The Woods

Paul meets with FBI profiler Geoff Bedford and shares his theory that Wayne may not have killed the Camp PLUS teens. Wayne only killed boys, so Margot and Camille don’t fit his type. Bedford refuses to entertain the theory and reasserts the accepted story. The police never found Gil and Camille’s bodies because the woods were too large, but they believe Wayne killed Gil and Camille last. Paul reveals his suspicion that Gil has been alive for the past 20 years, but Bedford doesn’t believe him.

Bedford plays along, hypothesizing that Gil could have helped Wayne in the murders, but never sways from Wayne’s guilt. For Bedford, Wayne fits the profile of a serial killer: He killed and tortured animals in his youth, and he had a strict, overbearing mother. Once the FBI learned Wayne’s history, tracked his movements, and found the trophies, they were sure he killed all the campers, even those for whom they lacked physical evidence. Paul thinks Bedford is twisting the facts to suit his theory, but Paul doesn’t have a fully realized theory to combat it. Bedford asks Paul whether taking Gil out of the picture changes any facts, and Paul can only think of his sister.

Muse updates Paul over the phone as he waits on the plane home. Nothing major happened in court, but Muse may have found out who sent Lucy the mystery journal. Muse sends Paul the dossier to review. Hours later, Paul sits with Lucy in an unused office on campus. Lonnie arrives, and Paul introduces himself. Paul confronts Lonnie with Muse’s information, which proves that Lonnie sent the journal in from the library. Lonnie initially denies the accusation, but the longer Lucy looks at him, he gives up the act. Paul threatens to arrest Lonnie for harassment and to have him fired if he doesn’t explain, but Lonnie doesn’t think he did anything illegal. Lonnie believes that Lucy has more explaining to do since she’s trying to conceal something.

When Paul threatens to release Lonnie’s sealed criminal record, Lonnie admits that two private investigators hired him to submit the journal. The investigators claimed that they wanted to find the real Camp PLUS killer, whom they suspect is Paul. Paul thinks that Lonnie was also paid to gain Lucy’s trust. Lonnie asserts that he didn’t want to hurt Lucy, that the investigators were only interested in information on Paul, but Lucy tells Lonnie to leave.

Uncle Sosh wonders if his wealth has made him soft. He lived through the Siege of Leningrad and watched his two older siblings die of starvation. When Sosh moved to the US, he couldn’t believe how accessible food was. Sosh’s closest associates are his old KGB colleagues who, like him, have forgotten what it means to suffer and survive. Sosh gets an email that reads, “We found her” (278).

Meanwhile, Lucy asks Paul if he’s willing to restart their relationship in the future, and Paul readily accepts. Paul recounts his conversation with Wayne, and Lucy denies ever hooking up with him. Paul wonders if Margot and Gil broke up, since that would change their motivation for being in the woods. Paul theorizes that Gil could have killed Margot out of anger and that Camille and Doug accidentally witnessed the crime. They consider the journal, which was likely written by someone who saw them that night. Paul questions who else is left who could have killed Gil recently.

Later, Cingle Shaker meets Paul at his office. She confirms that MVD is investigating Paul. Paul tells Cingle about the journal, and she wonders if MVD wrote it to draw out a guilty-looking reaction. Cingle uses an example: When she worked for MVD, it was her job to tempt husbands into cheating because their wives suspected them of adultery. Most men would succumb to her seduction, which confirmed to the wives that they were unfaithful, even if they hadn’t been before that moment. Paul disagrees that thinking about doing something wrong isn’t the same as going through with the action, but Cingle claims that the clients didn’t care. Cingle congratulates Paul on his work in Chamique’s case and idly says that MVD has a new Indian girl for undercover operations.

Paul calls Raya immediately and sets a time to meet. Muse commends Paul for withstanding EJ Jenrette’s threats, though she suspects that he broke Judge Pierce, who also wants to meet with Paul. At home, Paul receives an email from Lucy with a song recommendation, Bruce Springsteen’s “Back in Your Arms,” and he cries while listening to it.

Paul meets Raya at a bistro. He immediately confronts her about being a private investigator, which she doesn’t deny. Raya claims that she was honest about her dealings with Manolo Santiago and that she genuinely didn’t know he was Gil Perez. She explains that she was sent to meet Gil after he approached MVD with the promise of information about Paul. Gil demanded a lot of money but lacked proof to back up his claims that Paul and Lucy lied about Camp PLUS.

Paul puts the pieces together himself. Jenrette and MVD had already started their investigation into Camp PLUS by talking to everyone involved, like Wayne and the Perezes, which is how Gil knew to contact MVD. Raya couldn’t get any solid information out of Gil, and when Gil turned up dead, MVD suspected Paul, so they sent Raya to get close to him. MVD also sent the journal to Lucy and used Lonnie as an informant. Raya feels relieved to tell Paul the truth since she thinks he’s a good man.

Muse is researching the Perez family when she receives a call from Andrew Barrett, who went out to Camp PLUS with his ground-penetrating radar machine, the XRJ. His team has found a body, so he asks Muse to come to the camp. Meanwhile, Detective York speaks with his lab liaison, Max Reynolds. Max explains that the carpet fibers found on Manolo Santiago are from an older model of Volkswagen.

Lucy visits Ira, who is painting a nighttime landscape of the woods. Both Lucy and Ira ask Nurse Rebecca to leave so that they can talk. They sit together on the couch holding hands. Lucy again asks about Manolo Santiago and mentions her interactions with Paul. She pleads for answers, but Ira fixates on Paul. He asks Lucy to bring Paul for a visit because he wants to talk with him alone.

When Paul arrives at his office, Glenda Perez is waiting for him. She confronts him about his threats to her father, which he doesn’t deny making. Paul reasserts that he won’t stop investigating the Perezes if it gives him answers about Camille. In a hypothetical where Santiago is Gil, Glenda claims that the repercussions for her family would be astronomical, since they would have effectively impeded a homicide investigation. She denies that Gil killed Camille but reveals that she does know something about Camille. She refuses to tell Paul until he signs a non-disclosure agreement (NDA). Instead of signing, Paul promises to keep quiet about Gil, and Glenda reveals that Camille escaped that night in the woods.

Muse drives to Camp PLUS, which is now a gated condominium development. She shows her ID to a young security guard, but instead of letting her through, he makes a call and claims that she must wait for Sheriff Lowell. Muse, anxious to get through, mocks the guard’s obvious misogyny. Lowell approaches and asks Muse if she needs help, since the guard never told him who she was. Lowell shows Muse where to park and leads her through the woods. On the way, he shows her where Doug and Margot’s bodies were found.

Lowell was the chief investigator on the case, though he originally denied this to Muse. He theorizes that Wayne Steubens buried Gil and Camille first (since their bodies were never found) and had to rush to bury Doug and Margot. No one initially suspected Wayne, and his rich parents shipped him off to Switzerland as the investigation continued. Lowell ponders how working on murder cases never gets easier. He says he questioned Paul at the time and still considers him a person of interest in the case. Muse defends her boss, but Lowell finds it too coincidental that Paul neglected his duties the same night as the murders.

Paul sits at his desk, reeling from Glenda’s visit. He calls Lucy to update her, though she doesn’t readily accept Glenda’s news. Lucy asks Paul to meet with Ira. Meanwhile, Detectives York and Dillon meet Max in the lab. Max shows the detectives security footage that captured a 1971 VW Beetle near the dump site on the night of the murder. The camera doesn’t show the license plate, but the uniqueness of the vehicle will make combing through records easier.

Lowell’s accusations against Paul shake Muse, who reminds herself to follow all leads, even if they point to her friends. She meets Andrew Barrett, who is still using the XRJ to look for the other missing body. Andrew rambles about how the machine works and points Muse toward the coroner. Doctor Tara O’Neill explains that the skeleton is fairly complete and was likely buried naked. The fragility of the bones indicates that it has been buried for 15 years or longer. O’Neill describes the difficulties in determining the sex of skeletons, but in this case, certain features show that it belonged to a female. Other characteristics, like height and age, match Camille Copeland.

Detectives York and Dillon travel to the rehab facility after learning that Ira Silverstein is one of the few in the area who owns a 1971 VW Beetle.