Angela is shaken when she receives a text message saying Mairin has found Odessa. Jean, Angela’s partner of two years, gently coaxes her to talk about the past. Angela describes the doctor’s assault, her pregnancy and childbirth, and being told her daughter was stillborn. Her librarian friend, Rachel Adler, had been an advocate and filed a complaint; after investigation, the Home of the Good Shepherd shut down. Angela has enjoyed her career as a librarian, thanks to Rachel’s influence. Angela and Mairin decide to contact Odessa.

Angela and Mairin meet with Odessa, and Mairin feels relief at being with these women who understand that difficult period of her past. Odessa describes how the nuns were furious after the girls escaped and punished Odessa, but they couldn’t prevent her parents from collecting her when she turned 18. They decide to research what happened to the others: Helen, Denise, Janice, and Kay.

Angela, Odessa, and Mairin visit the Mohonk Mountain House to meet Helen. Mairin says the Chinese phrase that Helen used to invite them to a mahjong game. They are glad to reunite, and Mairin thinks, “Although they had only known each other for a brief season of their lives, these women knew her in a way no one else did, or ever could” (305).

Helen describes how, on the day of their escape, she was caught by the police and taken to the station. Janice and Kay wanted to go back to the Good Shepherd because at least it was stable food and shelter. Helen refused to return and instead went to live with her father’s secretary until her parents were allowed to leave China in 1971. After that, Helen joined the military and went to West Point, then served abroad and married a movie star. She said the Sisters of Charity gave her the gift of mental toughness and she moved on from that chapter in her life. Mairin reflects that she herself has never confronted or examined what happened to her, and she “still carried the wounds that had been inflicted at the Good Shepherd” (311).

Angela leads the women to the library, where they research the history of the Good Shepherd. They learn Bernadette and Rotrude live in a retirement home for nuns. They decide to visit.

Bernadette sits in the day room of her retirement home with Sister Rotrude, putting together a puzzle. Bernadette reflects on how quiet her life is and still feels troubled by a past decision. Bernadette recognizes the four women who visit. Rotrude says she is happy to talk about all the good they did at the Home. 

Angela asks about records kept at the Good Shepherd, and Bernadette remembers the files that she was told to destroy but didn’t. Bernadette relates that Janice joined their order and became a nun. She remained devoted to Kay. Sister Rotrude insists she takes pride in helping girls find redemption, but Bernadette wonders if they simply added to the girls’ suffering. She goes to the parking lot as the woman are leaving and tells Angela that her baby didn’t die.

Flynn asks Mairin if she is certain she wants to revisit the Good Shepherd building. Mairin explains to her daughter Colleen about Magdalene laundries and Deirdre’s experience at one. Mairin says now, “I realize that history is part of who we are, and secrets can be toxic” (331).

Angela, Helen, Odessa, and Mairin pick up Sister Bernadette and they drive to the building that used to be the Home of the Good Shepherd. Mairin knows Angela feels anxious. After New York unsealed its adoption records, Fiona’s daughter found her, and they have since reconciled, so Mairin guesses what it would mean to Angela to find out about her daughter. 

The Home is now run as a Muslim school and the director is reluctant to let them into the office. Bernadette explains that the Mother Superior asked her to destroy several files when the Home closed because she felt it was a matter of protecting people’s privacy. They find a safe and deduce the combination from the verse of quoted Scripture written above.

Everly Lasko is surprised to receive a letter from Angela Denny identifying herself as Everly’s birth mother. Everly reflects on how happy Roy and Shirley Barrett were to adopt her. She had a good life but always wondered about her birth mother. 

Everly brings her daughter, Violet, to her meeting with Angela. She is struck by how much Angela resembles her: “[T]he moment they locked eyes, the connection was palpable, a bond that somehow existed despite being invisible to them both” (349). Everly feels this meeting is a bridge between past and present. They share about their lives. Everly is upset to learn her father was a rapist but is glad to be connected to Angela and understand this piece of her past.

Mairin brings refreshment to the meeting with the lawyers. Angela is filing a lawsuit against the Sisters of Charity for what happened to her, and the other women are supporting her. Mairin shows Angela the picture they took at their reunion at Niagara Falls when Everly popped into the picture. Mairin feels relief to finally understand that she has post-traumatic stress disorder and she is not alone. She is touched when Angela thanks her for being a true friend.

The lawyers have learned that Seamus Gilroy was married and had six children, but he lost his medical license and died of an apparent drug overdose in the early 1970s. They warn that there will be pushback, especially from the church, but Helen says they have evidence and reveals the journal she kept. Angela meets with Thomas Gilroy, a son of Dr. Gilroy and asks him to provide DNA for a test. Mairin notes that Kevin Doyle, now a priest, is helping them; he is horrified by the stories of abuse. 

Janice appears and greets them as part of “[t]he wayward sisterhood” (369). Janice has spent her life advocating and caring for people with developmental disabilities. Angela found records that Denise died of alcohol-related illness. Before she is to go on the stand to give her testimony, Angela asks to see Mairin.

Even though the court case is long and difficult, Mairin feels better having everything out in the open. She thinks about how, as a girl, she wanted a big life, and Flynn reminds her of all the good she’s done with their farm and their family. 

They gather at the courthouse to hear the judge’s decision. Afterward, as Angela addresses the press, she says she does not consider herself a winner in this decision, but she does think justice has been done in holding the Sisters of Charity accountable for neglect and abuse.

Mairin and Flynn look with satisfaction at their farm and go to greet their guests, who are gathering to celebrate the conclusion of the court case. Mairin feels that she is healing and she is glad to be with her friends, who are wayward girls, like her.