Pip Fitz-Amobi phones Stanley Forbes, the Kilton Mail journalist who covered the Andie Bell and Sal Singh case, to ask about the coroner’s inquest and the evidence presented there. Stanley says police emphasized the blood found in Andie’s car boot, arguing that Andie was killed somewhere else, placed in the boot, transported, and disposed of in an unknown location.

Stanley describes the police’s likely timeline: Andie left home in her car, Sal allegedly intercepted Andie while walking home, one of them drove to a secluded place, Sal murdered Andie, hid Andie’s body in the boot, dumped the car on Romer Close, and walked home. Stanley also recalls the coroner describing Andie as the victim of a sexually motivated murder and noting that considerable effort had gone into hiding Andie’s body.

When Pip challenges Stanley’s repeated published descriptions of Sal as a “killer,” “murderer,” and “monster” despite no conviction, Stanley insists Sal was obviously guilty. Stanley’s reasoning exposes racist assumptions about Sal’s Indian heritage and how Stanley imagines Sal treated women. Pip confronts Stanley’s irresponsibility and contrasts his language about Sal with softer coverage of a white convicted murderer, escalating the conversation into open hostility.

Stanley then reveals a detail he says the newspaper was not allowed to print: a police source told him officers found a death threat note in Andie’s school locker. Pip remains unconvinced of Sal’s guilt and insults Stanley, causing Stanley to hang up. Afterward, Pip identifies two useful pieces of information from the call: the police’s theory that Andie was killed before being transported in the car boot, and the unconfirmed alleged death threat.

Later, Pip creates a murder map to visualize the police’s version of events. Pip assumes Sal’s quickest walking route from Max’s house went through the high street and identifies Wyvil Road as a plausible interception point, with nearby secluded places that could fit the police narrative. Calculating the timing, Pip concludes Sal theoretically had about one hour and thirty-five minutes to kill Andie and hide Andie’s body, but Pip is troubled by unexplained issues, especially why Andie and Sal would have met without any known phone or text record and why Andie would not simply have picked Sal up from Max’s house.