Birdie calls her mother from Thelma and Hal’s landline. Wendy urges her to “process” Calvin’s death and offers to book her a flight to Florida, where Wendy lives, but Birdie refuses and tells her to stop calling. Afterward, Birdie returns to her cabin and finds her neighbor Nevra waiting. Nevra says that Thelma told her that Birdie’s father died and asked her to check in.

Birdie invites Nevra inside for wine. When Nevra asks how her father died, Birdie tells her that he was murdered, using the details of Calvin’s death. Nevra responds with a detached story about the constant violence and death in Istanbul, remarking that “everybody’s always dying” (203). After Nevra leaves, Birdie reflects on the loneliness of living without fear now that Calvin is gone.

Mary-Beth and Syl watch TV and drink wine coolers. Mary-Beth suggests hiring a private investigator to look into Calvin’s murder. She finds a website promising to solve the case in seven days, but Syl quickly determines that it’s a scam. Syl then confesses that Linzie King’s “boyfriend assistant person” came to her farm to ask about Calvin for the book (210). Syl insists that she only shared positive, neutral memories of Calvin helping with the horses, but Mary-Beth is furious that she spoke to them at all.

This chapter flashes back to Linzie’s time on The Dating Show. Two producers coerce her into revealing her history of abuse. They argue that sharing her “demons” is the only way to form a “real connection” with the show’s star and that it will make her a more interesting and heroic figure for viewers.

The narrative jumps forward to a lunch meeting between Linzie and Yale as they work on her memoir. Linzie recounts the producers’ manipulation and how they coached her to describe the assault. Yale frames the experience as a “CON” and calls himself her “advocate.” He expresses excitement about using this story of coercion in the book, telling Linzie that Calvin’s abuse is her “purpose” and the key to her success.

Mary-Beth receives a call from Odette Carlisle, the New York-based journalist who wants to create a true-crime podcast about Calvin’s murder. Mary-Beth is immediately hostile, dismissing her as another scam artist. However, Odette persists, arguing that the police have abandoned the case and that Linzie shouldn’t be allowed to control the public narrative. Odette reveals that she has already obtained Calvin’s intake forms from Betty at Gateway to Grace. Convinced that she needs a platform to tell her son’s truth, Mary-Beth agrees to speak with Odette on the condition that Tommy will not be on the podcast.

Birdie reflects on her life, drawing a distinction between “Before Calvin Birdie” and “After Calvin Birdie” (227). She lists the many therapeutic techniques she has tried over the years, noting that none of them helped her prepare for the emptiness she feels now.

She then remembers her childhood friendship with Francine Gerber. They rode the bus together, and when they were 10, Francine followed Calvin off the bus one day. Afterward, she started calling herself “Frenchie” and warned Birdie to stay away from Calvin, making her pinky swear not to go to his house. Birdie admits that she broke the promise and went anyway, driven by jealousy of Francine rather than a crush on Calvin.

In preparation for The Dating Show, Yale comes to have dinner with Linzie and Doug. Linzie’s attempt to make fondue is a complete failure, resulting in an inedible ball of cheese. During the uncomfortable meal, Yale and Doug dominate the conversation, arguing about politics while alternately mocking and ignoring Linzie.

Afterward, Yale takes Linzie for ice cream. In his car, he smokes cannabis and mentions that Doug told him at dinner that he was the one who had submitted Linzie’s application to The Dating Show. Linzie realizes that her father must have gone through her phone to find photos for the application. As she processes this, Yale coerces her into performing oral sex on him. Afterward, he callously eats the ice cream that he had just offered her, even though it contains nuts, which Linzie is allergic to.

Thelma informs Birdie that Trace has been calling nonstop and wants her to come home. Birdie has no intention of leaving.

The chapter flashes back to the beginning of Birdie and Trace’s relationship. Birdie recalls their first sexual encounter—the experience was cathartic for Birdie, allowing her to feel a sense of release and control. However, afterward, their sex life changed as they used guidelines established through therapy. Birdie realizes that the intimacy she had once experienced never returned, however much she tried to recreate it.

In a letter to Birdie, Calvin attempts to manipulate her by framing them as allies: two people who have been permanently marked and ruined by the justice system. He claims that they’re more alike than she thinks and that he knows what she truly wants. He mentions that Francine won’t answer his letters and asks where Birdie is. He concludes with an ambiguous threat, suggesting that he could kill Linzie for her or perhaps come after Birdie instead to “prove” that he was the bad guy all along.

Mary-Beth meets Odette at a sushi restaurant in Boca Raton. Odette transparently tries to manage the situation, which Mary-Beth immediately sees through. She accuses Odette of assuming that she’s an uneducated “redneck.” To gain her trust, Odette reveals that her real name is Olivia and that Francine Gerber was recently hospitalized after an attempt to die by suicide. Odette also discloses that someone entered Calvin’s unit before Mary-Beth cleared it out. They took notebooks, but Betty sent her scans of them. Mary-Beth begins to open up and agrees to work with Odette. 

The chapter flashes back to her first visit to see Calvin in jail. She had asked him if he really hurt the girls, a question that she immediately regretted. Haunted by that memory, Mary-Beth decides to retrieve Calvin’s laptop, which she had taken from his unit, from her closet.

Birdie imagines watching the secret videotape of her own abuse. She continues her meditation on “Before” versus “After Calvin” Birdie. She recalls the details of Calvin’s room with its UV-lit fish and frog tanks and glow-in-the-dark ceiling stars. She remembers him telling her that she was “pretty for [her] age, and so smart” before he kissed her (271). She notes the gaps in her memory but also the “flashes” that remain painfully clear. The memory ends with her telling her parents what happened a week later. She recalls her father closing their restaurant for the night and petting her head, the moment that marked the arrival of “After Calvin Birdie” (274).