Finders Keepers Trivia Quiz

Answer: 1978

Poor Rothstein, age 79, was woken by burglars in his home. The three men who'd invaded in the wee hours of the morning were Morrie, Freddy, and Curtis. They demanded the combination to his safe, which happened to be John's birth date (March of 1899). Freddy and Curtis were interested in money, while Morrie wanted hidden manuscripts.

They found both in the safe, and Morrie killed John because John hurt his feelings. Morrie had some serious emotional deficiencies, mostly narcissism.

Answer: He had polio.

"Finders Keepers" was a story about two worlds colliding, maybe more than two. It was about fate and destiny, and things out of our control. In 2009, Pete Saubers and his sister Tina were spending days listening to their parents fight over money. Dad Tom had been out of work over a year, and mom's job working in a school did not cover all the bills. So, Tom and his friend Todd decided to stand in line for the job fair at City Center.

While there, Tom and Todd both fell victim to Mr. Mercedes. After being hit, Tom was badly injured and it was difficult for him to walk.

He became increasingly more miserable and money even harder to come by. Then, one day Pete came across a buried treasure.

Answer: Jimmy Gold

Jimmy was everything Morris "Morrie" Bellamy wanted to be, and he was about fourteen when he discovered Jimmy. His teacher had given him the first book in John Rothstein's "Runner" trilogy. When Morrie read the third book he was devastated by the turn of events. Jimmy, once carefree and daring, had become the average grown up. He had a wife, kids, house, friends, and a job in advertising. Morrie felt John Rothstein had sold out. That was one of the reasons he was okay with killing the man.

Pinkie Brown was from "Brighton Rock" by Graham Greene, Huck Finn was created by Mark Twain, and Dexter Morgan by Jeff Lindsay.

Answer: Pete Saubers

Pete found a trunk filled with money and journals down by the creek. It had been buried near a tree by Morrie Bellamy in 1978. Morrie's confidant, Andy, had urged him to hide the evidence that linked Morrie to John Rothstein's murder. So, Morrie buried it just down from his mother's home, on an overgrown patch of land near the creek. That evening, Morrie got blind drunk and assaulted a woman named Cora Ann Hooper.

He was sentenced to life in prison, and would not get out until 2014. Meanwhile, the Saubers family moved into that home years later during economic hard times. Pete found the trunk by accident, when part of the earth covering it shifted and the treasure was exposed.

He used the money inside to help his family through the financial strain by sending in about $500 a month to his father.

This relief eventually led to his mom getting a better job, his dad recovering significantly from his Mr. Mercedes injuries, and Pete reading all of John Rothstein's secret writings. These included two more novels about Jimmy Gold, and in those Jimmy reverted back to the wily and fun person he'd once been.

Answer: True

Morrie had spent time planning his heist of Rothstein's home. He'd gone to John's home town of Talbot Corners, enlisted the help of coworkers Freddy and Curtis, and talked to his pal Andy a lot about the injustice of such talent wasted on man hiding out for the last 18 years. Andy told Morrie if John had written anything else in that time, and never published it, Andy could find someone to buy it on the black market. Though, when Morrie murdered John instead of just robbing him, Andy back peddled out of that promise.

He swore to Morrie it had all been just fun talk and conjecture about Rothstein's activities. They believed the author had been writing all that time, but there was no real proof to it. The despair that followed Andy's rejection led to Morrie's attack on Cora.

It was not until Cora was diagnosed with cancer that she agreed to back Morrie's parole. Morrie had murdered Curtis and Freddy the day after John's murder, so he could have gone to prison at any time, for multiple reasons.

Answer: The Runner Comes Back

It was in the third book, "The Runner Slows Down", that Morrie felt Rothstein had sold out. Jimmy Gold would have never become ordinary, and Morrie felt betrayed. After Pete found the trunk and read the unpublished notebooks, Jimmy had been redeemed. "The Runner Goes West" and "The Runner Raises a Flag" completed the series, though Rothstein felt he'd ruin his writing reputation if Jimmy's true nature had been revealed. Jimmy left his family and rebelled once more. Morrie spent 36 years in prison dreaming of the day he'd get to read about Jimmy's true fate.

Answer: Hatchet

Morrie bought the hatchet at Home Depot, along with some tools to retrieve the buried trunk. When he found the trunk empty, Morrie deduced that Andy must have figured out his hiding spot. Andy actually had no idea and have never tried to locate the notebooks on his own.

He figured Pete had discovered the treasure somewhere inside Morrie's old house. Morrie confronted Andy, who confessed to his dealings with young Pete. So, Morrie took his revenge, axed Andy to death and gathered more evidence on Pete Saubers.

Answer: True

Bill ran a skip trace retrieval company called Finders Keepers. He knew the Robinson family from the previous novel, "Mr. Mercedes". Barbara was friends with Tina Saubers, and her old brother Jerome had helped Bill solve the case against the Mercedes Killer.

When Tina confessed her worries to Barbara, Barbara told her Bill could help. So, after this revelation by Tina, Bill, Holly, and Jerome were on the clock to save Pete from Morrie. Holly was the niece of one of the Mercedes Killer's victims. That was Bill's ex-girlfriend Janey, who died in an explosion meant for Bill.

Answer: In a fire

Morrie had Tina trapped in the basement of the Rec, an abandoned property Pete's dad was in charge of selling. The Rec, as it had been known even in Morrie's time, was also the place Pete had hidden the Rothstein notebooks. Pete told Bill, Holly, and Jerome he was heading home to make sure him mom and sister were safe, and that he'd meet them all there.

Unfortunately, Morrie arrived first and shot Linda Saubers in the head. He abducted Tina as a ransom for the notebooks, using Tina's cellphone to communicate with Pete. Once they were all at the Rec together, Pete doused the notebooks in lighter fluid and held a lit Zippo lighter over them.

He and Morrie were at standoff. Pete offered up the unharmed notebooks in exchange for their release, but Morrie said he was going to shoot Tina multiple times instead. Bill and Jerome arrived at the Rec, Holly stayed behind to make sure Linda received medical attention, and Pete was startled into dropping the Zippo onto the fuel-laced books. Morrie tried to save the notebooks as Bill, Tina, and Pete were pulled from the building by Jerome. Morrie died in the fire and Linda, only grazed by the bullet, recovered.

Answer: Brady Hartsfield

Ever since Brady woke up out of a coma, a year after Holly had bashed his brains in so to speak, Bill had visited him regularly. Brady, Mr. Mercedes himself, had never been expected to wake from the coma. So, when he did, Bill felt it necessary to check and make sure Brady was still empty on the inside. He'd use verbal taunts to try and get a reaction, but it had never worked. In the months prior to this latest visit, rumors had begun to circulate that Brady had some kind of mental powers. He could turn on water in other areas of the hospital, move objects, etc. Bill once again tried to get Brady to engage, if he was even able to do so, but nothing came of it. So, Bill left Brady to his dreary life...

Final passage of the book:
"When Hodges is gone, Brady raises his head...In the bathroom, the water in the sink gushes, then stops. Brady looks at the picture of him and his mother, smiling with their cheeks pressed together. Stares at it. Stares at it. The picture falls over. Clack." - July 26, 2014.

Maybe, it's true. Maybe Brady does have some kind of power after all? I suspect the third book will reveal the truth. Stay tuned.