Chapter 2 is written in the first-person perspective of Claire, years after Alison’s death. Looking back on the week of Alison’s death, Claire remembers her parents being consumed with worry, at times neglecting Claire’s basic needs while also becoming protective of her. Before Alison’s body is found in the waterfall on Faraway Cay, Claire is unconcerned, convinced that Alison is playing some “elaborate game” (41). Once Alison’s body is found, however, Claire finally feels the enormity of her loss: “I was an only child now, hopelessly insufficient” (45).

Claire lays out the facts as she knows them, notably including the fact that at 10:15 p.m., Alison left with Clive and Edwin in Edwin’s car—the same eggplant-colored car Claire had seen before. Witnesses said that Alison, Edwin, and Clive were at a local bar called Paulette’s Place until 12:45 a.m. At 1:30 a.m., Clive and Edwin were pulled over. Officer Roy drove them to the jail to sober up, and the next morning, they went to work at Indigo Bay as usual.

Claire imagines how Alison ended up at Faraway Cay. In one scenario, Clive and Edwin are sinister characters who rape and kill her, then throw her clothes into the water as they take a boat back to the main island.