An armed intruder breaks into the McAllister home and accosts 15-year-old Lily, demanding to know the whereabouts of a woman pictured in a locket. She locks herself in the bathroom to escape him, and he eventually shoots himself. The man is identified as Philip Parker, a mentally ill drifter. The family becomes extremely tight-lipped about the subject; and is able to keep the incident out of the press because Lily's grandfather, George Greeley, owns the newspaper. Henry Bellow, a new student in Lily's class, confronts her with research about the Greeley family. He forces Lily to accept the fact that her family has undertaken a number of devious maneuvers throughout the years. Lily realizes that they have made a number of enemies, and suspects that Parker may not have chosen her house randomly. Lily's family freezes the bank account of her uncle Nate, the ""black sheep,"" after he resumes his drug use. He steals a necklace from Lily's mother, Catherine. He pleads with Lily to kee