Matt and Olivia take a taxi home, their interactions strained. On the way, Olivia confirms that her pregnancy is progressing normally. As they approach their house in Irvington, Matt spots a police car parked outside. He has the driver wait while he speaks with a local unhoused man, Lawrence, who confirms an officer knocked on their door. Realizing they are wanted for questioning, Matt redirects the taxi to the MVD parking lot in Newark to retrieve his car. Olivia drives as Matt calls Marsha and arranges for them to stay at her house in Livingston. Marsha tells him that Loren had visited earlier asking about a nun. As they leave the MVD lot, Matt sees cars from the prosecutor’s office arriving. 

At Marsha’s home, Olivia tearfully tells Matt that after she reveals the truth, he may never want to hold her again.

While in police custody, Cingle calls her boss, Malcolm Seward, who agrees to arrange her release. However, Cingle is transported to the Essex County Prosecutor’s office for further questioning. 

Loren conducts the interrogation. At first, Cingle refuses to cooperate, but then Loren reveals the investigation is now a triple homicide. She shows Cingle two photographs of Charles Talley, who had been found shot dead in a stairwell, and connects him to the murder of retired detective Max Darrow. Loren details the mounting evidence against Matt, including the fact that blood on brass knuckles found with Talley’s body will surely match Matt’s DNA. Cingle then receives a call from Seward, who has just spoken with Loren’s boss, Prosecutor Ed Steinberg. Seward orders Cingle to cooperate. Realizing the photos from Matt’s phone will establish a clear motive, Cingle agrees to tell Loren everything after speaking with her lawyer.

While Cingle makes her phone call, Loren learns that Matt and Olivia Hunter are not at their home. Loren leaves Cingle to wait for her lawyer while she and Steinberg attend a late-night meeting with US Attorney Joan Thurston and Adam Yates, the FBI Special Agent in Charge from Las Vegas, who have summoned them. 

After Loren shares her case notes with Thurston and Yates, Yates reveals that the murdered nun, Sister Mary Rose, was born Emma Lemay. Ten years prior, both Lemay and her partner, Clyde Rangor, were admitted as informants set to testify against a mob boss named Tom “Comb-Over” Busher. However, the two of them vanished before they could deliver their statements. The FBI believes Comb-Over hired Charles Talley to kill Lemay. Yates also reveals that retired detective Max Darrow was the lead investigator on the murder of an adult entertainer named Candace Potter. Lemay and Rangor disappeared shortly after Potter’s body was found, implying a connection between the two events. When Loren discloses that Matt Hunter got into a fight with Talley, the federal and county officials conclude Matt is a key figure in the case, possibly a hitman. Thurston orders Matt’s immediate arrest.

At Marsha’s house, Olivia explains the photos on Matt’s phone. She confirms she is the woman in the wig, but insists she never cheated on him; the man she met was also in disguise. Matt reveals he already knew the images were fake, having noticed inconsistencies related to the weather. After Olivia confirms she is pregnant with his child, she confesses her entire identity is a fabrication. She grew up in foster care, ran away at 16, and became an adult entertainer in Las Vegas. She then takes a printed article from her back pocket and hands it to Matt: a piece from the Nevada Sun News website about the murder of a woman named Candace Potter. Olivia reveals that she is, in fact, Candace Potter.

A technician from the prosecutor’s office, Roger Cudahy, shows Loren what he recovered from Cingle Shaker’s office computer: the photo of Charles Talley and the video of Olivia Hunter in a blonde wig. Believing she is looking at evidence of an affair, Loren concludes she now has a clear motive for Matt to have murdered Talley in a jealous rage.

Olivia continues her story, explaining that years ago she worked at an adult entertainment club in Las Vegas run by the abusive Clyde Rangor and his girlfriend, Emma Lemay. One afternoon, Olivia (then known by her stage name “Candi Cane”) returned to her trailer to find her roommate, a new girl named Cassandra, beaten and murdered. Clyde attacked Olivia, demanding to know about a “tape,” but as he was choking her, Emma shot and killed him.

Loren now believes she has a solid motive for Matt to have killed Talley. She gets a call from Lance Banner. Having heard the search order for Matt, Banner notes that no one has checked his sister-in-law’s nearby house. He tells Loren he will go there immediately.

Olivia’s story continues. Emma convinced Olivia they could not go to the police and instead devised a plan to escape. They placed Olivia’s ID on Cassandra’s body, leading authorities to believe Candace Potter was the murder victim. After burying Clyde’s body in the desert, they took his hidden money and made a pact of silence before separating to start new lives. Olivia reinvented herself, informally taking courses at the University of Virginia to give the appearance of her education.

Olivia affirms her love for Matt, indicating that she knows he kept looking into the mystery of her whereabouts because he couldn’t believe she was cheating on him. She also indicates that while she doesn’t want to return to her old life, she was the one who reached out to Darrow and Talley. Just then, Lance Banner’s car pulls up across the street.

In the interrogation room, Loren confronts Cingle with her theory that Matt killed Talley in a jealous rage. A call from Lance confirms Matt is at Marsha’s house and an arrest is imminent. Fearing Matt will panic when faced with the threat of incarceration again, Cingle reveals her theory that someone other than Charles Talley sent the incriminating photos to Matt. She explains that Matt came to her office to prove the pictures were faked, pointing to the conflicting weather conditions depicted in the images as evidence of a setup.

Upon seeing Lance Banner’s car, Olivia quickly explains the events that led her to the hotel. She reveals that when she was 15, she got pregnant with a child who was given up for adoption immediately after her birth. Days before the start of the novel’s events, Olivia found an online post from the adoptive parents stating Candace Potter’s biological daughter was now 18 and needed a kidney transplant. When Olivia responded, she was lured into a blackmail scheme: Darrow had her wear a wig and go to a hotel room, then revealed he knew who she was and demanded $50,000, followed by a demand for another $50,000. He scheduled a final meeting in Reno for her to deliver the money and supposedly see her daughter. As she finishes, Matt’s colleague, Midlife, calls to warn him that both Darrow and Talley are dead and the police are on their way to arrest him. Seeing more squad cars arrive, Matt knows he has to run.

With police surrounding the house, Matt tells Olivia to meet him at the place where she was supposed to meet Darrow in Reno the following night. He tries to sneak out the back, where he encounters Marsha’s au pair, Kyra, who urges him to go.

Lance Banner and two uniformed officers approach Marsha’s front door. Marsha and Olivia stall before answering, giving Matt time to slip out the back. Matt runs into a neighbor’s yard but is spotted by two officers who begin to close in. Seeing his predicament, Kyra creates a diversion by screaming. The distraction draws the officers’ attention, giving Matt a chance to escape into the woods. Banner suspects the diversion and sends officers around back. By the time they reach the yard, Matt has escaped into the trees.

Loren calls Max Darrow’s widow, Gertie, but the call goes to voicemail. While Loren waits for a return call, FBI agent Adam Yates tells Loren the case is personal, as the mobsters involved had previously threatened his family. 

Lance calls to report Matt’s escape. As they speak, Gertie returns Loren’s call. Gertie explains her husband claimed to be on a fishing trip in Florida. Gertie also recalls that a young woman visited Max about a month ago, after which he became fixated on old files, including one on Candace Potter.

Now a fugitive, Matt steals a car from a college parking lot and drives to Westport, Connecticut. He seeks help from Sonya McGrath. Sonya is distant and reveals that her husband, Clark, discovered their secret meetings. She tells Matt she cannot forgive him or help him, and asks whether he was truly innocent in her son’s death. Realizing he has no support there, Matt leaves.

Gertie Darrow faxes the autopsy report for Candace Potter to Loren. While reviewing it with Adam Yates, Loren discovers a critical notation: “probable AIS.” Loren explains that Androgen Insensitivity Syndrome (AIS) is a condition where a person is genetically male (with XY chromosomes and internal testes) but develops as a female. She then points out the most significant implication of the diagnosis: Women with AIS are infertile and cannot get pregnant.