Literature / Where Are the Children?

Come on, Nancy, the police would be saying again. Come clean with us. Tell the truth. Tell us, Nancy — where are the children?

Where Are the Children? is a 1975 psychological thriller / suspense novel by Mary Higgins Clark. It's notable for being Higgins Clark's first suspense novel (of many) and her second published novel overall.

At first glance, Nancy Eldredge appears to be an ordinary, if not private, woman living a quiet life in the Cape Cod with her realtor husband Ray and their two young children, Michael and Missy. But Nancy is hiding a dark secret: she was once known as Nancy Harmon, a woman accused of murdering Peter and Lisa Harmon, her children from her first marriage. Nancy was convicted of the crime, but the conviction was swiftly overturned thanks to a mistrial declaration and Nancy couldn't be re-tried due to the disappearance of a key witness. Having fled California for the east coast, Nancy has done her best to keep her past buried and to build a new life for herself.

Then, on Nancy's 32nd birthday and the seventh anniversary of her children's murders, Nancy's nightmare begins anew when Mike and Missy vanish from their front garden. Nancy's identity is exposed and she is once again the number one suspect in her children's disappearance. Nancy is certain she didn't hurt her children now or then, but struggles to convince people of her innocence and even doubts her own memories. And with the police fixated on her as the culprit, time is rapidly running out to find her children before another tragedy occurs.

A film adaptation was released in 1986. A sequel titled Where Are the Children Now?, co-written by Alafair Burke, was published in 2023.

---

Tropes found in this novel include:

• The '60s: The novel is set in 1975, with many key events in the backstory occurring in the 1960s. Nancy married Carl in 1961 and was tried, convicted and then released for the murders of her children in 1968. Nancy was sentenced to be executed via gas chamber in California; the state had temporarily abolished the death penalty by 1975 (it was reinstated in 1977, though under the new laws no further executions were carried out until 1996, by which time the lethal injection largely replaced the gas chamber as the method of execution). The Vietnam War was also on-going at the time, which has some plot relevance; the reason Nancy hasn’t been re-tried is because the key prosecution witness ran off to avoid being sent to Vietnam.
• Abusive Parents: Carl Harmon turns out to have been an abusive father whose children lived in terror of him; he was extremely strict and domineering towards his children, demanding their total, unquestioning respect and obedience. He would spank them even over things like accidental bedwetting. He also sexually abused Lisa and potentially Peter, too (it's made explicit he molested Lisa, while it's more implied with Peter). Carl eventually committed the ultimate act of abuse by murdering his children to ensure his abuse wouldn't be exposed, especially as their mother was starting to realise something was wrong and breaking free of his control.
• Accidental Adultery: Nancy is technically a bigamist as she dated and married Ray under the impression her first husband was dead; he'd actually faked his death. Considering that everyone truly believed Carl was dead for the past seven years and that he was an awful husband to Nancy, no one brings up the bigamy as an issue and by the end of the story Nancy is widowed for real, so it becomes a moot point.
• Accidental Misnaming: After seeing the newspaper headline revealing she was once tried for murdering her children, a panicked Nancy runs outside and calls for Mike and Missy to come in, only to mistakenly refer to them as "Peter and Lisa", the names of her dead son and daughter.
• Age-Gap Romance: Nancy was significantly younger than her first husband Carl; she was an eighteen-year-old college student and he was a college professor when they got married (given how long it takes on average to become a professor, he would've been in his 30s at least). Nancy also came off as young for her years and was emotionally vulnerable, often letting Carl take charge and make decisions for her. Nancy's mother had expressed reservations about her daughter getting married so young to someone much older than her, though she died in a car accident shortly after the couple announced their engagement, with Nancy rushing into the marriage out of grief.
• Age-Inappropriate Dress: When she was married to Carl, Nancy often wore "childish" dresses that looked more like something a young girl would wear. Nancy recalls that when her mother came to visit her while she was still dating Carl, Priscilla was put-off by the dress Carl had picked out for her, remarking "Isn't it a bit...young?" (Nancy was 18 at the time). Nancy admits she hated wearing these dresses but did it because Carl liked it. Upon being widowed and getting out of prison, the first thing she bought herself was a tweed suit and she now dresses in a more mature style. Considering that Carl was a pedophile, it's obvious why he liked Nancy to dress like a little girl.
• All Take and No Give: Nancy states that her first husband was always "good to [her]"; he made important decisions for her, got her medication and looked after her, including sometimes taking on extra childcare and housework, because Nancy was often depressed and "sick", especially as she'd been abruptly orphaned shortly before marrying Carl and had no family or close friends in San Francisco. Nancy often felt guilty that Carl took on so much and she couldn't be a better wife because of her frequent ailments; she also felt guilty that she never truly fell in love with Carl despite everything he did for her. It becomes clear that Carl intentionally manipulated Nancy into believing she was constantly frail and helpless so that she'd be completely dependent on him.
• Altar the Speed: When Nancy's mother died the same evening they announced their engagement, Carl urged Nancy to bring their wedding forward quickly; Nancy was in such a state of shock and distress following her mother's unexpected death, she agreed without giving it much thought. They had a hastily-arranged courthouse wedding with no friends or family in attendance; Nancy didn't even have time to get a new dress for the occasion despite having always pictured herself wearing a white Fairytale Wedding Dress. She ended up wearing a white woollen dress - the same one she wore to her last dinner with her mother - because it was the only semi-formal white outfit she owned. Carl claimed he thought that getting married would help distract Nancy from her grief, but really it was so he could trap her into a relationship while she was vulnerable, before she had time to re-think the engagement.
• Angst Coma: The combined shock of seeing a headline exposing her dark past and realising her children are missing causes Nancy to collapse. Ray and Dorothy have to carry her back to the house and she passes out again while trying to explain what happened. It takes a while for her to regain consciousness and become responsive, with Dr Lendon Miles saying she's displaying clear signs of shock.
• Backfire on the Witness Stand: Carl was called as a witness during Nancy's murder trial and was supposed to be defending her character, but he ended up doing her more harm than good, including breaking down sobbing when he was describing what a good mother she was. To the jury, it looked like Carl had tried and failed to convince himself of his wife's innocence; following her conviction, he confirmed in his suicide note he believed she killed their children. Given Carl knew Nancy was innocent because he killed their children, he deliberately put on an act to make her look worse.
• Big Brother Instinct: Mike is only five, but he's protective of his younger sister Missy. Nancy and Dorothy both state that it's almost a silver lining they were abducted together, because Mike will look after Missy. Mike does his best to comfort Missy when she's scared and upset, and stands up to Parrish to protect her. When Mike briefly manages to escape from Parrish, he stays behind to help Missy - who is sick - and tries to call home so they can both be rescued.
• Birthday Hater: Nancy doesn't like to acknowledge her birthday because it's also the day her eldest children were murdered, with she subsequently being accused of killing them. Her second husband understands how she feels, but still urges her to try and celebrate her birthday, not wanting the day to be overshadowed by tragedy for the rest of her life.
• Burial at Sea: Lisa and Peter's bodies were disposed of in the sea; they washed ashore two weeks later, still wearing their knitted sweaters and still with the plastic bags used to suffocate them wrapped around their heads. Their mother had to identify the bodies and given how long they'd been in the water, it made it an even more disturbing task.
• By the Hair: A rare sympathetic example. During the climax, Carl has hold of Missy atop a widow's walk and loses his balance. Nancy lunges for Missy and grabs the nearest part of her she can reach, which is her long hair. She clings on until Ray arrives to pull them both to safety. 
• Chekhov's Gun: The white woollen dress Nancy wore to dinner the last time she saw her mother alive, and later wore to her wedding to Carl. Nancy recalls that Carl somehow got grease on it at the restaurant, and she had to get it dry-cleaned as she insisted on wearing it to the courthouse wedding; for some reason, the memory of the grease stain particularly bothers her. Nancy came to suspect the grease wasn’t from food but from her mother’s rental car, realising that Carl intentionally sabotaged the vehicle and caused her mother's fatal crash.
• Dark and Troubled Past: Nancy's past is filled with tragedy and horror. Her father died suddenly of pneumonia when she was in her teens. Then when she was eighteen, her mother also died suddenly in a car accident. A few years later, her two children went missing and were found deliberately smothered; Nancy was unjustly put on trial for the murders, initially found guilty and sentenced to death, only to be released after the judge declared a mistrial. Her first husband committed suicide, believing she was guilty, and Nancy quickly moved to the opposite side of the country to escape people's scrutiny. Her past is even darker than many people realise when it comes out that her first husband was extremely manipulative and abusive towards her and their children, nor was her mother's death an accident.
• A Deadly Affair: The prosecution convincingly argued that Nancy killed her children so she could run off with her lover, Rob Legler. The lead prosecutor even believed Rob was complicit and would've charged him as an accessory if there was enough evidence. However, Nancy didn't actually kill her children, nor was she having an affair with Rob, despite him attempting to put the moves on her. He didn't kill her children, either.
• Death of a Child:
  • Siblings Peter and Lisa Harmon were intentionally smothered to death when they were just five and four years old, respectively.
  • Thurston Givens' only child died of flu when they were just five years old, so he empathises with Nancy and Ray when they face a similar situation.
• Disney Villain Death: In the climax, Carl Harmon falls through the railing around The Lookout's widow's walk and into the sea below. The police manage to fish him out alive, but he soon dies from his injuries sustained in the fall.
• Domestic Abuse: Nancy's first husband Carl psychologically, sexually and possibly physically abused her; he took advantage of her youth, naivety and grief for her parents to manipulate her into marrying him, isolated her from anyone who could've helped her free herself from his influence, and made her believe she was "sick" and needed to rely solely on him. He would get angry and threaten her if she did anything to defy him. Nancy recalls disliking their twisted sexual encounters but feeling too afraid and guilty to stand up to Carl about it. He also drugged her under the guise of providing her medication to make her more compliant.
• Draft Dodging: Following Nancy's conviction, Rob Legler left California and took off to Canada because by that point he'd graduated college and wanted to avoid being drafted into the Vietnam War. Consequently, when Nancy's conviction was overturned due to a mistrial declaration, the D.A. couldn't prosecute her again because much of their case hinged around Rob's testimony.
• Driven to Suicide: Nancy's first husband Carl drowned himself following Nancy's conviction for killing their children; he left behind a note stating he knew Nancy was troubled, but he believed he could help her and blamed himself for not realising she was a danger to their children. Or that's what Carl wanted everyone to think. He's actually alive and well.
• Dye or Die: Nancy has naturally red-gold hair (which her children Mike and Missy have inherited), but ever since coming out of prison seven years ago she's dyed her hair dark brown so she's less recognisable. Ray considers asking Nancy to let the dye grow out and go back to her natural colour, but he knows Nancy doesn't feel secure enough for him to broach the subject. In the ending, Ray finally encourages to get her hair changed for her birthday, saying he thinks she'd look great as a redhead; it's implied she'll take him up on the offer given she no longer has to hide.
• Earn Your Happy Ending: After being stuck married to an abusive psycho for seven years, spending another seven years being suspected of her children's murders and then nearly losing her other children, Nancy manages to save her children and her name is cleared. She finally feels some measure of peace and looks forward to a happier life with her family and friends.
• Extremely Short Timespan: The entire plot takes place over the course of a single eventful day. Even the prologue is set just a day before the main events of the story.
• First Love:
  • Nancy admits that until she met her second husband Ray Eldredge, she'd never truly fallen in love. She'd dated a bit in college and married Carl Harmon when she was just 18, but she later realised she wasn't truly in love with Carl or even that attracted to him, merely tolerating him because he was "good to her" after her parents died; she later came to realise he'd been taking advantage of her and stripping her of her independence. In contrast, Nancy genuinely enjoys Ray's company, feels relaxed in his presence and finds that it's easy to be attracted to him. Ray's affection for Nancy and desire to support her is sincere and unselfish, unlike Carl, who had only sinister intentions.
  • Lendon was more or less content as a bachelor for most of his life, until he met and fell in love with Priscilla Kiernan. Falling in love with Priscilla made him realise he actually did crave romantic companionship, though sadly their relationship was cut short by Priscilla's death. After coming to terms with his loss, Lendon managed to find love again with his now-wife.
• Frame-Up: Nancy's family and friends start to realise she was deliberately set up to take the fall for her children's murders, meaning the true killer is someone she once knew. They also come to realise that the same killer intends to frame her for the murders of her younger children, something the reader is already aware of; Parrish carefully planned to expose Nancy's identity via an anonymous newspaper article and kidnap Missy and Michael on the seventh anniversary of the murders, hoping everyone will assume Nancy snapped upon seeing the headline and killed her children again. He nearly succeeds, but is ultimately foiled this time because Nancy's husband and friends see the holes in the scenario and convince the police to dig deeper.
• Good Lawyers, Good Clients: Jonathan Knowles is technically a retired lawyer, but he insists on representing Nancy Eldredge when her children go missing and it's clear the police are treating her as the number one suspect. Jonathan has been friends with the Eldredge family for years and has closely studied the investigation into the murders of Nancy's older children; he doesn't believe she harmed her children now or then, and wants to ensure she gets a decent defence this time.
• Good Parents: Nancy is a loving, patient and attentive mother to Mike and Missy, with it being noted by several people that they've never seen her lose her temper with them or treat them coldly. Consequently, some people who know the family find it hard to believe Nancy could've harmed Mike and Missy, or her deceased children for that matter.
• Happily Married: Nancy and Ray do have some issues in their marriage - namely, Ray sometimes gets frustrated that Nancy's fear of her identity being uncovered prevents them from doing certain things, while Nancy can't always bring herself to be completely vulnerable and open with Ray - but it's made clear they love each other. Notably, Ray always believed in Nancy's innocence, tries his best to support her and stands by her when she's suspected of harming their missing children. Nancy is grateful for Ray's unwavering support and wishes things were easier for them. When Nancy expresses her fear that their children are already dead, Ray reassures her that no matter what happens they'll have each other.
• Heroic BSoD: Nancy spends nearly half the story in a state of deep distress, which isn't surprising considering she already has trauma from being wrongly accused of killing her children and is now going through the exact same thing again, not to mention having been a victim of domestic abuse. She slowly starts getting better after her family and friends demonstrate they're on her side, encouraging her to finally face and open up about her trauma. By the climax, she's much more stable and ready to fight tooth and nail to bring her kids home safe.
• Identifying the Body: Nancy had to identify her murdered children's bodies once they were finally found. This is an awful situation for any parent, but the state of the children's bodies made it even worse; they'd been in the water for two weeks at this point, so the bodies were horribly bloated and Lisa's body was mutilated from shark bites. Unsurprisingly, Nancy still gets nightmares about it seven years later.
• Incriminating Indifference: One of the reasons many people - including the jury - believed Nancy murdered her children was because she didn't appear very emotional during the trial; she only cried once (when the judge sentenced her to death, which made it seem she only felt sorry for herself), her protestations of innocence came off as feeble and her attempts to explain the circumstances of her children's disappearances were vague and confusing. In reality, Nancy didn't kill her children and she was devastated by their deaths to the point she felt part of her had died with them; her seemingly emotionless reactions were because she was absolutely exhausted, deep in grief and genuinely confused by what was happening, on top of already suffering from depression. She also did feel partly responsible for her children's murders, as she'd left them alone in the car from which they were abducted. Her current lawyer Jonathan states that in his opinion, Nancy's behaviour wasn't necessarily indictive of guilt but did strongly suggest she was severely traumatised and shouldn't have been put on the stand. The fact she'd been strictly controlled and abused by her husband since she was eighteen likely had a lot to with it, too.
• I Never Said It Was Poison: A variation; the anonymous newspaper article exposing Nancy's past mentions her children's bodies were found wearing red knitted sweaters with a white sailboat pattern. Jonathan, who has carefully studied the murder case, notes that the police never publicly released any details about the sweaters to assist with the investigation. While Nancy knew what the sweaters looked like as she'd knitted them and dressed the children in them the morning they died, Jonathan states that the author of the article knowing this detail suggests he was involved in the murders.
• It's All My Fault: Nancy says it's her fault her mother was killed, even though she died in a car accident that Nancy wasn't remotely involved in. The other characters initially think she irrationally blames herself because her mother was killed during a trip to San Francisco to see her, but it's later revealed there's another layer to it; Nancy subconsciously suspected that her then-fiance Carl had deliberately tampered with her mother's car due to her mother's obvious disapproval of their relationship. Nancy understands now that her mother likely intended to dissuade her from marrying Carl and he killed her to prevent this, but at the time Nancy didn't comprehend the situation and so couldn't warn her mother.
• Karmic Death: It's established that Carl is terrified of drowning, hating having his head covered by water. He previously dumped his children's bodies in the sea after smothering them and intends to do the same to Mike and Missy. While attempting to throw Missy off The Lookout's widow's walk into the sea, Carl falls off himself and plunges to his eventual death in the water.
• Likes Older Women: Though he isn't too fussy in this regard, Rob admits he has a thing for older women, even those who already have husbands and kids. He sometimes uses the kids to endear himself to the women, while it's implied that he goes for married women because then he doesn't have to concern himself with long-term commitment. Rob reminisces that at sixteen he was sleeping with his married neighbour; as a college student he was also involved in a paternity suit, with the woman's husband punching Rob in the face. It's part of the reason Rob was attracted to Nancy, though as he notes she wasn't that much older than him, having married young.
• Lying by Omission: If anyone asks what brought Nancy to the small Cape Cod town she moved to six years ago, she tells them she moved there for a fresh start after her parents died. This is technically true; she just omits the part where she was married to a college professor and accused of murdering her children in California.
• Make It Look Like an Accident: Nancy's mother Priscilla supposedly died when the steering of her rental car malfunctioned and she crashed into a ditch, but it turns out that Carl deliberately tampered with the car in the hopes she'd have a fatal crash, so that she couldn't break his influence over her daughter. Nancy suspected this deep down, but she had no hard evidence and the situation was so horrifying she tried to block it out.
• Mama Bear: Nancy goes into Mama Bear-mode in the climax, combined with Determinator, upon figuring out her kidnapped children are being held at The Lookout and that her deranged ex-husband took them. She drives to The Lookout alone in the middle of a raging storm and with her windshield covered in ice (she rolls down the side window to see better), then continues on foot after crashing her car into a tree without so much as a breather. Even though she’s no match for him physically, she attempts to fight off Carl to save her kids, including biting a chunk out of his jowl when he strangles her. She then chases him up to a narrow and slippery widow’s walk to rescue Missy, barely being slowed down when Parrish kicks her in the head, and manages to grab Missy before she's thrown off the balcony.
• Meaningful Rename: Nancy changed her surname from Kiernan to her first husband's surname of Harmon when they got married, but due to that name becoming notorious after she was charged with murdering her children, Nancy went back to using Kiernan after being released from prison. Upon marrying her second husband, she took his surname of Eldredge, further distancing herself from her past.
• Miscarriage of Justice: Nancy was wrongly arrested and convicted for murdering her children. Her conviction was ultimately overturned before she was executed, but this was due to a mistrial declaration based on juror misconduct; she's still regarded as the culprit and couldn't be re-tried mostly because the main witness against her had disappeared. Upon examining the case files and reports, ex-lawyer Jonathan Knowles says that while he thinks Nancy wasn't telling all she knew about her children's disappearance, it's clear Nancy wasn't mentally fit to stand trial, even her own lawyer did a merely perfunctory job of defending her, the key witness was incredibly shifty and nor were any other suspects considered.
• Missing Child: In the backstory, Nancy's children went missing and were eventually found murdered. Seven years later, the same thing happens again with her new family, though this time there's a chance the children can be saved.
• My Greatest Second Chance: Lendon always regretted not trying to reach out to Nancy- who could potentially have become his stepdaughter - both following her mother's death and when she was accused of killing her children. When he learns her children from her second marriage have gone missing, Lendon decides he must go to Nancy and give her the support he should've offered her years ago, knowing she will need all the help she can get.
• Near-Rape Experience: A darker version. Parrish intends to molest Missy and gets as far as partly undressing her, but is interrupted by Dorothy calling to say she intends to show his house to a potential buyer within an hour. Parrish has to quickly find a place to hide Missy and her brother; he never tries to abuse Missy again but only because he never gets an opportunity to do so.
• Never Found the Body: Carl drowned himself in the sea after his wife was found guilty of murdering their children; his body was never recovered, though his car was found abandoned on the beach with a suicide note attached to the steering wheel. It turns out Carl faked his suicide and has been living under different identities for the past seven years.
• No Medication for Me: Four days before her children were murdered, Nancy confided in Rob that she'd stopped taking her "medicine", saying she felt much better off it even though her husband would probably be angry at her if he knew. Justified in this case, because besides depression Nancy didn't have a condition requiring any medication, with Carl having convinced her she was "sick" to make her dependent on him.
• Offing the Offspring: Nancy was accused and initially found guilty of murdering her children, though she insists she never hurt them and the reader is made aware someone else was responsible. It turns out that the children's father killed them and set Nancy up, to prevent any of them from revealing he was abusing the children.
• Off on a Technicality: The reason Nancy's murder conviction was overturned; her lawyer got a mistrial declared after it came out two jurors had been overheard discussing the ongoing trial in a bar. Nancy couldn't be re-tried because key prosecution witness Rob Legler had disappeared, while her husband - whose testimony was also important - had committed suicide in the interim; the D.A had little choice but to release her.
• Old, Dark House: There's a large old house by the sea that overlooks the rest of the town, known as The Lookout by the locals. It was originally built by a sea captain back in the 1690s and has been added to over the centuries, though no one has owned it in years. The villain Courtney Parrish has rented the top floor, which was converted to an apartment, for the past six years until a buyer can been found. He uses the location to spy on the Eldredge house and brings Mike and Missy to The Lookout after abducting them.
• Older Than They Look: Nancy has just turned 32 at the beginning of the story, but several people comment that she looks much younger, particularly because she gives off a reticent, vulnerable air. Her husband Ray mentions that although he's only a few years older than her, he "always felt infinitely her senior". Even in her twenties, she looked more like a teenager. Unfortunately, the fact Nancy hasn't physically changed much (besides dying her hair) in the past seven years makes her easily recognisable to people who see old photos of her from her murder trial. It's also revealed her first husband was attracted to her specifically because she looked and acted young for her age, including making her wear childish-looking dresses that accentuated this.
• Outliving One's Offspring:
  • Played for Drama in Nancy's case; her children by her first husband Carl, Peter and Lisa, went missing seven years ago and were found dead two weeks later. Nancy was put on trial for their murders and although she was convicted, her conviction was later overturned. Carl believed Nancy was guilty and took his own life; Nancy moved to the other side of the country, where she's done her best to deal with her grief and move on with her life.
  • It's mentioned that Thurston Givens' only child died during the flu epidemic back in 1917. Consequently, he strongly empathises with the Eldredges when their children go missing.
• Parent with New Paramour: Fourteen years ago, Nancy's widowed mother Priscilla had fallen in love with Lendon Miles, a psychiatrist she worked with. Their relationship was becoming quite serious, though they'd taken things slowly as they weren't sure how Nancy would take it. Unfortunately, Priscilla died in a car accident shortly after they confessed their love. Lendon considered reaching out to Nancy, but decided against it on the advice of Nancy's fiance, who stated she needed privacy while she grieved; Lendon also believed Nancy might resent his presence. It turns out that Nancy was aware of her mother's feelings for Lendon and was happy for her; she'd hoped Lendon would come to see her in the aftermath of Priscilla's death, as they could've grieved together. Lendon hopes he can make it up to Nancy and Priscilla by helping Nancy now.
• Posthumous Sibling: Michael and Missy Eldredge had maternal half-siblings, Peter and Lisa Harmon, who were murdered two and four years before they were born (it's been seven years since Peter and Lisa died, while Mike is five years old and Missy is three). Mike and Missy don't know of their older siblings' existence; their mother finds it too painful to tell them (with their father respecting her wishes), not to mention that due to their young age they might tell other people and inadvertently expose that their mother was tried for killing Lisa and Peter.
• Properly Paranoid: Nancy is paranoid that someone in the Cape Cod will recognise her as the professor's wife accused of killing her children seven years ago, and of getting dragged back to California and put on trial again. She doesn't leave the house much if she can help it, avoids having her photo taken and doesn't like to get involved in community events and groups. Despite her husband assuring her it's highly unlikely anyone will figure out her identity and that if it comes to that they'll lawyer up, Nancy can't fully believe she and her family are safe. It turns out Nancy is right to be paranoid, because the man who killed her children has tracked her down and has been renting the house overlooking her own for the past six years.
• Questionable Consent: Rob admitted to kissing Nancy while they were alone together at her house (besides the children, who were in another room) and testified he "could tell" she wanted it, but that she quickly broke it off. Nancy testified that she believed Rob was about to kiss her and initially "let it happen", while her lawyer argued that Rob forced the kiss on her. Considering how vulnerable Nancy was and the way the kiss was described by both parties, it doesn't sound like Nancy was really all that enthusiastic about Rob kissing her. The fact that Nancy had already been sexually exploited and abused by her husband since she was 18 also throws her consent into doubt; she hadn't had a healthy relationship in seven years and was used to doing whatever a man wanted when it came to intimacy, regardless of her wishes. 
• Questioning Title?: Where Are the Children?, referring to the protagonist's missing children and the desperate search for them, as well as the belief the protagonist was involved.
• Rape as Backstory: Implied in Nancy's case. Her first husband was abusive towards her and while Nancy doesn't go into detail, she implies their sexual encounters were messed up (with hints Carl forced her to roleplay as a little girl, among other disturbing things) and were something she endured, at best. Nancy recalls that one of the few times she tried to assert herself and pushed Carl away when he did something she didn't like, he was furious with her; she just did whatever he wanted sexually to avoid setting him off even though it repulsed her, as she was frightened of what he'd do if she didn't.
• The Reveal: Courtney Parrish, the man who killed Nancy's eldest children and abducted her younger children, is her first husband Carl Harmon, who isn't quite as dead as everyone believed.
• Secret-Keeper: Ray Eldredge and Dorothy Prentiss are initially the only people in town who know Nancy's true identity and past as a young mother accused of killing her children; Nancy had confided in Dorothy to ask her advice when Ray proposed to her, and at Dorothy's encouragement she told Ray. Dorothy even went so far as to tell people that she'd known Nancy as a child when she lived in Virginia (Nancy actually grew up in Ohio), to throw people off the scent just in case they got suspicious. Ray understands why Nancy needs to keep her past hidden, though he sometimes gets frustrated by her apparent paranoia interfering in their lives.
• Sexless Marriage: Nancy indicates that after their youngest child Lisa was born, Carl largely stopped having sex with her. It’s strongly implied this is because he was more interested in Lisa.
• Shipping Torpedo: Priscilla Kiernan wasn't too happy that her eighteen-year-old daughter was dating a much older professor; although she didn't outright oppose the relationship, Nancy and Carl could tell she was taken aback when they announced their engagement, with Carl remarking to Nancy that her mother clearly hadn't warmed up to him yet. Priscilla had told Nancy she wanted to meet with her later at her apartment to discuss the engagement and Lendon believes she would've talked her daughter out of marrying Carl if she hadn't died on the way. It's heavily implied that Priscilla wasn't just opposed because of the age gap and Nancy's youth, but because she sensed how controlling and manipulative Carl was. Unfortunately for her and Nancy, Carl sensed this too and ensured Priscilla couldn't interfere.
• The Shrink: Dr Lendon Miles is a psychiatrist who was in love with Nancy's mother prior to her death. When he learns Nancy's children from her second marriage have gone missing and she's being treated as the main suspect due to the murders of her eldest children, Lendon travels to the Cape Cod to support her. He helps keep Nancy calm and gently coaxes her to open up about her past trauma to help her children now, while also offering expert advice on Nancy's mental state to the police.
• Signature Item Clue: Missy is wearing red knitted mittens with smiley faces embroidered on them when she gets kidnapped; one mitten gets caught on her swing and is found by her mother. Later, the other mitten falls off in The Lookout’s garage. Dorothy finds the mitten on the garage floor, but she assumes it was left in her car the last time Missy rode in it (as Missy has a habit of losing her mittens) and that she accidentally knocked it out. When Nancy reveals Missy was wearing the smiley mittens that morning, Dorothy quickly realises the implications.
• Starting a New Life: After being released from prison, Nancy understandably wanted to get as far away from San Francisco as possible, escaping both the painful memories there and the people who blamed her for the deaths of her children and husband. She cut and dyed her hair, got a new wardrobe, moved all the way to the Cape Cod on the opposite side of the US and starting going by her maiden name. No one in her new home knows about her past save for her second husband Ray Eldredge and family friend Dorothy Prentiss, and Nancy is anxious for it to stay that way.
• Strong Family Resemblance:
  • Lendon notes that Nancy bears a strong resemblance to her late mother, Priscilla. 
  • Parrish thinks that Missy looks a lot like her mother Nancy, in particular having the same round, blue eyes, small nose and reddish-blonde hair.
• Teacher/Student Romance: Carl Harmon was originally Nancy's biology professor at college; she was struggling with bio and so began seeing him after class for extra help, which is how their relationship began. Nancy subsequently dropped out of college to marry Carl and lived in his house on the college campus. Carl starting out in a position of authority over Nancy - who was also much younger than him - made it easier for him to manipulate and control her. Nancy also states that she was never really all that attracted to him and went along with the marriage because she felt she needed Carl to look after her.
• That Came Out Wrong: Rob testified that Nancy told him her children were "going to be smothered" four days before they were indeed fatally suffocated. Nancy admitted at her trial she did say that, but in the present day she attempts to explain she didn't mean it the way the prosecution presented it. She'd actually meant it figuratively rather than literally, expressing her concern that her children would be emotionally stifled and repressed because of their strictly controlled, isolated lives under their abusive father.
• Trauma Button:
  • At one point, Ray tries to comfort Nancy by saying "Everything is going to be all right, little girl" (especially as she'd mentioned her late father used to affectionately call her and her mother "his girls"). Nancy has a visceral traumatic reaction; she lashes out, knocking Ray's coffee cup from his hand and barely noticing the hot liquid splashing her, while screaming "I am not your little girl! Don't call me your little girl!" She also previously emphasised that when her father called her "his girl", it "wasn't like that". Nancy's abusive first husband called her "little girl"; coming from him it's particularly condescending and creepy, so it's understandable Nancy hates it and reacted violently to her current husband calling her it.
  • Ray notes that Nancy would sometimes get very quiet and withdrawn if she saw any dark-haired children, as they reminded her of her murdered children Peter and Lisa (who had dark hair). However, he also notes that she hasn't been so affected in past year or so.
  • Nancy never takes tub baths anymore, only showers, because they remind her of her first husband forcing her to bathe with him and sexually abusing her (she's also probably aware on some level her husband abused their children this way too).
• Trauma-Induced Amnesia: Nancy has difficulty remembering details of her life when she was married to Carl, repeatedly saying that it all feels like a dream sometimes. Dr Lendon Miles says she's likely repressed a lot of her memories from that period from trauma, given her mother died suddenly right before the marriage and it ended with Carl taking his own life after Nancy was found guilty of killing their children. Lendon and Jonathan Knowles believe it's vital that Nancy remember everything she can, as it could help save her children in the present. Considering how horrifically abusive Carl was to Nancy and her kids, and that he was forcing her to take medication she didn't need, it's unsurprising she blocked a lot of stuff out or has trouble remembering what's real.
• Troubled Child: Nancy mentions that her late eldest children were "So good. Too good" and that they were always very quiet and reserved compared to her younger children, including rarely laughing or smiling. Considering they lived at the mercy of their abusive and domineering father, it's not surprising they were often subdued and unhappy.
• Useless Bystander Parent: Nancy was a downplayed example when it came to Peter and Lisa, and she’s portrayed more sympathetically than is typical. Carl had initially convinced Nancy his authoritarian parenting was best for the family, but she became increasingly aware that the way her husband treated their children was abnormal and harmful. Despite this, she often struggled to stand up to him, as she was also being abused and controlled by Carl (not to mention she’d married him when she was barely an adult herself and had reason to suspect he'd murdered her mother). When she began to suspect Carl was sexually abusing Lisa (and possibly Peter, too), she realised she needed to get herself and the children away from Carl, starting by insisting on making a doctor’s appointment for Lisa; unfortunately, Lisa and Peter were murdered before any genuine intervention could happen, something she still feels immense guilt over.
• Would Hit a Girl: In the climax, Carl attempts to strangle Nancy to death and kicks her in the head, drawing blood, when she tries to rescue her children. It's hinted he may have been physically violent to her during their marriage, too.
• Would Hurt a Child: The villain, Courtney Parrish, has kidnapped, sexually violated and killed several children over the years, including the protagonist Nancy's two eldest children, whom she was falsely accused of killing. He intends to do the same to her two younger children, knowing Nancy will likely be blamed again.

---