Sep 05, 2022
I actually went back and re-read previous chapters to double check this, but *excellent* work with the tricks of exact wording you used. Things like "the teen whose computer he had come to fix," and even avoiding giving gendered pronouns for the person who called him back into the house -- they all give the illusion that the MC is talking to Philip, when actually it's all his sister. The MC's outbursts and reactions all make much more sense in retrospect, since Emma's talking to and about someone who isn't there.
Generally, I prefer mysteries where all the information is given up front rather than using narrative or framing device tricks to conceal the true answer. But for a mystery about the paranormal and what is and isn't real, those narrative tricks I usually dislike fit *perfectly.*
The only complaint I can think to give about this arc is that sometimes, the need for exact wording means that dialogue is kind of hard to parse, since it's tough determining who's speaking. Overall, though, excellent work.