as well as his sympathy for the Salmon family. He explains that he does not wish to press any charges against the “poor” Salmon girl.

When the officers confront Harvey about the nature of the drawing taken from his sketchbook, he cunningly explains that he has been “trying to figure out” how Susie was killed—the murder upset him so much, that he wanted to try to get to the bottom of how her killer had committed the crime. The officers believe him, and let him know—apologetically—that Fenerman will probably be coming by tomorrow to go over the same line of questioning. Mr. Harvey stresses again that he does not want to press any charges against the Salmon girl and possibly exacerbate her “overwhelming grief.” Susie watches helplessly as the chances of Harvey’s capture diminish.

After picking Buckley up from Nate’s house, Abigail stops at a pay phone, calls Len, and instructs him to meet her in a store at the mall. He does not hear his house phone ringing once more as he pulls out of the driveway to go meet her. Abigail leads Buckley to a play-place at the mall, leaves her name with the monitor there, and goes off to meet Len. While she and Len rendezvous at the mall, the officers descend upon Mr. Harvey’s house and hear his tearful testimony.

Len leads Abigail down a hallway in the mall, and through a white door set flush into the wall. She knows Len is bringing her into the inner workings of the mall, and follows him through the tunnel. They begin to kiss. As their tryst unfolds, Mr. Harvey begins packing up his belongings. Abigail and Len make love as Mr. Harvey leaves his house for the final time.