Lucy wakes in a hospital bed with a pounding head and watches a police officer question Ben Owens outside her curtain. Ben tells the officer that Emmett shouted he had tried to kill Lucy before, even though Lucy knows Emmett actually insisted he was innocent. Ben also points the police toward Matt Gardner as someone who saw Emmett that night, strengthening the case against Emmett.

After the officer says the police will question Lucy later, Ben comes inside. Emmett can be heard shouting from elsewhere in the hospital that Lucy is lying, which underscores that the conflict over Savvy’s murder has shifted into an official investigation. Lucy, still shaken, tells Ben that when he tossed her the hammer, she could have killed Emmett and then Ben too.

Ben deflects Lucy’s comment with dark humor, joking that Lucy killing both the real murderer and the podcast host would have been a stronger ending. He says he never truly believed Lucy would kill him, trying to reassure her or lighten the tension. Lucy is unsure whether to believe that confidence.

Lucy then confronts Ben directly about his lie to the police, telling him Emmett never admitted trying to kill her. Ben responds with a shrug and says his version is close enough to the truth because people will believe what he says, while Lucy’s word alone is not enough. The exchange makes clear that Ben is shaping the story as much as reporting it.

By the end of the chapter, Lucy recognizes the larger implication of Ben’s behavior: factual truth matters less than the narrative others accept. Remembering Savvy’s words, Lucy understands that Ben now has the power to define what happened, which complicates the search for justice even after Emmett has been accused.