Ibrahim brings hot chocolates to Kendrick and Tia, who are lying on the floor colouring in Kendrick’s planets book. Watching them together makes Ibrahim think of how young and vulnerable Tia really is, and he quietly resolves that he will not let Connie Johnson’s world define her future. The calm, domestic moment also makes Ibrahim feel unusually content, as if the three of them briefly form a family.

The conversation turns to the case. Kendrick praises Elizabeth for solving Holly Lewis’s six-digit code, and Ibrahim explains that Holly had one half of the Bitcoin access information while missing Nick Silver held the other. Tia quickly draws the obvious conclusion that Nick might have killed Holly, because Holly is dead and Nick vanished after the wedding. Ibrahim agrees that this is one possibility, though he adds that someone else could have harmed them both.

Tia then asks why Ibrahim is so certain that the texts sent after Nick’s disappearance were not really from Nick. Ibrahim shows Kendrick and Tia a printout of the messages and explains the reasoning he and Elizabeth have used: the language sounds wrong, and the sender seems not to know basic details about Nick’s closest friend. As Kendrick leans against Tia while they read, Ibrahim reflects again on their youth and on his wish to protect both children from the damage the adult world can do.

After studying the texts, Tia and Kendrick challenge Ibrahim’s assumption. They insist that the messages actually are from Nick Silver, and they are surprised that Ibrahim and Elizabeth failed to notice the clue. Ibrahim, caught off guard, asks for clarification instead of pretending certainty.

Tia delivers the chapter’s key revelation: Nick Silver is alive, and the text exchange contains a message from him. What Ibrahim and Elizabeth treated as evidence of impersonation may instead be evidence that Nick is trying to communicate indirectly, shifting the investigation in an important new direction.