At school, Pip’s friends treat Pip carefully after Barney’s death. Lauren, Connor, and Cara quietly support Pip, while everyone avoids mentioning Barney directly. Pip tries to bury herself in ELAT practice and schoolwork, but Pip remains exhausted and distracted.

Mrs Morgan stops Pip in the corridor and explains that changing Pip’s EPQ title this late is not really possible. Pip barely reacts and goes home determined to keep working on the case instead of resting, even though Pip’s mother believes Pip’s sleeplessness is caused only by grief over Barney.

At home, Pip opens Ravi’s laptop and continues investigating the Ivy House Hotel lead while Ravi works separately on the scribbled phone number from Andie’s planner. Pip has already contacted hotel reviewers from March and April 2012 to ask whether they remember seeing a blonde girl there, but Pip has not received replies. Pip then finds the booking company’s phone number and considers pretending to be a relative to access old hotel records that might identify Secret Older Guy.

When Pip opens the phone app, Pip notices Naomi’s recent call on Naomi’s temporary number. The digits look disturbingly familiar, so Pip pulls out the hidden murder board and compares Naomi’s number with the scribbled-out number in Andie’s planner. Pip realizes Naomi’s old SIM number is almost certainly the same as the number Andie wrote down, with one digit possibly misread because of the scribble.

Pip first wonders whether the number makes the lead irrelevant, since it may only connect Andie to Sal’s best friend. But Pip then recognizes how much Naomi had access to: the hit-and-run secret, the involved phone numbers, Pip’s number, Max’s house, the camping location, and the woods where Barney was killed and Sal died. Pip cannot prove Naomi is involved, but remembers that Cara’s laptop has been recording everything printed from the Wards’ printer, giving Pip a way to test whether Naomi sent the killer’s printed note from Pip’s locker.