Outside Room C in the thirteenth car, the flickering sconce illuminates Judd Dodge’s shrouded body as Seamus Callahan and Dante Wentworth carry it from the lounge. They lay Judd on a mattress, replacing the tablecloth with a sheet, and when Dante asks if anyone wishes to say a few words, Anna Matheson replies that she is only sorry he did not suffer more before leaving.

Anna returns to her room and lies down, exhausted, leaving the door open for Seamus. When Seamus joins her, they acknowledge their failure to achieve their goal. Lying together, Anna remembers their first meeting after Aunt Retta’s funeral, when Seamus approached her at the cemetery, sent by Retta through letters. He led Anna to a car trunk holding six boxes of Retta’s evidence, which they spent a day reviewing, revealing a broad conspiracy involving people Anna and her father had trusted—Sally Lawrence, Edith Gerhardt, Herb Pulaski, and Judd Dodge.

Their shared grief forged a bond, and Anna asked if they should kill the conspirators. Seamus said yes, wanting to do it himself, but Anna decided death was too quick for some and chose to bring them to justice instead, a plan she now believes is impossible. Returning to the present, Anna and Seamus weigh suspects for Judd’s poisoning, considering that any of the group, including Reggie Davis, could be responsible.

Anna questions Reggie’s story, noting how convincingly he lied to the others about her being unarmed, and wonders if he boarded by mistake or was planted by Kenneth Wentworth. Seamus counters that the real plant is Kenneth’s son, Dante. Anna admits Dante claims he came to see her and believes he might be trying to help, citing that he did not stop the train when he could have, while Seamus remains skeptical and shows hints of jealousy as Anna recalls a single night she and Seamus once spent together out of grief, which they both vowed not to repeat.

Anna’s instinct singles out Jack Lapsford as the likeliest suspect because of his vocal desperation. She theorizes he could have poisoned the glass earlier or spiked Judd’s drink at the bar. Seamus challenges the motive, noting that if anyone has reason to kill, it is Anna and Seamus, but Anna argues a conspirator may be eliminating those who can implicate them: “Because the dead can’t tattle.”

They agree to prevent further murders by checking on everyone hourly to monitor behavior and keep the others alive, a bitter irony given their original aim. Anna then focuses on the poison itself, reasoning that the killer likely did not plan a specific murder—no one knew who would be aboard—but instead used poison found on the train or something they habitually carry. She concludes the poison was probably located on the Phoenix and decides, with renewed determination, that finding it will identify the killer.