Sam finds herself drawn to Bonnie despite having met her only hours earlier. They sit in Sam’s living room drinking wine, and Bonnie examines a framed photograph of toddler Sam with her mother, Sarah, at Pike Place Market. Bonnie dates the image to August 1987 and recalls calling Sam “Dumpling” as a child.

Bonnie explains that she met Sarah in a McDonald’s bathroom, where Sarah was crying after learning that she was pregnant and abandoned by her boyfriend. Afraid her parents would force her to give the baby up for adoption, Sarah moved in with Bonnie and several other young women. When Sam asks about her father, Bonnie only knows he was from the “wrong side of the tracks” (74). Sam shares that after aging out of foster care, she searched for her maternal grandparents but found they had both died.

The conversation shifts to Sam’s personal life. She recounts her long friendship with Jason Sullivan, a former neighbor who reconnected with her in college and introduced her to her boyfriend Matt. Sam admits she’s proud of Matt’s success as a restaurant owner, but he seems unwilling to commit to anything more serious.

When Sam asks why Bonnie joined the serial-killer forum, Bonnie reveals that her interest is personal: She knows with certainty that Rufus Wedge was not the real Butcher because she met the real Butcher.