Credence

Content Warning: This section of the guide discusses death by suicide, pedophilia, incest, sexual exploitation and assault, emotional and physical abuse, and violence.

At six o’clock one August morning in Los Angeles, 17-year-old Tiernan de Haas is woken by her parents’ Scottish terrier, Toulouse, trying to enter their room. Tiernan opens the door and discovers her parents, Hannes and Amelia de Haas, lying dead on the bed. Although there is no suicide note, it is almost certain that her parents died by suicide. Mirai Patel, the de Haas’s live-in housekeeper, tells Tiernan that her father had terminal cancer. He wanted to die, and Tiernan’s mother decided to go with him. Tiernan feels abandoned by her parents, but it is not a new feeling. She has been largely brought up by Mirai and other members of the household staff, and her parents neglected and avoided her. Amelia was an Oscar-nominated actress, while Hannes was a celebrated novelist and scriptwriter. Tiernan stares at the tire-swing in the yard, which her parents used, though she was never allowed to. Sensing Tiernan’s pain, Mirai cuts down the swing.

As police and media reach the scene, Tiernan dreads the renewed attention that she will be getting.