Saint forces herself out of a memory and makes her way back to Dr. Tooms's property by the familiar route through the clearing and the fields. Moving past the edge of Thurley State Park and through the orchard in the dark, she steadies herself with what she has learned from a library book on police detection, determined to test the doctor's story and search for Patch.

At the house, Saint first tries the front door and windows, but the place is dark and silent. She peers through the glass and then circles to the back porch, where her flashlight reveals an orderly oak kitchen, an ashtray with a stubbed cigar, and no visible signs of a dog. Because the doors and windows are locked and she cannot force entry, Saint's suspicion deepens but she still cannot prove Patch is there.

Frustrated and frightened, Saint calls Patch's name even though she is no longer sure he can hear her or that he is being held inside. She starts to leave, carrying the weight of another failed attempt and the possibility that she has found nothing.

Then Saint hears a scream from the direction of the house, so desperate and terrifying that it makes her cry. The sound immediately pulls her back despite her fear, and she runs toward the front, calling for Patch because she thinks the scream may be connected to him.

As Saint rounds the corner, someone grabs her shoulder. She screams and turns to find Dr. Tooms, pale and visibly shaken, raising his hands. Instead of questioning him, Saint sees blood on those hands in the beam of her flashlight, and that sight confirms her terror. She turns and runs, leaving with stronger reason than ever to fear that something terrible is happening at the house.