After EJ’s tape ends, Tricia feels sickened by the threat in his voice and reflects on how calmly Adrienne Hale handled him. Tricia wonders whether police ever investigated EJ after Adrienne disappeared, especially since the public focus seemed to stay on Adrienne’s boyfriend. She is also unsettled because EJ’s voice sounds strangely familiar.

Tricia then remembers that EJ said he brought Adrienne a bottle of South African Cabernet Sauvignon. Because Ethan recently served her a South African Cabernet, Tricia suspects it was the same unopened bottle from EJ, which means Ethan found it somewhere in the house. At the same time, Tricia realizes Adrienne must have resumed seeing EJ, because several later tapes still bear his initials despite Adrienne’s decision to terminate him.

Wanting answers, Tricia gets up to retrieve the next EJ tape, but a sudden crash stops her. The noise revives all her fears that someone else may be inside the house, especially after the earlier signs of occupancy: the upstairs light, fresh food in the refrigerator, and the half-drunk glass of water. Tricia briefly blames her panic on pregnancy, but she remains too frightened to stay in the office.

Because the office door has no lock, Tricia searches Adrienne’s desk for something she can use to defend herself. She dismisses the duct tape she finds, then takes a sharp pair of scissors from another drawer. Armed with the scissors, she opens the door and steps into the dark living room, expecting to confront whoever made the noise.

The room is silent and empty, even after Tricia turns on the light. She starts to calm down and tells herself the sound may have come from upstairs, where Ethan is sleeping. Then she notices one impossible change: Adrienne Hale’s portrait, which Ethan had taken down and turned away earlier, is hanging back on the wall, leaving Tricia with fresh evidence that something in the house has moved without explanation.