This Book Will Bury Me

Jane arrives in Delphine, where Goku has rented a small house for the group. Jane is happy to meet everyone, even if it does initially feel awkward to be around her friends in person. Citizen helps her with her luggage, and the attraction she feels for him intensifies. Lightly presents her with a gift: He noticed that she kept her father’s ashes next to her by her computer, and he carved her an urn. It is beautiful, and she is touched.

The group heads to Cathy’s, the bar where the killer’s first victims spent their last night. The place is overrun with amateur sleuths, and the bartender loses his temper. He orders out everyone who has come to Delphine to “investigate.” However, the waitress assumes that Jane is a student at NIU, and Jane lies, saying that the group is her visiting family. The group gets a little tipsy, and Jane feels that they are in fact a family: The investigation might have brought them together, but their bond is genuine.

The next morning, the group heads to the second murder site. Reporters, protesters, and amateur sleuths are everywhere, even though the property is cordoned off by police tape. Jane asks why the police would allow a crowd to form at the crime scene, and the group speculates that they are hoping to catch sight of the killer: Serial killers often return to the scene of their crime, and he is likely still in the area.