If We Were Villains

As Oliver continues his account to Colborne, he reflects that Meredith refused to testify at his trial, saying she couldn’t recall anything about Richard’s death. After Oliver was sentenced, Meredith withdrew to her Manhattan flat for some time. Eventually, she became a TV actor. Meredith now stars in a legal drama inspired by Shakespeare’s Henry IV. She visited Oliver once in prison, which won him much admiration from his fellow inmates.

The badly convulsing Richard drifts towards the friends, and Oliver, seeing his crumpled body, thinks of Hamlet. James tries to jump in the water, but Oliver stops him and drags him away. Alexander wonders if saving Richard is the best option since Richard has been so violent towards all of them recently, including Wren, his own cousin. If he survives, Richard may become even more vicious towards the friends. Alexander suggests they do nothing and let matters take their own course. Reluctantly, everyone agrees. Richard dies grotesquely before their eyes. The friends discuss what to tell the police when they are inevitably questioned. They decide they will say they all found him floating dead in the water. No one knows what exactly happened to Richard: He could have been killed by an outsider or may have suffered an accident in the woods.