Alex went to Il Bastone looking for Lethe’s murder protocol, avoiding Pamela Dawes as usual due to their strained dynamic after Darlington’s disappearance. She accessed the secret Lethe library via the Albemarle Book and found only meeting procedures prescribing a “colloquy” with leadership and light refreshments, which Alex rejected as useless. Choosing action over bureaucracy, she asked the library for resources on how to speak to the dead.

Surrounded by retrieved texts, Alex reflected on her lifelong ability to see Grays. A major flashback recounted that at age twelve, during a school trip to a Goleta butterfly reserve, a Gray assaulted her in a bathroom—an unprecedented violation since Grays had never touched her before. Discovered alone by a teacher, Alex endured misinterpretations, shame, and social ostracism when her friend Meagan spread rumors, earning Alex the nickname “Bloody Mary.”

Alex gravitated to older teens, including Mosh and Len, and discovered that drugs and alcohol dulled her perception of the dead, bringing relief. Her life spiraled through truancy, theft, failed rehab intervention, and couch-surfing, culminating in a relationship with Len. Years later, while working menial jobs, she encountered Meagan again and realized how invisible she had felt; eventually, after a disastrous night at Ground Zero involving Hellie, Alex awoke in a hospital to Dean Sandow, who revealed Lethe knew about her sight and recruited her.

Returning to the present, Alex narrowed feasible necromantic options from the library, copying a workable ritual to contact the dead. Determined to advance Tara’s case, she approached Dawes in the Il Bastone parlor and asked her to accompany her to the morgue. Dawes, wary and grieving Darlington, questioned the plan and suggested involving Detective Turner, but Alex insisted Turner would not help and that Thursday’s society activity pattern warranted Lethe intervention.

After initial resistance and a moment of shared absence for Darlington, Dawes produced Darlington’s car keys and reviewed Alex’s transcribed rite, admitting it looked competent. Concluding they might need a rapid exit, Dawes agreed to drive, and the two prepared to head to the morgue to attempt communication with Tara Hutchins.