Early the next morning, Saint walks through downtown Breckenridge, photographing old buildings from the gold-rush era and thinking about the town’s long history. The contrast between that endurance and Summer Reynolds’s murder sharpens Saint’s frustration that the man responsible is still beyond reach. In a toy store, Saint lingers over children’s items and watches a mother and son choose Where the Wild Things Are, a small moment that underscores the loss surrounding the case.

When Saint returns to her motel, Patch is waiting beside his old Buick. He looks exhausted, having driven through the night after their call. Saint leads Patch to the police station, where Summer Reynolds’s mother greets Patch warmly, and Patch presents Summer’s parents with a painting of their daughter, a gift Saint knows is deeply valuable both financially and emotionally.

Later, Saint sits with Patch in the Blue River Café as Patch grieves for Summer, a girl Patch never even had the chance to know. Saint shares the latest forensic update from Tooms’s farm: investigators found many DNA samples, but none matched the missing girls. Saint explains that the lack of a match does not prove Callie was never there, because too much time has passed and bleach may have destroyed evidence.

The news overwhelms Patch, and Patch slams the table hard enough to shatter the cups. Saint gets Patch outside and makes Patch promise to drive straight back, because Patch has already violated parole by coming to Breckenridge. Saint confirms that Summer Reynolds had been buried for a long time, but there is still nothing on Callie Montrose. The chapter ends with Patch confronting the larger horror of the case and asking how many more girls like the ones in Patch’s paintings are still buried out there.