The Woods

Paul calls his Uncle Sosh, one of his father’s close friends from the Soviet Union. Sosh asks Paul to meet at his penthouse to talk in person. Sosh’s underling, Alexei, escorts Paul up to the apartment, where Sosh greets Paul with a huge hug. Sosh came to the US shortly after the Copelands and worked at a Soviet travel agency before earning his fortune in importing and exporting.

Sosh tells Paul that Americans in Russia are paying large sums for information about Vladimir and his rumored KGB connections. An American synagogue thought they sponsored the Copelands’ immigration after the Soviet government took away Vladimir’s medical license for being Jewish, but Sosh reveals that Vladimir escaped the country by promising to spy for the government. Sosh was also a spy through the tourism agency. Sosh claims that Vladimir had no choice, since the government was already threatening the family. Paul’s Popi and Noni—Natasha’s parents—were trying to expose human rights abuses when a traitor turned them in to the authorities. Popi died from a lack of medicine, and Noni died by suicide shortly after. Natasha never moved on. Sosh reveals that she went back to Russia when she abandoned Paul, but he doesn’t know where she is now. He urges Paul not to seek her out.

Paul leaves and tries to refocus. As he drives to the Indian restaurant where Raya works, he wonders what else Jenrette will find. Paul calls Muse and asks her to find out which private investigative firm is investigating him. In the restaurant, Paul asks to talk to Raya, a new employee. He’s struck by the young Indian woman’s beauty. Outside, he asks Raya about her relationship with Manolo Santiago. She claims that Santiago approached her on the street and asked her out, and that their relationship was still platonic when he died. Paul asks what drew Raya to Santiago, but she plays coy. Raya offers Santiago’s old phone number that she remembers, and Paul gives her his number for further information.

Raya suddenly asks Paul about his relationship status. When Raya moved to the US from India, she planned to find a good man and make him happy. She says she thought Santiago was that man, but she suspects Paul could make her happier. As Paul tries to leave, Raya asks why he’s looking into the murder. She asks if Paul killed Santiago, which he denies.

When Lucy returns to the university, Lonnie shares that he found the journal’s author, Sylvia Potter, through the library’s computer sign-in sheets. Lucy asks Sylvia to meet, and Sylvia promises to stop by the office after her next class. Meanwhile, Paul asks Muse to get information on the phone number Raya gave him, but the phone was a throwaway with no records. In addition, Muse discovered that Most Valuable Detection (MVD) has a “seek-n’-destroy” (117) investigation out for Paul. Paul asks Muse to have a photo of Gil Perez age-progressed by 20 years.

Chamique takes the stand for cross-examination. Flair walks through her criminal record before asking whether she smoked or drank at the party. Chamique says she drank the nonalcoholic punch, but Flair claims it was spiked. Flair badgers her about when she last did illegal drugs because the defense’s theory is that she was high at the party. Chamique admits that she has done drugs since her baby was born, but not the night of the party. She also claims that she knows other women who have been raped. Flair acts confused when Chamique asserts that her attackers didn’t conceal their appearances.

Flair changes gears and asks Chamique if she knows any rapists, like Jim Broodway, who is in prison. Chamique confirms that she has slept with the man, whom she knows as James. Chamique admits that sometimes she was high when she slept with James, and that sometimes he let a friend watch them. Flair suggests that Chamique had consensual sex with Edward and Barry, but she flashed back to her traumatic time with Jim.

While Lucy waits for Sylvia, she unfruitfully googles Manolo Santiago. After several hours, Sylvia still doesn’t show and isn’t answering her phone. Lucy finds Sylvia’s dorm, but no one answers the door. However, Lucy runs into Sylvia as she leaves the building. Sylvia claims that her class ran late and she lost track of time. Lucy asks to talk quickly about her journal, which infuriates Sylvia. Sylvia threatens to have Lucy fired for breaching the assignment’s anonymity and then runs away.

Paul and Muse lament Flair’s effective cross-examination. Paul urges Muse to keep looking into Cal and Jim because he doesn’t want to give up. Raya calls Paul and tells him that Santiago once mentioned Paul’s name. Raya didn’t tell Paul this before because she didn’t know if she could trust him. She offers to show Santiago’s apartment to Paul.

Lonnie brings the newly submitted journal pages to Lucy’s office for her to read. In the journal, P follows the screaming and separates from the girl. The girl follows him, and when he reappears, P is covered in blood. He tells the girl to lie about being in the woods. Lonnie suspects that the story is about Lucy, since it’s making her so upset. He researched Lucy and learned about the Summer Slasher and Paul Copeland. Lonnie offers to help Lucy by getting Sylvia to talk.

On his way to Raya’s work, Paul visits Jane’s grave. The cheerful flowers upset him. He recalls how hard it was to listen to Jane’s pain, and how cowardly he was compared to her. He remembers happier times, when Jane promised never to abandon him, though he can’t help but feel like she did. Paul wonders if, despite his beliefs, Jane is with Camille in the afterlife. He calls Uncle Sosh and asks him to find his mother. He tells his wife he misses her and leaves the cemetery.

Paul picks Raya up, and she directs him to Santiago’s apartment. Raya restates that Santiago said Paul and Lucy lied about what happened in the woods. The mention of Lucy’s name floods Paul’s mind with memories. Paul and Raya arrive at Santiago’s apartment, which Raya claims was recently cleared of his personal belongings. She’s reluctant to share her information because she doesn’t know if she can trust Paul, since Santiago obviously had issues with him.

Paul, wanting to build trust, reveals his theory about Santiago being Gil Perez and how this makes him believe Camille is alive. He explains that Lucy’s father owned the camp and Lucy was his girlfriend that summer. Raya wonders if Gil was the real killer that night. Muse’s call interrupts the conversation: She asks Paul to return to the office quickly.

Paul meets with Chamique and her lawyer, Horace Foley. Chamique wants to recant her accusations because Edward and Barry’s families are offering her a huge settlement. Paul urges her to reconsider and threatens to charge her with perjury, but Chamique holds firm. Chamique thanks Paul as she leaves. At home, Paul helps Cara with an art project, and as she sings a song, Paul has an epiphany about Cal and Jim. He calls Muse and asks her to pull an all-nighter digging into the frat house’s records.

Paul calls Foley early and asks him to delay signing the retraction papers. Foley agrees and shares how he had to push Chamique to take the money, since she was more interested in getting justice. Meanwhile, Lucy sits alone in her faculty housing listening to depressing music and drinking vodka. She feels like her past has finally caught up with her and wonders how Sylvia could know about that night 20 years ago.

Lucy’s thoughts turn to the Copelands. Ira hired Vladimir as the camp doctor because he was moved by his story. When Paul first arrived at camp, he and Lucy locked eyes, and Lucy has been chasing the high of that intense connection ever since. Six years ago, Lucy got drunk and looked Paul up on the internet, and she learned about his family and career. Lucy considers whether Paul would want to know about the journal.

Lucy is about to search for Paul’s phone number when Sylvia knocks on her door. Sylvia tumbles into the room and starts talking about her journal, but when Lucy asks about P, Sylvia doesn’t know what she means. Sylvia explains that her journal was about her father molesting her. As Sylvia sobs, Lucy realizes that Lonnie found the wrong author.

After not sleeping all night, Paul calls a surprise witness, Jerry Flynn. Muse sits in the back row near Chamique and Foley. Jerry explains how he first met Chamique at the fraternity when the brothers hired her and two other strippers. Jerry admits that he spoke with Chamique at length. Paul asks about Chamique’s alleged sex work that night, but the judge tells Paul to keep his questions on topic.

Jerry describes how he called Chamique later to invite her to a party as his date. At the party, Jerry offered Chamique some punch and told her it was spiked, though Paul knows this is a lie. Jerry tells his version of events: Chamique became drunk and flirted with Edward, and after she disappeared into Edward’s room, Jerry dejectedly walked her to the bus stop. Paul asks about Cal and Jim, but Jerry claims that he has never heard the names used together before. Paul sees Muse typing ferociously on her BlackBerry, so he asks for a lunch recess. Muse informs Paul that a critical fax came into the office.