Diksha Sundriyal
In Netflix’s ‘A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder,’ a five-year-old murder mystery comes back to the surface when 17-year-old Pippa Fitz-Amobi decides to reopen and solve the case as part of her school project. The biggest question mark in the case is: who killed Andie Bell? According to the cops and the town of Little Kilton, it was her boyfriend, Sal Singh, who also died later. But Pip is convinced that the truth is something else. This desire to uncover everything about the case leads her to an investigation, which leads to harrowing discoveries. SPOILERS AHEAD
How did Andie Die?
In the end, Pip discovers that Andie wasn’t exactly killed by anyone. She died because she didn’t receive treatment in time, so it was more neglect and less of a premeditated murder. It all started with Andie having an affair with the English teacher, Elliot Ward. His wife had died recently, and Andie was having trouble at home, due to which her grades were falling. She went to him for help, but they ended up having an affair. Elliot was the “secret older guy” that Pip had been looking for all this while. He was the one with whom Andie stayed at the hotel under the name of Daisy Buchanan and Jay Gatsby.
Eventually, the affair ended. Andie had met Sal and was in love with him. She also wanted to escape her abusive household, where her father’s tyrannical nature was suffocating her. She needed money to leave, which is why she turned to selling drugs. But then Sal finds out about it, which leads to an argument between them. It was resolved, with Andie promising that she would not sell drugs anymore. Still, she needed fast money, which led her back to Elliot Ward.
Andie blackmailed Elliot about the affair, which would have landed him in prison because not only did he have an affair with his student, but also Andie was still underage at the time. She demanded a hefty sum from Elliot in return for keeping the affair a secret, but he tried to talk with her, telling her how he couldn’t get her the money. They argued when Elliot pushed Andie, and she hit her head on the countertop. But that didn’t kill her. She was bleeding but still alive. Before Elliot could get help, she left his house and returned home.
Andie’s sister, Becca, was waiting for her at the house. She had been raped by Max Hastings at a calamity party and wanted Andie to accompany her to the police station to make a report about it. Andie refused because the drug that Max had used on her was supplied by Andie, which means that if Max were arrested, Andie would go to prison, too. Discovering that her sister was indirectly behind her rape was enough to anger Becca, but what hurt her even more was that Andie was planning to leave Little Kilton and leave her behind to deal with their abusive father.
For the second time that night, Andie got into an argument and was pushed such that her head was hit for the second time. Becca hadn’t noticed Andie’s head injury before, so when she saw her sister cough up blood and die in front of her, she thought she was to blame. Becca thought that if she called for help or went to the cops, she would be arrested for killing her sister. She couldn’t have that, so she did nothing and let Andie die.
What Happened to Andie’s Body?
One of the key things in solving a murder is the dead body of the victim. A lot of details about the murder and the murderer can come to light through it. In Andie’s case, her dead body was never found, which was one of the biggest hurdles in solving the case. And Becca knew it. She knew that if Andie’s body weren’t found, no one would suspect her of being responsible for Andie’s death. There was no reason for anyone to suspect Becca, so she shoved Andie’s body in her car and drove away with it. Later, when the cops saw Andie driving the car in the CCTV footage, it was actually Becca. But because the sisters looked so similar, no one thought twice that it wasn’t Andie driving the car but her sister.
Becca took Andie to the caves, where the calamity parties were held. In one of those caves was a well, which, ironically, Andie showed to Becca a while back. Becca knew that this was the last place anyone would look. It was also not visited by many people, so there was little to no chance of anyone stumbling upon it. So, Becca threw Andie’s body in the well, ensuring that no one could find the body and trace the murder back to her. She kept this secret for five years until Pip deduced what had happened that night and came knocking at her door.
Is Becca Caught?
Becca did everything in her power to keep the events of that night a secret. When Sal Singh was framed for the murder by Elliot Ward, who had no idea what happened between Andie and Becca and considered himself responsible for his disappearance, Becca thought she’d gotten away with the thing. Five years later, when Pip started digging into the thing, Becca sent her threatening messages, telling her to stop the investigation or face the consequences. She even kidnapped Pip’s dog, Barney, and the poor soul ended up dead.
After Elliot is arrested, he confesses to having murdered Sal, but he claims not to have killed Andie. Pip also discovers that Elliot couldn’t have kidnapped Barney because he was not in town that day. This means someone else killed Barney, which means someone else sent her the threatening texts, which means someone else killed Andie Bell. Connecting all the dots, Pip comes to the conclusion that it had to be Becca because she was the last person to see Andie alive. Instead of beating around the bush, she directly goes to Becca and starts with the thing about the calamity party and the rape.
Becca confesses everything to Pip and takes her to the caves to show her where she dumped Andie’s body. Pip doesn’t realize that the tea she drank at Becca’s house was laced with Rohypnol, which Becca stole from Andie’s secret stash. Now that Pip knew everything, Becca couldn’t let her live. She had planned to throw a drugged Pip into the well and kill her to keep her secret. What Becca doesn’t know is that Pip’s best friend, Cara, always knows Pip’s location via the app on her phone.
Before going to Becca’s house, Pip had asked Ravi to accompany her. He was leaving town that day and was on the bus when he decided to go back and join Pip and finish what they’d started together. When he reached Becca’s house, he saw Pip’s car, but she was nowhere to be seen. He immediately became suspicious and went to Cara, who tracked down Pip. They ended up in the caves as Becca was about to throw Pip in the well. Another thing that Ravi and Cara did was call the cops. So, even though Andie ran away from them, she would have been found out by the cops when she emerged from the woods. Once Pip was back to normal, she’d give her testimony against Becca, finally putting an end to the Andie Bell murder investigation.
Does Max Pay for His Crimes?
Investigating the murder of Andie Bell leads Pip to discover some very dark things about her otherwise sleepy town. The web of secrets and lies that claimed Andie and Sal’s lives is now out in the open, and Pip realizes that Elliot and Becca are not the only ones to blame. Others may not have committed murders, but they did commit crimes that they must answer for. The person at the top of this list is Max Hastings.
While Andie sold drugs to make money, Max Hastings bought them from her to drug girls and raped them while they were unconscious. In Andie’s secret log book, which had a record of who liked which drug, Pip and Ravi discovered that one person liked buying rohypnol, also known to be a date rape drug, regularly. The person’s name was abbreviated, making it impossible to figure out who it could be. Later, Pip discovers that the person is Max Hastings, and the abbreviation is not his real name but the name he uses for his social media accounts.
This brought a lot of things into perspective for Pip and her investigation, especially the detail about Becca’s rape, which further unfolded other things for Andie’s murder. While Elliot and Becca went to prison for their crimes, Max was still out and about, which did not sit well with Pip. Moreover, he even tried to discredit Becca, calling her a liar, but Pip would have none of it. She promised Max that she would tell everyone about everything he has done and get justice for all the girls he has wronged and the lives he has destroyed.
Considering that she solved a case that even the police couldn’t get to the bottom of, it’s safe to say that if one person can expose Max for who he is, it is Pip, and once she has set her mind to it, she will stop at nothing. So, it’s safe to say that Max’s crimes will come to light. Whether or not he goes to prison is a completely different deal, considering that he is the son of a rich man with many more resources than Elliot and Becca. But once the truth comes to light, the whole town will know exactly who he is.
Do Pip and Ravi End Up Together?
Apart from the truth, a great thing that comes out of Pip’s investigation is her friendship with Ravi, which develops into much more by the end. Their passion for solving the case brings them quite close, and they spend a lot of time with each other as their friendship evolves into a deep liking for each other. When Elliot Ward is arrested, everyone, including Ravi, thinks the case has been solved. For him, the truth about his brother’s death has come to light, and with Sal being exonerated, things are much different for Ravi. All the anger that the town had for him and his family has changed into sympathy and guilt, and now, Ravi is not seen as a murderer’s brother anymore.
The death of his brother and the circumstances surrounding it had a significant impact on Ravi’s life. He was bullied in school, due to which he couldn’t dedicate himself to the prospect of higher education. He couldn’t leave the town, even though he despised living there, because he couldn’t live with the idea of leaving his parents behind to suffer the hate from the people of Little Kilton alone. But now that things were different, the first thing Ravi decided to do was leave town and move on with his life, which he had kept on hold for so long. He plans to move to the city, get a job, apply for universities, and get his career back on track.
When he tells Pip about it, she is heartbroken. She asks Ravi to stay back, saying he could do those things from Little Kilton as well, but he has had enough of the town and wants to leave as soon as possible. However, on the bus exiting the town, he finds a marshmallow in his bag, which reminds him of his time with Pip. Before his departure, Pip had asked him to accompany her to Becca Bell’s place. He feels guilty for abandoning her and returns to her, eventually saving her with Cara’s help.
When all the loose ends have been tied up, and justice has been served, Ravi decides to stay in Little Kilton a little longer. He still plans to apply for university, but he will do it from home, spending a few more months with Pip, which gives them a chance to figure out their feelings for each other, which they express by sharing a kiss. So, in a way, the investigation did have a happy ending, at least for Ravi and Pip.
Read More: A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder: Does Barney the Dog Die?
