House Rules - Chapter 9 (pgs 379-445)

Only one chapter left to go, I think. So I should finish the book tonight. Then I can see if my theory is anywhere near correct.

In Case 9: Pajama Game, Jeffrey MacDonald was convicted because his story of the events that lead to his wife and daughter's murder didn't match the evidence. Some thing(s) about this case are bound to not match the evidence since a crime scene was set up that wasn't the actual crime scene. Indeed, I believe there was no crime at all. Just a crime scene that Jacob created to protect Theo.

lol @ Jacob in the yellow pimp suit. If it is that much trouble to get him into dressy clothes, how do they expect him to stay in them willingly. Theo tries to tell Emma what he knows about that happened the day Jess died, but she assumes his concerns are about something else. Emma wears a yellow dress to help Jacob better deal with not wearing yellow on Yellow Wednesday. I don't think it was noted before now that Jacob also wore the color of the day as well as ate it.

Jacob remembers being fired from his first job for not wearing the uniform due to certain color days. Prior to telling his boss about his AS, he had made excuses about this for several weeks with no trouble. It was only after Jacob told him that he was fired. No one anticipates the reporters at the courthouse. Jacob has a meltdown and flees. Oliver has to tackle him. Jacob closes his eyes and they all sing and that gets Jacob through the reporters and into the courthouse without another meltdown. Jacob realizes the Oliver thinks why he's not guilty is not the same as the truth. Jacob remembers calling a girl out for lying in his social skills class. It's very important to Jacob not to lie. He remembers practicing with Jess asking a girl to a dance. He's not doing a very good job until he really opens up and asks Jess herself to the dance. Jess is so happy about the sweetness of his declaration, thinking he is just practicing, that she hugs him. Jacob lets her and he likes the hug. Jacob cares for Jess in the ways that he can. It seems even clearer that he wouldn't hurt her.

Helen Sharp, possible last named so by Jodi because of her harshness in attitude, the prosecuting attorney, crumples a piece of paper in her opening argument, setting Jacob off into a meltdown because he can't stand paper to be crumpled and not folded. It seems like Helen might be aware of this fact and might have done this to set Jacob off to show the jury how easy it is to do and how erratic and possibly violent Jacob acts when it happens. Jacob just wants to paper smoothed. Emma doesn't want to be pitied for having a child like Jacob, she would not pity someone else for the same. But she hates that she might be pitied for having a child who is a murder because she would pity someone else who did. Notice that Emma thinks "if Jacob is a murderer" here, not "if Jacob were a murderer". Despite Emma saying she believed Jacob when he said he did not kill Jess when she asked him, it seems she still has her doubts. Emma worried about what kind of child she's raised. Oliver makes sure the paper is smoothed for Jacob to calm him down.

Jacob hates Mark. Did Jacob frame Mark because of this. Mark distracts Jess from Jacob during their sessions. Jacob assumes he is boring her. He thinks he likes her. He is hurt. Jess wants Jacob to meet Mark. They all go skiing. Jacob thinks Mark is good with people, specifically girls, but not smart. Jacob hates Mark because he is then unsure if Jess is truly his friend. Mark calls Jacob retarded. Mark testifies. He says he's hung out with Jacob several times but paid little attention to him. Jacob has noticed that Mark abuses Jess physically. Oliver gets Mark to admit that the bruised on Jess' neck are from where he choked her the morning she died.

A CSI testifies that Jacob's fingerprint was found in the kitchen and Mark's boot prints were found outside the window where it was set up to look like a break in. Jacob points out to Oliver that Luminol can have a false positive with reacting the bleach.

After an inappropriate reaction to the ME's testimony, Jacob has a sensory break. During it, he comment that he would have killed to be at the autopsy. Oliver asks under his breath did you. Oliver thinks Jacob may have actually killed Jess.

Rich returns to the narrative. Its seems like Rich and Emma aren't to be at this point. I still don't like Rich. Rich presents Jacob's journal entry about Jess' crime scene. He says that no one would know all that except the police and the killer. Or someone who set up the crime scene, as we know Jacob has admitted to doing. During a sensory break, Jacob is proud that the cops have figured out his crime scene and thinks that Oliver is doing a good job. Emma and Oliver are more and more worried about the outcome of the trial. Oliver points out in court that perhaps the journal entry is Jacob trying to help solve the case. But then it is reveal that Jacob wrote at the end of the journal entry "solved: me" and underlined it ten times.

Theo tells Jacob after dinner that night that he was there the day Jess died. Jacob tells Theo he knows and that's why he did it. Theo thinks Jacob killed Jess to protect him. Jess was alive when he left. Jacob thinks Theo killed Jess and set up the crime scene to protect him. Jess was dead when he got there. It seems like there was a small window of time between Theo leaving and Jess being alive and Jacob seeing Theo and finding Jess dead. I'm still going with Jess slipped and fell.

Jacob watches a home video of himself before the AS manifested, back when he was normal. Midway through the video, it has been taped over with Jacob's prom date. Jess is on the tape. Jacob is watching to see Jess again. Jacob realizes he might have done something wrong. I think this is covering for Theo, not killing Jess.

Emma can't sleep that night. She imagines life if Jacob were a normal boy. She goes to see Oliver. He is writing his opening statement. He's having a hard time with it. They admit their worries and fears about Jacob's trial and their lives. Oliver tells Emma how he feels. Then he makes a move. Emma lets him. They spend the night together. Emma feels everything might be okay then. I am so happy about this. I felt sure Jodi wouldn't end up pairing Emma and Oliver together, even though to me they seem to be a well-matched pair.

Emma and Oliver go to Emma's house in the morning and discover that Henry is there.