Anna reels at the sight of Herb Pulaski’s body, his throat slit, until Reggie covers the corpse with a sheet. She reflects that the murders of Judd, Edith, and now Herb appear designed not to silence them but to rob her of the satisfaction of seeing them brought to justice. Jack Lapsford accuses Anna, citing her knife, while Reggie and Seamus provide partial alibis for her. Sal, despite mutual animosity, corroborates Anna’s timeline.

Reggie notes the door’s dead bolt was engaged from inside, complicating any theory that the killer exited via the corridor. Suicide is dismissed when no knife is found. Anna studies the scene and notices blood spatter on wall and curtains but none on the window glass, concluding the window was open during the attack and used as the killer’s escape route.

Testing feasibility, Anna opens the adjacent window and leans outside into the blizzard. She observes a roofline ridge and an exterior orange panel with narrow metal strips that could support toes, making it possible to cling and pull a window shut from outside.

When Anna returns inside, Reggie and the others watch her warily. Seamus reveals he found Anna’s father’s silvery train-pin on Herb’s floor. Reggie confirms Anna had been wearing it earlier, and Jack asserts the pin implicates her. Anna offers explanations but struggles to provide a convincing account; Jack demands to inspect her room to test her window-escape timing theory.

The group proceeds to Anna’s cabin, where they discover a window wide open that had previously been closed. Snow and wind whip the drapes, and one curtain’s cord is now missing—the same type used to strangle Edith Gerhardt. The staged clues deepen suspicion around Anna and suggest a mobile killer using exterior access between cars.

Confronted by the planted evidence and altered scene, Anna rejects her earlier assumptions about the killer’s purpose. She concludes the murders serve an entirely different motive than silencing or merely thwarting her justice plan, though she does not state it aloud.