The next morning, Margot receives another call from Adrienne, who informs her that the newspaper’s owner was unimpressed with her piece. Adrienne suggests that Margot is “blinded by [her] relationship to the January Jacobs case” and that “[n]ot every little girl in the Midwest to go missing was taken by the person who killed [January]” (65). Adrienne fires Margot, telling her to take time to take care of her uncle and to get back to reporting when she is ready.

Margot is despondent at the loss of her passion and paycheck. She looks down at her hands to see familiar half-moon indentations, which come from pressing her nails into her hands, a coping mechanism she developed after learning about January’s murder. Luke tells her that she needs to see something on the television and Margot follows him. The news anchor reveals that someone wrote a message on the side of Billy Jacobs’s barn, and Margot decides to go investigate.

When she arrives, Margot is relieved to see that the place is not already swarming with reporters. She parks and looks across the street at her old childhood home, once again imagining “a faceless man standing in the middle of the street, his gaze oscillating between that window and January’s, then making a choice” (70). When she gets out of the car, Pete is there with another officer. Pete tells Margot that the police do not plan on being there long, as they are treating the incident as an act of vandalism. This surprises Margot, who asks Pete why the police do not think this is related to January’s murder and Natalie’s kidnapping. Pete explains that the police believe the vandalism to be a simple hoax meant to stir up the townspeople, who are easily “caught up in January’s memory” (72).

Unconvinced, Margot goes back to her car and opens her banking app on her phone. She calculates how long she can afford to stay in Wakarusa to investigate these cases without a job. She gives herself two weeks to research and draft an article about the cases, which Margot now believes are connected. Margot drives away, the words written on the Jacobses’ barn etched in her mind: “She will not be the last” (73).

Margot drives to Shorty’s restaurant, and Linda is eager to talk about the message on Billy’s barn. Linda states that she believes that the same person who killed January also took Natalie, and that it must be the same person who wrote the message on the barn.

Margot asks Linda to tell her about the Jacobs family back before January’s murder. Linda divulges that Billy and Krissy were “like royalty” in Wakarusa and that everyone knew them because of Billy’s successful farming business (76). Linda explains that January was beloved in town because of her dance skills, and that “a little bit of all of [them] died with her” (77). After January’s death, the town rallied behind the Jacobs family, but public opinion turned against them after an interview the family gave on television.

Suspicion landed on Krissy’s shoulders, whom everyone agreed acted odd during the interview. When Margot suggests that Linda believes Krissy may have killed January, Linda denies this, stating that she is just repeating what everyone else was thinking back then. At this, the door opens, and a crowd of people streams in from church. Linda promises Margot that she will direct anyone who wants to discuss the case to her.

Many locals are eager to discuss the cases with Margot. They seem to believe that the Jacobses are innocent, even though they continue to cast suspicion onto Krissy. More than one person explains to Margot that Krissy was “jealous” of January (79), both because of her dance talent and the fact that “Billy loved January more than he loved her” (79). Locals also seem to believe that Krissy was an “unfit” mother because she became pregnant at 18 (80), delivering the twins less than nine months after she and Billy were married.

Margot concludes her interviews and makes her way back to her car but stops short when she notices a woman standing across the street, staring at her. The woman quickly averts her gaze, which raises Margot’s wariness. Linda interrupts Margot’s thoughts by reminding her of her takeout order, and when Margot turns back, the woman is gone.

Krissy returns to the interrogation room. The interview resumes, but stops short when they receive word that police found the body of a young girl in a ditch less than two miles from the Jacobses’ home. Billy arrives looking haggard and worn down, his eyes red from crying, and confirms Krissy’s feeling that the body belongs to January. Her thoughts go to Jace before she resumes acting “how they expect [her] to act” (82) under the circumstances. Townsend offers his condolences to Billy and Krissy and promises that they will work to find out who did this to their daughter. He tells them that they will stay in a hotel overnight while crime scene investigators search their house, which is now a crime scene.

Krissy thinks back to the summer of 1987 again. That summer, she, Billy, and Dave spend a lot of time together, but, by August, Krissy is pregnant and everything has changed. She approaches Billy about money, implying that she plans to get an abortion, but Billy misunderstands her and proposes to her instead. In a moment, Krissy’s dreams die, and she knows that while the ring is “a tether [...] it [is] also a ticket to so much more” (86). Realizing that she will not have to worry about money for the first time in her life, she accepts. She decides not to tell Billy about her original plans to get an abortion, or about “the other thing” (86), promising to keep those secrets to herself.

When they arrive at the hotel with the detectives, she tries to make eye contact with Billy to gauge what he is thinking, but he avoids her gaze. Detective Lacks warns them that the press has gotten word of the murder. Krissy, exhausted, asks Lacks to “please just leave” (89). The moment they are finally alone together, Billy turns on Krissy, grabbing her by the shoulder and reprimanding her for her tone with the detectives. Billy says, “we don’t want to give them [...] any reason to look at us any closer than they already are” (89). When Krissy asks him what he is talking about, he pulls out her robe from the night before, marked with red spray paint on the sleeve.

Knowing that it will be harder to gain access to Natalie’s case now that she is no longer a reporter, Margot decides to focus on January’s case for her story. She makes a list of the people she wants to talk to, including Billy, Jace, and Detective Townsend. She attends church that Sunday to talk to Billy. After the service, Margot calls after Billy and introduces herself. His face darkens when she states that she is a reporter. Margot reminds him that she was friends with January growing up and says she “just [wants] to understand what happened to [her] friend” (95). At this, he agrees and invites her to his house to talk.

Memories wash over Margot as she recalls the moments she spent in the Jacobses’ house. Margot asks Billy if he has any idea who may have written the message on his barn, and he says that he assumes it was high school students playing pranks. Billy shares that January “was sort of the glue that held us together [...] she was always so kind, you know?” (98). Margot remembers a time when she had scraped her knee as a child and January, having found her, gave her a ripped piece of fabric printed with a snowflake and told Margot to squeeze it when she was afraid. Only weeks later, Margot learned that January’s death was a murder, and that was the first night she squeezed her hands so tightly her nails cut her palms.

Billy describes Jace as quiet, shy, and artistic. Margot recalls watching Jace press a dead bird with his foot until the eyes bulged out in an unused corner of the recess yard. Jace had gotten into further trouble as he grew up until he finally left home at age 17. Margot then asks about Krissy, as Billy was the one that found her after her death by suicide. She asks if guilt could have contributed to Krissy’s decision, and Billy grows frustrated, stating that Krissy, despite her flaws, did not kill January.

Before leaving, Margot goes outside to the barn, where she finds the spray paint rubbed off. The barn’s warning runs through Margot’s mind as she returns to her car, wondering if the author meant “January Jacobs will not be the last to be murdered or Natalie Clark will not be the last to be taken” (103). She sees that someone has left a note underneath her windshield wiper. Her mind immediately goes to the woman she saw outside of Shorty’s, and Margot’s blood runs cold when she reads the message: “It’s not safe for you here” (104).

Margot looks around for anyone that could have left the note, but the street is empty. Margot puts the note in her pocket and gets into her car, but she presses her fingernails into her palms the moment she locks the door. Margot wonders about the implications of the note: whether the author meant to threaten her or warn her. Her phone’s buzzing interrupts her thoughts, and she sees it is her landlord, asking about July rent. He tells Margot that she has until Wednesday to send the money.

Now even more frustrated and anxious, Margot begins driving to South Bend to interview Detective Townsend. She tries and fails to reach both her subletter and Luke on her ride there. At Detective Townsend’s house, Margot thanks him for meeting with her. He tells her that he has heard about the Natalie Clark case, but that he does not believe the case relates to January’s murder. Margot asks how he can be so sure, to which Townsend responds that the cases are quite different. Natalie disappeared from a public playground, whereas January’s murder occurred in her own home, and showed signs of being “far more personal” a crime (109). He explains that the messages written on the Jacobses’ walls indicate a crime of hatred, suggesting someone who knew her.

When Margot presses further, reminding Townsend that nothing he said proves that Natalie’s kidnapper and January’s killer are not the same, Townsend divulges a shocking revelation: “[M]y team and I solved the January Jacobs case twenty-five years ago” (109). He goes on to explain that January’s murderer is dead, revealing that he believes her mother, Krissy, killed her.

Shocked to hear the lead investigator on January’s case make such a pronouncement, Margot tries and fails to conjure memories of Krissy, who remains “just like any other mom, a faceless adult” (111). Margot asks Townsend how he solved the case, and Townsend explains that he was suspicious of Krissy from the beginning, even before police found the can of spray paint used to scrawl the messages with Krissy fingerprints on it in the barn. After this, Townsend began to pursue her as a suspect, using cadaver dogs to find fibers from January’s nightgown in the trunk of Krissy’s car. This indicated that Krissy had transported her daughter’s body the night of her murder.

When asked for a motive, Townsend explains that Krissy was smart and felt suffocated living in Wakarusa. He claims she was jealous of January’s dancing and that there were marital problems between her and Billy. Townsend dismisses the writing on Billy’s barn as a hoax: “[January’s] murder is part of the town’s DNA. It’s no wonder kids fixate on it” (114). Margot remains unconvinced of Krissy’s guilt and shows Townsend the message left on her car. Townsend tells her that it is most likely the same person that wrote the message on the barn, but not to worry about it. He tells her to report it to the police, regardless.

As their conversation ends, Margot asks Townsend why, if he is convinced of Krissy’s guilt, they never arrested her. He states that he wanted to and tried, but that Krissy had messed up the crime scene so much, no one could understand it.

After leaving South Bend, Margot drives to the Wakarusa police station to report the note. The officer does not take Margot’s concerns seriously, even after she tells the officer about the woman outside of Shorty’s. Margot begins to wonder if she is being “paranoid” and begins to leave when she hears Pete call after her. Margot tells Pete about the note, and he apologizes, telling her that he will personally look at the report and investigate the mysterious woman.

Margot asks him why he is going out of his way to help her, and Pete reminds her of a time in elementary school when she started a water fight with him at the drinking fountain to distract from the fact that Pete had wet his pants. She asks Pete if he knows anything about January’s case, and whether he has time to talk to her. She shares everything she learned from Townsend during their conversation, and Pete makes it clear that he has heard all the information before. Pete shares that the local police hold a grudge against Townsend and the state police because “Townsend was so blinded by his belief that the killer was Krissy that he overlooked details that didn’t fit his own narrative” (122). Pete reveals that the police found blood, January’s type, on Jace’s pajamas during their investigation. Jace had no injuries on him whatsoever, but January’s injuries—particularly the blow to her head—meant she bled both internally and externally. Because Krissy and Billy never mentioned that January had been bleeding before she went to bed, it means that Jace encountered January, either shortly before or after her murder.

Margot recalls the memory of Jace pressing on the dead bird, wondering if perhaps it was not a sign of a young boy in distress over losing his sister, but a sign of something “darker, growing inside of him” (123). Margot says goodbye to Pete, texts Luke to let him know she will be home shortly, and then drives to Shorty’s. Linda greets her, and Margot asks if she could help spread the word that Margot is looking for Jace Jacobs, which Linda is happy to agree to.