After Lucy is overwhelmed at the woods where Savvy's body was found, Ben does not take Lucy back to the hotel. Instead, he brings Lucy to Beverly's house because he does not want to leave Lucy alone, and Beverly had already told him that Lucy is less tough than she pretends. Lucy is exhausted, embarrassed, and still hearing Savvy's voice in her head, but Beverly immediately shifts into caretaking mode by making sure Lucy eats.

An hour later, pizza, drinks, and Beverly's porch help Lucy recover. Beverly asks Ben about his writing, and the conversation turns to Lucy's romance novels and the likelihood that her pen name will eventually be exposed now that public attention has returned to her. Ben promises he is not revealing Lucy's secret, but Lucy recognizes that his investigation is making it harder for her to stay hidden.

The porch conversation then broadens into Beverly's blunt reflections on marriage, gender, and safety. Beverly says women of her generation were taught to depend on fathers and husbands for protection, but her own life improved after both men were gone. She argues that men mostly protect themselves and each other, not women, and Ben is both amused and disarmed by her honesty.

As Lucy listens, Lucy realizes Beverly has been right about several things, including Ben and Lucy's need to come back and face the past. Lucy's anger at Ben softens, and Lucy admits to herself that reopening Savvy's murder was necessary because no one protected Savvy then and Lucy now owes Savvy real answers. When Beverly walks off to greet a gray-haired suitor, Ben asks whether Lucy agrees with Beverly about Matt. Lucy has not finished Ben's latest episode, and Ben reveals the key point: Beverly believes Matt killed Savvy.