Two young uniformed Guards arrive at the murder scene, take basic statements from Cal and Trey, and begin securing the area. Cal asks if he and Trey can return to his place to continue carpentry work, and the uniform agrees, saying detectives will be in touch. Driving down the mountain, Cal explains forensic and investigative procedure to Trey, whose interest worries him. He texts Lena about Rushborough's death and decides not to volunteer anything about the gold scheme to detectives, trusting Ardnakelty's capacity for confusion to obscure local business.

Detective Nealon arrives with one of the uniforms. Sharp despite his folksy demeanor, he questions Trey at the kitchen table. She is unusually polite and cooperative, walking Nealon through a timeline that places her finding the body just after five a.m. She volunteers that she heard noises during the night—men talking, a car at the fork, four or five grown male voices speaking with distinct Ardnakelty accents. Cal recognizes with dread that her story is fabricated and that she has never been Johnny's pawn: she is playing her own game, using the murder investigation to direct Nealon at the local men who killed her brother Brendan.

Cal realizes Trey came to him rather than Johnny precisely because Cal would let her tell her story to police, while Johnny would have suppressed it. When Trey reveals Cal's police background, Nealon shifts to treating Cal as a quasi-colleague. Cal recounts how he secured the scene and confirms that Johnny Reddy appeared and headed up the mountain. Nealon takes Cal aside outside for a smoke and probes further.

Nealon asks whether Trey is reliable and whether she'll hold to her story even if a neighbor is implicated; Cal vouches for her. Pressed for suspects, Cal names Johnny Reddy, since to do otherwise would look suspicious, but deflects questions about local oddballs or anti-British sentiment. Cal recognizes he is, for the first time, deliberately obstructing another detective's investigation. Nealon notes Cal's bruised knuckles and forehead before leaving.

Back inside, Trey is calmly testing wood-stain colors. Cal cannot bring himself to confront her about her lies. She insists on going home to her mother. Cal drives her, telling her to call if anything frightens her. He senses an ending in her voice, as if she doesn't expect to return to the workshop, and understands that Trey is now driving events while he can only follow to protect her.