Whitney arrives at the brownstone an hour before Amanda is due home at seven, having arranged for Amanda to leave work early. Earlier that morning, Whitney gave Blake cookies laced with a low dose of tetrodotoxin to induce progressive respiratory failure over four to six hours, planning to make it appear that Blake killed Amanda and then died by suicide. She intends to stash the remaining toxin in Blake's bedroom to strengthen the frame.

Whitney mentally reviews the expected symptoms—difficulty swallowing and speaking, confusion, seizures, and irregular heartbeat—and counts on Blake avoiding the hospital due to lack of insurance. She expects to find him on the sofa or in bed, alive but in distress or newly dead, so the timeline will implicate Blake in Amanda’s impending murder.

Entering the house, Whitney is surprised by a wave of sadness at the possibility that Blake might already be dead. She contrasts her feelings for her previous victims—Elijah, Stacie Parker, Mr. Zimmerly, and Jordan—with her deep, adult love for Blake and the future she had imagined with him. She blames Blake for cheating and ruining that future, even as she steels herself to see him incapacitated.

Whitney searches the downstairs sofa and then the upstairs bedroom but does not find Blake. She considers that he may have gone to the emergency room, which would expose the poisoning and the incriminating note she slipped into his pocket. She takes out her phone to plan her next move.

Whitney notices a missed call and a text message from Blake. After reading the text and listening to the voicemail, she decides that the situation may still be salvageable and could even benefit her plan, though the exact contents of the messages are not revealed.