In the present day, Tricia finishes listening to the last of EJ’s therapy tapes in Dr. Hale’s hidden room. The final tape troubles her because EJ’s speech becomes slurred near the end, yet Dr. Hale does not seem alarmed. That detail makes Tricia suspect that something was wrong during EJ’s last session.

After hours in the hidden room, Tricia takes a break and reflects on Ethan, her pregnancy, and the house itself. She knows Ethan wants to buy the property, but she cannot imagine living there despite her love for him. While thinking about their marriage and reading the inscription inside her wedding band, Tricia is startled by a noise, drops the ring, and watches it roll under the sofa in Dr. Hale’s office.

Because Tricia does not want to move the heavy sofa herself, she goes upstairs to get Ethan. On the way, she notices that the attic pull cord is still swaying, which makes her uneasy, and Ethan then tells her he has not left his room for the past hour. His answer means the sounds she heard and the movement above cannot be explained by him, increasing Tricia’s fear that something else is happening in the house.

Tricia brings Ethan back downstairs and is relieved that she hid the EJ tapes before he enters the office. Ethan easily shifts the sofa so Tricia can retrieve her ring, but while reaching down she notices a handle set into the floorboards. When she taps the floor, she realizes the area beneath the sofa is hollow.

Ethan moves the sofa farther away, revealing the outline of a large rectangular compartment hidden under the floor. Tricia immediately worries that it could be part of a crime scene and urges Ethan to call the police instead of touching it. Ethan dismisses her concern, grabs the handle, and opens the compartment, and Tricia is horrified by what she sees inside.