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Chapter 7. Beth: The Truths
Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in Catching Teller Crow, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Trauma and Grief
Abuse of Power, Racism, and the Law
Storytelling and Truth
Time
Female Friendship
Summary
Analysis
Beth, who doesn’t sleep, thinks all night. She decides to tell Michael that Catching can see her, in the hopes that Michael will become reinvested in the case and Catching’s story, which Beth suspects symbolizes more “terrible” events than just rehab. Beth is sure that if Michael knows something harmful happened to Catching, he’ll help her, which will “help him too.” Beth worries that this plan could lead to Catching telling Michael that Beth has to move on, deepening his grief, but she doesn’t have a better idea.
When angry at Catching, Beth yelled that her story was false, but in this scene, Beth clearly recognizes that the fantastical elements in Catching’s story might symbolize “terrible” true events. Here Beth recognizes that for her justice-oriented father, helping people “help[s] him too”—which in turn hints that Michael needs to broaden his focus beyond Beth to heal from his grief.
Themes
In the morning, Michael’s phone rings. It’s his boss, Rachel Ali. After they talk, Michael tells Beth that apparently, the unidentified corpse was stabbed with a “curved blade” before it burned. He also explains that he’s supposed to find Alexander Sholt’s address, since Sholt was financially involved with the home: after a closer look at Nurse Flint and Director Cavanagh’s bank accounts, the police have decided the men probably weren’t embezzling but “being paid off for something.” Michael speculates that maybe the home was dealing prescription medications as drugs—but if so, he wonders why he hasn’t heard more about drug problems in the area. Beth, happy that he’s thinking about the case, tells him to get moving.
Upon hearing that Flint and Cavanagh’s bank accounts were suspicious, Michael first hypothesized that they were embezzling from the home. The new information that they were likely “being paid off for something” motivates him to tell a different story based on the available evidence: perhaps the men were dealing prescription medications intended for the children. While this hypothesis may not be true either, the successive stories Michael creates based on new evidence show how storytelling can be used as a tool to try to uncover the truth.
Themes
As Michael and Beth drive to the local police station, she decides not to tell him that Catching can see her. She enjoys having a secret with Catching; it feels like having “a friend.” When Beth and Michael arrive at the station, Beth asks whether Rachel was mad that Michael didn’t talk to the local cops his first day in town. Michael admits that it would’ve been the appropriate thing to do, but the town’s similarity to his hometown made him want to investigate alone first: towns like that can hide secrets.
Here, Beth makes explicit that her growing rapport with Catching might be a friendship—a peer-to-peer relationship outside of the overly intense, grief-based bond she shares with Michael. Michael’s admission that he was avoiding the local police because the town reminds him of his hometown foreshadows that the local police may be bigoted or corrupt the way Michael’s father was.
Themes
Inside the station, a drab blond policeman introduces himself to Michael as Derek Bell. Beth notices a photo of a teen Derek with a man in a police uniform and guesses that Derek’s dad was a policeman too. Derek says he’s been told Michael has already started asking people questions about the case. Michael says he’s sorry for not coming to the station sooner—he just wanted to get started. Derek, still annoyed, implies that it was rude of Michael not to check with them before conducting interviews.
Derek’s hostility to Michael may simply derive from a territorial sense that the local police don’t need out-of-town detectives to help them—or it may hint that Derek is hiding something and doesn’t want external oversight.
Themes
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Michael, without naming Rachel, blames pressure from his boss for his speed. He says he understands the struggles of rural policing because his own father was “the local cop” in a similar town. Derek, instantly friendlier, says his father was too. Beth realizes that her dad—who taught her to notice details—noticed the photo of Derek’s dad too. When Derek asks whether the witness was helpful, Michael implies that she was just a whiny teen. Beth, noticing Derek’s “relief,” realizes Michael has intentionally redirected Derek’s interest away from Catching. Inferring that Derek is a suspect, she notices that he chews his fingernails and looks like he hasn’t been sleeping.
Michael has a bad relationship to his own father, a bigoted police officer who disowned him for dating an Aboriginal woman—but when he mentions that his father was “the local cop,” Derek is happy to admit that his was too. Derek’s reaction suggests that he has a better relationship with his father than Michael does, though whether that’s because Derek’s father isn’t bigoted or because Derek is remains to be seen. Derek’s sleeplessness and chewed nails suggest that he’s nervous about something but don’t reveal what.
Themes
Michael asks Derek for Alexander Sholt’s address. When Derek says, “Alex?”, Michael asks whether he and Alexander are friends. Derek says they went to school together and that everyone in town knows the Sholts, who give money to “local causes.” Michael explains that because the case is officially a homicide, he has to look more closely at the children’s home—but Alexander hasn’t been answering any calls. Then he asks whether Derek has heard about the new autopsy findings. Derek, seeming nauseated, asks whether Michael thinks Alexander is involved. When Michael says he’s only trying to learn more about the home, Beth thinks Derek looks happier.
Derek’s obvious familiarity with Alexander Sholt and relief when Michael implies that Alexander isn’t a suspect suggest that he may be biased in Alexander’s favor if Alexander is a suspect, though he attempts to play off his partiality by explaining that the Sholts give money to “local causes” (i.e. that they support the whole community). Derek’s obvious personal biases in the case hint that the local police may not have investigated well or fairly.
Themes
Derek says that he’ll get Alexander Sholt’s address but that Alexander’s probably at his city apartment. When Michael says that they’ve checked that address, Derek seems taken aback. He says the way to Alexander’s house is confusing and insists on sending his second-in-command with Michael. When he leaves to find said second-in-command, Beth excitedly suggests that Derek is nervous because he and Alexander were selling drugs together. Michael points out that the Sholts seem wealthy enough not to need a drug business and that Derek could be nervous for other reasons. He speculates that, like his own father, Derek gives people like the Sholts “special treatment” and turned a blind eye to things he shouldn’t have.
Beth and Michael’s conflicting stories about why Derek might be nervous once again illustrate how storytelling can be used as a tool to aid thought as people try to figure out the truth. When Michael compares Derek’s relationship to the Sholts to his father’s implied racist preference for white people, it suggests that giving “special treatment” to privileged people or groups is a widespread problem in law enforcement.
Themes
Beth asks why Michael redirected Derek’s attention from Catching. Michael explains that he doesn’t trust Derek not to repeat things to Alexander Sholt—and if Catching witnessed anything the night of the fire, Michael wants her to tell him. Derek returns with a redhead who introduces herself as Allison Hartley but asks Michael to call her “Allie.” Derek says that Allie will escort Michael to Alexander’s; he explains that he has to keep searching for Director Cavanagh or he’d do it. As Michael and Allie drive off, Beth stays behind to see what Derek will do. Derek looks up and down the street—and startles when the wind rattles a can. Beth realizes that Derek is scared.
When Michael suggests that Derek would leak details about the investigation about the case to Alexander Sholt, it emphasizes that he doesn’t necessarily trust other police officers not to show bias in favor of the rich and privileged. Derek’s fearful reactions when he believes he’s alone do suggest that he’s nervous about something—but not what he’s nervous about.
Themes
