When Will There Be Good News?: A Puppy Is Just for Christmas Summary & Analysis

On her doorstep on Christmas Eve, Louise discovers a Border Collie puppy in a wicker basket. The gift tag reads, “A Faithful Friend.” Louise doesn’t know if that refers to the puppy or to the sender. Someone had rung the doorbell and left by the time the door opened. Louise is sure it was Jackson.

On Christmas Day, Louise visits the Needlers. She refuses to drink vodka with Alison Needler. Alison hints that Louise is pregnant, which Louise laughingly denies, but she is. She’d even made an appointment for an abortion but couldn’t go through with it—“the door in her heart had been wedged open and she couldn’t shut it, no matter how hard she pushed against it.”

Louise plans to leave Patrick at Hogmanay (the Scots new year celebration). She figures it would be too cruel at Christmas; he’d already lost one wife then. He’s a good man, so she figures he’ll have no trouble finding another wife; it’s a shame she’s “such a bad woman.”

Louise hasn’t made any headway interviewing Joanna. She supposes she could find some forensic evidence somewhere if she wanted to. Even Neil has recanted his whole story about extortion. The only evidence is two bodies in the burned-out house in Penicuik; the burning of the evidence looked professional. Meanwhile, Marcus had been taken off life support after a week and had a hero’s funeral. His mother had jumped off a bridge the next day.

Louise wants to know why Joanna visited Decker in prison. Louise points out that Joanna knows how to shoot a gun. Joanna denies having pulled the trigger, but Louise thinks that, somehow, she persuaded Decker to do it himself. Joanna suggests that perhaps seeing her and the baby brought the gravity of his crime home to him. Louise thinks this rational explanation befits a doctor, but she suspects there’s more to it. She thinks that if she were ever in trouble, she’d certainly want Joanna on her side.

Louise tells the Needler children she’ll bring her new puppy to visit them when he’s a bit bigger. When they ask what she’s named the puppy, she says, “Jackson.”