Penny Ann Drinkwater is murdered

Penny Ann Drinkwater’s murder turns an overlooked classmate into the center of a childhood memory marked by belated guilt. She disappears during a surprise snowstorm, is found dead at The Falls weeks later, and is eventually linked to former neighbor Joseph Monk. For Dominick Birdsey, the crime also carries the weight of his own recent role in singling her out at school.

Before the Disappearance

Penny Ann had become the focus of suspicion whenever something went missing from the classroom. She was blamed for taking classmates’ belongings and snacks, while she denied knowing how the missing things had ended up with her. On the day before she disappeared, she told Dominick that her mother would buy her a Shetland pony after returning from a trip.

Dominick’s memory of the school’s accusations is complicated by his own false report. He told the principal, Miss Haas, that Penny Ann had taken Oreos, then realized afterward that he had invented the theft. The school nevertheless praised him publicly as a good citizen. His satisfaction at being recognized gave way to unease, sharpened by the sense that his twin brother, Thomas Birdsey, was watching him.

Disappearance and Discovery

Penny Ann vanished on a day when a sudden snowstorm brought school to an early close. Mothers trudged through the snow to collect their children, but Penny Ann did not return. For about a week, newspapers printed her photograph; at school, the empty chair beside Dominick and her untidy desk made her absence increasingly difficult to ignore. Her blue sweater remained crammed into the desk, one worn sleeve hanging toward the floor. Dominick asked to move seats, but Miss Higgins refused.

In mid-February, Penny Ann’s photograph returned to the front page with news that a girl’s body had been found at The Falls. The newspaper reported that she had been killed and left without her clothes. The discovery changed the meaning of the earlier disappearance: the missing student whose empty place had unsettled the classroom was now the victim of a murder investigation.

Identification and Aftermath

During the summer, a newspaper reported that a former neighbor had been charged in Penny Ann’s death. The suspect was identified as Joseph Monk, and the paper recounted details of his confession. The case thus moved from an unexplained disappearance to a named killer and a public account of the crime.

The murder continued to shape Dominick’s recollection through the school’s response and his own remorse. At a ceremony where he read an essay, Miss Haas reached out and squeezed his hand; her tears surprised him because she had previously seemed strictly businesslike. He remembered that he and the principal had helped make Penny Ann cry shortly before she vanished. Beside his mother, Penny Ann’s brother Ralph Drinkwater fidgeted during the speeches, and his mother pulled at his arm. The ceremony offered a public occasion to remember Penny Ann, but it also returned Dominick to the painful knowledge that, just before her death, he had helped turn suspicion against her.