On Friday, Alice takes a slow walk along the creek to clear her head and conceives a structural approach for the book: pairing period gossip reports with Margaret Grace Ives’s confirmations or rebuttals as a call-and-response. After shopping for small gifts and a postcard for friends, she settles at the enclave’s garden patio to work, feeling unusually focused.

Later that afternoon, Captain Cecil greets Alice enthusiastically and mentions he found an old photograph he had discussed with Hayden, tied to a story about Cecil’s long hair in the 1970s. Alice resists prying for more details, wary of crossing lines in her and Hayden’s professional competition, but promises to tell Hayden about the picture.

That night at a diner, Alice informs Hayden. He says she could have asked Cecil herself and encourages her to ask to see the photograph, adding that it may mean nothing, and that he will explain why he wanted to see it afterward. They reaffirm their pattern of mutual, carefully timed disclosures and share a quiet moment of intimacy, with Alice restraining herself from declaring her feelings.

On Saturday morning, Alice texts Cecil to follow up about the photograph and then heads to Margaret’s house for their next interview. Margaret proposes conducting the session in her swimming pool, and Alice sets up her recording equipment while the two wade or sit at the pool’s edge. Margaret compliments Alice’s colorful swimsuit and muses about trusting people who love color, which leaves Alice uncertain about whether this reflects favoritism toward her over Hayden.

As Alice prepares to resume the chronology, Margaret steers them directly to the next major subject: Cosmo Sinclair. The chapter ends with Margaret indicating they have finally reached the portion of her story involving Cosmo.