Addie leaves home under her mother’s suspicious gaze, thinking her mother has long suspected Addie pushed her father down the stairs and now also knows Addie is involved in Eve Bennett’s disappearance. Online coverage of Eve’s case and messages from classmates make the situation feel more real, and Hudson’s unanswered text reminds Addie that he could still reveal what he knows.

While walking alone in a light drizzle, Addie notices Detective Sprague pull up beside her. Sprague stops Addie and asks to speak with her off the record, saying she is trying to find Eve Bennett because she fears something terrible has happened. Addie stays guarded and says little.

Sprague brings up that Nathaniel Bennett was Addie’s English teacher and that Addie was involved in his poetry magazine, then directly asks whether anything sexual was happening between them. Addie denies it repeatedly, even as Sprague tries to reassure her that if such a relationship existed, Nathaniel would be the adult at fault. Internally, Addie rejects that framing, believing instead that she and Nathaniel are soulmates and that outsiders cannot understand them.

Although Addie briefly senses that Sprague may genuinely care about her, she decides the detective is only trying to extract information about Eve. Sprague then makes the real danger clear: Nathaniel is presenting Addie as a stalker who acted alone, followed Eve to the commuter lot, murdered her, and disposed of the body. This warning shakes Addie because it suggests Nathaniel may be betraying her.

Before leaving, Sprague hands Addie a card with her personal cell number and tells her to call anytime if she wants to talk. Addie takes the card but says nothing. After Sprague drives away, Addie stares at the number in the rain, unsettled by the possibility that Nathaniel’s version of events may leave her to take all the blame.