On the first night after Patch disappears, Saint sits cross-legged on her front porch while police cruisers pass through Monta Clare. Norma stands nearby without offering comfort, and Saint feels how completely Patch’s absence has changed the town: the usual smells, lights, and beauty of home are drowned out by fear. As officers from Pecaut and Lenard Creek arrive, Chief Nix sends them out with a photograph of Patch smiling in his eye patch.

At nine o’clock, Norma tells Saint not to stay up too late because Patch will likely come back and Saint will need her strength to greet him. Saint does not accept that passive waiting. At ten, she breaks Norma’s curfew, climbs onto her rusted Spyder bicycle, and rides hard toward Main Street.

On Main Street, locals gather outside Lacey’s Diner and trade rumors about possible sightings and suspects. Saint listens as people mention calls from Jefferson City, Cedar Rapids, and the Amana Colonies, then discuss one reported lead near Pike Creek that may already have been disproved by an alibi. The flood of uncertain information shows both the scale of the search and how quickly fear turns into speculation.

Saint pushes through the crowd to the police station window and feels some relief at the activity inside. Phones ring while officers study maps and files, and Chief Nix looks strained as he pinches the bridge of his nose. The visible effort reassures Saint that the adults are trying, even as it also reveals how overwhelming the situation has become.

The chapter closes by widening the threat beyond Monta Clare. Saint remembers that, over the previous eight months, two high school girls and a college student had gone missing elsewhere in Missouri, prompting officers to warn students at school to stay vigilant. That memory deepens the possibility that Patch’s disappearance is part of something larger, and a passing Pecaut officer sends Saint home with a blunt reminder that a dangerous man is still out there.