How does Luke and Gretchen keeeping the secret about their whereabouts the day Ellie died affect their relationship with each other and with Falk? How does it impact the way the truth comes out about Ellie's death?

Secrets and lies and the reasons why people keep them are the core of this novel. Luke and Gretchen both keep the secret about their whereabouts on the day Ellie died, even from Falk, but for different reasons. How does the keeping of this secret affect their relationship with each other and with Falk? How does it impact the way the truth comes out about Ellie's death?

Their secrets caused doubts and suspicion which colored their friendship. It delayed the outcome of the truth by decades, causing so much harm along the way.

I agree about the decades long truth coming out causing much harm.

As a result of hiding the truth, Aaron ended up the scapegoat and left town, thus prohibiting his relationship with Luke from ever becoming a mutual friendship. He was left to wonder what really happened while shouldering all the blame. His friendship with Gretchen never did fully recover.

Luke and Gretchen both seemed to have a lot of guilt about not speaking to Ellie and it appeared to drive them apart. The lie they told to protect themselves and allegedly Falk made Falk and others wonder about the truth.

I think that by keeping the secret about their whereabouts, Luke and Ellie were more likely to stay together as a couple. They were joined by their lie and by the tragedy of Ellie's death. This probably kept them together as a couple longer than if their relationship had run its normal course.

Their secret also served to perpetuate distrust amonst the community. Luke and Gretchen knew that Ellie was at the river alone. They did not know that Falk was not with her. I think they may have always wondered a little bit if he had been involved. It looks like Gretchen was convinced it was suicide. Unfortunately, the rest of the town need to blame someone and they pinned the blame on Falk.

Luke's father always knew that Luke had some kind of secret and he always wondered if Luke was involved. The secret caused his father to have doubts.

Secrets and lies plagued the relationships between Luke and Gretchen and between both of them and Aaron, in effect ruining the friendships that could have lasted a lifetime. Keeping the secret and thereby delaying for 20 years the relation of the truth about Ellie's death had adverse effects on the relationship between Aaron and his father, between Luke, and his father, and between the entire town and both Falks. I'm reminded of a quote from Sir Walter Scott: "Oh, what a tangled web we weave when first we practice to deceive."