Behind Closed Doors
Characters and their secrets.
Characters and their secrets.
This woman becomes Teddy’s nanny and narrates the story.
Mallory Quinn
Teddy uses this creative activity to communicate events he cannot fully explain.
Drawing
The Maxwells initially explain Anya as this ordinary childhood phenomenon.
An imaginary friend
This is the child’s original name before being renamed Teddy.
Flora
This person shoots Ted during the final confrontation.
Caroline
This landscaper becomes Mallory’s romantic interest and investigative partner.
Adrian
Mallory secretly places this device in Teddy’s bedroom to observe him during Quiet Time.
A baby monitor/camera
Teddy’s claim that he has never been on an airplane contradicts the Maxwells’ story about moving from this city.
Barcelona
Rather than being a personal name, “Anya” means this in Hungarian.
Mother/Mom/Mommy
This broken object becomes the weapon used against Caroline in the woods.
An arrow/arrow fragment
This neighbor joins Mallory in a séance.
Mitzi
Drawing marks on Teddy’s right hand alarm Mallory for this reason.
Teddy is left Handed
Mitzi’s death is made to look like a drug overdose. What actually happened?
Caroline murdered her and staged the overdose to cover up the family’s secrets.
Flora follows this animal shortly before Caroline takes her.
A rabbit
Caroline intends to disguise Mallory’s murder as this event.
A relapse and fatal drug overdose
This person’s job as a librarian helps Mallory and Adrian research Annie Barrett.
Adrian’s mother, Sofia
A book of Annie Barrett’s paintings weakens Mallory’s theory about the drawings because of this artistic difference.
Annie painted abstract art; the mysterious drawings are realistic.
What really happened to Annie Barrett, contradicting the neighborhood murder story?
She left to be with the Black man she loved, escaping the town’s racism.
What physical detail on Caroline explains why she appears as an angel in the drawings?
An angel-wing tattoo on her back.
Ted says he secretly substituted this substance for the drugs Caroline intended to inject.
Baby powder
Mallory initially misleads Adrian about her background by claiming this specific college connection.
She attends Penn State on a running/cross-country scholarship.
After Mallory awakens from a long afternoon sleep, these two discoveries suggest the spirit has used her to draw, too.
Drawings cover the walls, and her hand is stained with ink/charcoal.
What specifically was Mallory checking on her phone when she caused the crash that killed her sister?
The results of a running meet/race.
What outdoor event was happening when Caroline encountered Flora and her mother—a detail also appearing in the drawings?
A hot-air balloon festival
When Mallory visits Flora a year later, what handmade gift does Flora give her?
A booklet labeled “Mallory’s Recipes.”