After falling back asleep, Lowen dreams about an older, unsettling version of Crew and wakes still preoccupied with what Verity has done to him. While sitting alone with Crew in the kitchen after April leaves and Jeremy takes Verity upstairs, Lowen watches Crew play and eat peanut butter crackers. Seeing how innocent and quiet Crew seems makes Lowen question whether staying silent about the manuscript is really protecting him, especially because Crew witnessed Harper's drowning.

Lowen gently begins asking Crew about the canoe and whether he remembers being on the water with Verity and Harper. At first, Crew answers simply, but when Lowen asks why the boat tipped over, Crew says, "Mommy said I shouldn't talk to you if you ask me questions about her." The statement shocks Lowen because it strongly suggests Verity has been speaking to Crew, but before Lowen can press further, Crew clenches the butter knife in his mouth and drives it into his gums.

Lowen screams for Jeremy, who comes downstairs, checks Crew's injury, and says Crew needs stitches. Jeremy rushes Crew to get medical care, but because Verity cannot be left alone in the house, Jeremy makes Lowen stay behind. Left standing with Crew's blood on her hands, Lowen panics, runs back upstairs, finds Verity's bedroom door open, sees Verity half-positioned in bed, and locks the door. Wanting protection and proof, Lowen forces herself into the basement to retrieve an old baby monitor, noticing that many boxes appear to have been moved and opened as though someone has searched through them.

Lowen installs the monitor near Verity's bed, returns with a kitchen knife for self-defense, and cautiously reenters Verity's room to finish arranging Verity in bed and raise the rail before locking the door again. She cleans Crew's blood from herself and the kitchen, then sits in the office watching the video feed and readying her phone to record if Verity moves. After waiting for more than an hour without seeing anything, Lowen begins doubting herself again, but the strain only hardens her need for certainty. Realizing there is one chapter left in Verity's manuscript, Lowen decides to read the ending while keeping watch on Verity.