For ten years they ran, hid, and cleaned light bulbs and switches to leave no trace of ever having lived wherever their running took them. For ten years Mary dragged her daughter with her, and for ten years Sam didn’t ask her mom “Why?”
Her first question wasn’t “Why?” but instead: “Did you kill anyone?”
Mary was happy not having to answer any questions for as long as she could because she always believed the truth would hurt more than the ten years of lies.
Mary realizes that the wall she built to protect her daughter was also standing tall and thick between them. Sam deserved to know why she did some of the crazy things she did, but Mary isn’t ready to give up too much too soon.
When Sam was little they played a lot of games on their long road trips; a favorite was ‘20 Questions’. But now that she was older, the game was used to bring them closer. Sam starts asking questions following the rules of the game, and Mary has to answer with honesty and reservation.
As the questions are asked and answered, the wall Mary built starts to crumble and sheds a new light on the dark secrets she’s managed to hide.
20 Questions is a story that unfolds in two parallel tales. The first is of Mary and Sam. The second is of Jack, the FBI’s lead agent on the Whitney kidnapping case, as he befriends Patty Whitney, Mary’s mother- in-law, friend, and accomplice.