Birdy closes out all her affairs in London and moves to Hope Falls with her dog, Sunday, to make the most of what little time she has left. On October 31, she buys two cups of coffee and walks to the police station as “It’s time to confess” (111).

After Carter leaves, Harrison struggles to compose himself. He’s not a suspect, but he worries that any action he takes might make him look suspicious. Though he doesn’t want certain secrets brought to light, he decides to tell Carter “what she did.”

Sergeant Carter is surprised to see Birdy since it’s been six months since their one-night stand. He nervously tells her he doesn’t have time to “catch up” because he’s working a missing-person case and a “new detective” is arriving. Birdy reveals that she is the new detective and his “new boss.”

Carter struggles to focus on processing Birdy’s words as he keeps remembering their night together. Birdy is all business and questions him about the case, saying he’s already mishandled it. Carter has a recorded statement from Harrison, which Birdy demands he transcribe for her. For now, her office is The Smuggler’s Inn above the local pub, where she is staying.

This chapter is a transcription of Carter’s interview with Harrison. Harrison brings Carter Eden’s rings, which she left on the bedside table. Carter reports that they found her abandoned car but haven’t found a body. Carter knows Harrison still has a flat in London and asks if either he or Eden is having an affair. The question offends Harrison, and he doesn’t answer. Carter asks about their daughter, whose name the intruder knew. Harrison states that Gabriella has never been to Hope Falls and that this is irrelevant to the investigation. When Carter asks about life insurance, Harrison leaves.

After she reads the first part of the transcript, Birdy asks Carter to meet her immediately. He recounts the incident from the previous night involving a woman who claimed to be Eden Fox. She chides him for allowing her to escape him twice and not properly investigating certain aspects of the case. Carter admits to having only met Eden at her art gala that evening, but Birdy senses he’s lying. She sends him to interview the gallery owner, Diana, who’s nicknamed “black widow” because three of her husbands have died.

The transcript from Sergeant Carter’s interview with Harrison continues. Harrison explains that Gabriella can’t help with his investigation because she is non-verbal. Carter requests contact information for Eden’s friends, but Harrison states that Eden has no friends. After becoming a mother, she became very isolated. At first, Harrison is reluctant to give the name of his employer, but at Carter’s insistence, he reveals that he is the CEO of Thanatos.

Stunned by the revelation that Harrison is connected to Thanatos, Birdy tries to research him online but turns up nothing. She then texts Carter to meet her at Spyglass. She wants to interview Harrison again, claiming that Carter “didn’t ask the right questions” (133). Harrison answers the door while working from home; Birdy finds it strange that he is working while his wife is missing. Birdy apologizes for Carter’s blundering during their first interview. Harrison invites them inside, and Carter makes tea, and Birdy notices with surprise that he knows where everything is in the kitchen. Birdy is an expert at detecting lies, and every answer Harrison gives is truthful, including his assertion that, despite appearances, he is grieving. He’s just distracting himself with work.

Birdy asks to see both Eden’s and Harrison’s cell phones. There’s a string of texts from Harrison to Eden on October 30, but no responses from her, which Birdy finds strange, considering that Harrison was with her that night at the exhibition. Birdy asks to search the house, and Harrison agrees, saying he isn’t hiding anything, which Birdy notes is a lie.

Carter doesn’t trust Harrison, but he follows Birdy’s lead, knowing she is a well-respected detective in London. She sweeps the primary bedroom and asks Carter what he sees. Carter sees a dated Walkman, just like the one he owns, but says nothing. Birdy sees that Harrison has made the bed, a curious act considering what he’s going through. Birdy collects hair samples as evidence and removes pills from the medicine cabinet.

They search the downstairs library, which appears to be the only room in the house that hasn’t been gutted. Birdy tells Carter that the house’s historic status means the bookcases can’t be changed, but she sees they have been painted. To her, this is a clue to a crime. Carter jokes that they can’t arrest Harrison for painting, and Birdy says, “Not yet” (143).

Harrison listens as Carter and Birdy search the house. He needs to return to work because Thanatos is at a critical developmental stage. He is on the cusp of securing a major investor, which will allow the company to charge for its services. Harrison was privy to every aspect of Birdy’s Thanatos interview, as she was part of their clinical trial process. Everyone who works at Thanatos is a paid actor, not a doctor or nurse. The company uses DNA and AI technology to predict death days, but only Harrison knows “the truth” about Birdy’s because he wiped her files after she left.

At the station, Birdy reviews CCTV footage Carter has of Eden Fox, but it’s of poor quality and doesn’t confirm anything. They agree to meet at the inn later to review Carter’s interview with the gallery owner. Carter worries that if Birdy knows Harrison is lying, she might suspect that he is too. He lied to her about how long he’s known Eden. He met her not long after they moved to Hope Falls, right before the town’s annual Day of the Dead festivities. He noticed bruises on her arms and assumed they were from Harrison. Carter also fantasized about having an affair with Eden.

This chapter is a summary of Carter’s interview with Diana Harris, owner of Saltwater Gallery. Before the gallery showing, Diana had spoken with Eden only by email and phone, after Eden had sent images of her work. Harrison was the one to ask for the showing and made all the arrangements. Carter asks if she’s certain it was Eden on the phone, and Diana has no reason to believe it wasn’t.

Carter’s sister, Maddy, is the bartender at the inn. She embarrasses him in front of Birdy by calling him by his nickname “Lulu.” Their family once owned the inn, but their parents have since moved to Spain due to rising real estate prices. Carter’s mother has cancer, but he doesn’t tell Birdy. Birdy is curious about Diana knowing more than she let on, but Carter is certain she isn’t a suspect. Carter suggests they try to interview Gabriella, but Birdy shows him the website for The Manor and explains her situation. She wants to avoid angering Harrison by intruding on his daughter.

Harrison is relieved when Birdy and Carter leave, as he is worried about doing “the right thing” to avoid drawing suspicion. Though he wiped the house clean of anything relating to Eden, he forgot he’d thrown her black velvet dress in the trash. He burns it in the fireplace. Seeing photos of Gabriella reminds him of how much he misses her and how he didn’t agree with the decision to send her to The Manor.

The bookcases in the library remind Harrison of his mother, who was emotionally abusive to him when he was a child. Waiting for her to die, which would free him from her abuse, was what gave him the idea for Thanatos. He correctly predicted his mother’s death with Thanatos technology, but he also knows the day Gabriella will die. Despite the house covenants forbidding it, Harrison destroyed the bookcases and, in the process, discovered a hidden passageway.

Birdy asks Carter to take Sunday for a walk on the beach. Sunday takes off, running into the water, and for a moment, Carter panics, thinking he’s lost the dog. He hears whistling from a man standing on the opposite side of the bay, and the dog returns. Carter chases the figure, whom he is certain is Harrison.

While Carter is out, Birdy interviews Maddy. Maddy explains that her parents ran Smuggler’s Inn but couldn’t afford to buy it. They left town, but Carter stayed. Carter was an imaginative boy and loved all the lore surrounding Hope Falls, including the legend that the underground is pocked with secret tunnels used by smugglers. Carter returns and reports that someone found a body on the beach.