just joined discussion wanted to say a couple of things; agreed with many others, although contrived in many ways, enjoyed book very much, read twice. has anyone seen the wikipedia page on DHAMPYRES which are decendents of a union of vampires and humans? these beings are described as having qualities that could describe helen and her daughter; including making good vampire hunters. also re. the end of the book. it is abosolutely necessary for a big question mark to hand over what did and didnt happen to dracua or his curse. there is a great 60s film by roman polanski called ' the fearless vampire killers' or 'dance of the vampires' watch this all the way through - laughs and all but watch all the way to the very end - you get that same feeling. genniwren

PAM, I first read And the Sea Will Tell right after I moved to Hawai'i the first time in the early 1990s. "The Sea Wind Murders" were still discussed heatedly in the Islands at that time and Bugliosi's book sparked new interest. Although nearly everyone agreed that Buck Walker was guilty of murdering the Grahams, the split was about half and half concerning Stephanie's involvement in anything but the stealing of the Sea Wind, for which she was convicted and served time. Over the years I've reread the book several times and researched other sources. I've thought about it and tried to work it out as to what I think is most logical. Of course when I got the chance to visit Palmyra I tried to apply what I learned about the physical layout of the place and whether it was possible for Stephanie to not have known what happened to the Grahams. I have to admit that my opinion of Stephanie's complicity has vacillated. On the one hand, assuming for the sake of argument that Stephanie was not involved: It was certainly possible that she heard nothing. The noisy birds and the constant rustling of the tree fronds would have masked just about anything short of a large explosion. The Iola was tied up to dolphins on the other side of a spit of land that projected from Cooper Island into the western lagoon from where the Grahams had anchored the Sea Wind. If Stephanie was aboard the Iola as she said she was, she would not have been able to see what was going on 'around the corner' with all the flora blocking the view. If Stephanie was as busy as she claimed that day on board the Iola getting ready to sail to Fanning Island, it's quite possible that she was simply unaware of what was going on outside her own boat. On the other hand, a lot of what Stephanie did indicates 'consciousness of guilt', in my opinion. Such as: As soon as she and Buck got on board the Sea Wind, the first thing they did was help themselves to the Grahams' food and alcohol (Stephanie said that a bottle of peach brandy was sitting on the table, seemingly for her since it was her favorite liquor). Stephanie appropriated Muff's wardrobe. She was photographed wearing one of Muff's blouses that Mac's sister Kit recognized. Stephanie lied about the scuttling of the Iola until she was confronted with a photograph that showed both the Iola and the Sea Wind outside the channel into the western lagoon of Palmyra Atoll. Stephanie was certainly aware of Buck Walker's temperament. He was selfish (he ate most of their own stores in spite of Stephanie begging him to go easy); he was lazy (he only grudgingly helped Stephanie with their 'roof garden' of vegetables, preferring to cultivate marijuana seedlings instead); he didn't give a damn if his vicious dogs terrorized other people; and above all else he resented the Grahams' presence and he coveted their boat, the Sea Wind. Then, as you mentioned, as soon as Buck and Stephanie sailed back to Hawai'i on the Sea Wind, they had its appearance altered somewhat by painting the trim lavender! They had no intentions of informing the authorities of why they were on the Grahams' boat without the Grahams. No, I don't think things add up. Stephanie does not seem to have been afraid of Buck. In many ways, she was the dominant personality, or at least she seems to have been the smarter of the two (she was the navigator on the way down to Palmyra; Buck could not have managed that without her). Was she a sociopath? I don't know. Buck certainly was. Stephanie had lousy taste in men. She seemed to like down-and-outs, thinking somehow that she could 'help' them. Wasn't one of her later boyfriends also a convicted felon? At any rate, when Stephanie threw her lot in with Buck Walker, she accepted his reality (being on the lam because he was afraid of going back to prison) as her own reality. It seems stupid of her, but women have done plenty of stupid things when they think they are in love. Would she have helped her lover murder people who had been kind to them and on whom (she acknowledged) they had become dependent? Of course she could have, but did she? I don't think there is conclusive proof that she did. Suspicion, yes, but there is that shadow of doubt in my mind. As for Vincent Bugliosi as a narcissist: He does come across as a trumpeter of his own successes. PAM, I appreciate you getting back to me. I hope you found the book at least interesting, although perhaps exasperating! ;-)

"how come so many guys get killed assuming they're all wearing bullet proof vests.....that's never made sense to me." The vest will only protect the area it covers. If someone gets shot in the head, a bulletproof vest won't help. If someone gets shot in the thigh and the bullet pierces an artery, a bulletproof vest won't help. Add my name to the list of folks who think that Elizabeth is still alive and put into hiding for her protection. When Megan Boone is ready to return from maternity leave, Elizabeth will be shown to be alive. And, I think that will be in the Fall. I think this season will end with everyone still thinking that Elizabeth is dead.

I was trying to figure out how far forward in the future we flashed. Kevin and Beth's cousin looked exactly the same. But Randall and Tess obviously were older. Probably at least 10 years given that Tess is now a social worker, and not too far out of college. I HOPE Deja isn’t in prison. I would like to think Randall's and Beth's family's influence would have been a positive thing that helped Deja overcome her poor odds. I do not think Randall is Deja's father. We would have seen some sort of recognition or obvious connection of some sort between Randall and Deja's mother, I think, and I don’t think Randall ever would have gotten involved with such a messed up woman as Deja's mom.