Ada sneaks into the Lowells’ hidden room behind the movable bookcase and is stunned to find it stocked with toys, brighter and more “lived-in” than the empty space under her own stairs. In the far corner is a small child-sized bed with an insect-patch quilt; when Ada pulls back the covers, she discovers dark brown stains splattered across the white sheets that look like old blood.

Mr. Lowell catches Ada in the room and calmly interrogates her, quickly calling out her lies about telling her parents. He blocks the exit, closes the door, and implies he cannot trust Ada to keep quiet the way Nico does—then tells Ada he cannot let her leave, escalating Ada’s fear that she is about to become another missing child.

Remembering her father’s pocketknife and how to use it, Ada pulls the knife from her pocket, opens it, and stabs Mr. Lowell in the belly, twisting the blade. As Mr. Lowell collapses, cursing her, Ada bolts past him, escapes the room, and sprints out of the Lowell house, unable to lock the door behind her.

Ada races back into her own home, searches for her parents, and panics when she hears footsteps approaching, thinking Mr. Lowell has followed her. Instead, Nico appears and stares in horror at Ada’s blood-smeared hand and the bloody knife.

Ada admits she went to confront Mr. Lowell to protect Nico, that he tried to keep her trapped, and that she thinks she killed him. Nico warns Ada that telling adults could get her taken away to juvenile detention; since no one saw her, Nico argues they can hide the evidence and keep Ada’s involvement secret.