Alone in the lounge, Dante Wentworth tends to Anna Matheson’s cut, asking if Herb Pulaski had intended to kill her. Anna doubts Herb is the murderer, describing his fear, though Dante warns Anna to be afraid given two deaths aboard. Dante then says the deaths are his fault, prompting Anna to briefly suspect him of poisoning Judd Dodge and killing Edith Gerhardt, given his proximity to the bar and timing. He denies the murders but admits responsibility for Anna’s presence on the train.

Dante states he sent the evidence to Anna’s aunt that exposed Kenneth Wentworth and others. He explains he hid his involvement to avoid being targeted like Judd and Edith and because Anna hated him. He describes a lifetime of his father’s disdain, his failed attempts to earn approval, and his turn to rebellion by digging into his father’s secrets.

Pressed by Anna, Dante recounts discovering Kenneth Wentworth’s tax evasion, infidelities, and failing railroad business as train travel declined. He says the purchase of Arthur Matheson’s company kept Wentworth’s railroad afloat, but that was not the true motive for framing Arthur.

Dante reveals he eventually cracked the combination to Kenneth’s study safe, finding documents and, crucially, letters from Anna’s mother to Kenneth. Among them was a final letter breaking off their engagement because she had fallen in love with Arthur Matheson. Dante concludes Kenneth’s motive for targeting Arthur was rooted in heartbreak rather than greed.

Anna processes that her mother and Kenneth were once engaged, that her parents’ quick marriage likely devastated Kenneth, and that Kenneth preventing Dante from seeing Anna was part of his lingering resentment toward the Mathesons. She realizes the campaign against her father was personal: not mere sabotage for money, but revenge.