The day after Pip’s argument with Ravi, Pip sends her information request to Thames Valley Police, beginning a twenty-working-day wait for official material. Victor calls Pip downstairs, where Pip finds Ravi at the front door; he has found Pip’s address through the estate agency where Pip’s mother works.

Ravi apologizes for getting angry and saying Pip was just a kid, while Pip apologizes for stepping into his confrontation and trying to fight his battles for him. The two agree they are OK. Pip invites Ravi to join her and Barney on a dog walk through the woods opposite Pip’s house.

During the walk, Ravi talks about working at the George and Dragon in Amersham and wanting to save enough money to leave Little Kilton. Pip realizes too late that these are the woods where Sal’s body was found, but Ravi reassures Pip that nearly every part of town reminds him of Sal. The moment leads Ravi to ask whether Pip truly believes Sal was innocent.

Pip explains that she cannot accept the official version and that her school project gives her a reason to re-examine the case. Ravi admits he tried to investigate three years earlier, but Naomi Ward cried and refused to talk, Max Hastings and Jake Lawrence ignored him, Andie’s friends hung up, and Andie’s family was impossible to approach. Because Ravi was Sal’s brother, people treated Ravi as too close to the case and too connected to the supposed murderer.

Pip lays out four working theories: Sal killed Andie; another person killed Andie while Sal was somehow involved; another person killed Andie while Sal was innocent and later died by suicide for other reasons; or a killer murdered both Andie and Sal, framing Sal through planted evidence. Pip then adds her most far-fetched theory: Andie may not be dead, may have faked her disappearance, and may have killed Sal to make everyone believe she had been murdered.

When Pip and Ravi return to Pip’s house, Ravi asks to make a deal. Ravi wants to join Pip’s investigation because Pip has access and a school-project excuse that Ravi never had. Pip agrees, and Ravi gives Pip something crucial: Sal’s old phone.