Chapter 34

Summary

• The chapter begins with the protagonist, Leah, realizing that Bethany Jarvitz—a girl she once visited in the hospital—was about to be removed from life support. However, due to concerns about potential police investigations tracing back to her, she decides not to visit the hospital again.
• After her roommate, Rebecca, leaves for work, she decides to take some time off from her teaching job. She reflects on a conversation she had years ago with her friend Emmy about the potential courses of action to take if a friend were to commit a murder, which leads her to question Emmy’s motivations and suspicious behavior. She begins to suspect that Emmy may have been plotting to frame her for a crime.
• Leah embarks on a low-profile investigation, revisiting old locations and following clues that Emmy left behind. She discovers that Emmy may have been using her identity to hide her illegal actions, and that she framed her for a crime that Leah did not commit.
• Her investigation leads her to uncover a connection between Emmy, Bethany Jarvitz, and a man named Charles Sanderson who died in a fire—the incident that led to Bethany's hospitalization. She realizes that Emmy may have been involved in the arson that killed Charles, potentially because Bethany was coerced or manipulated into assisting.
• Leah realizes that Emmy had been planting seeds of deception since the beginning of their friendship, manipulating Leah's trust and using her information for her own legal and criminal needs. She also discovers that Emmy may have been trying to absolve herself of the crime by returning to help Bethany after her release from prison.
• The chapter ends with Leah observing the home of Paige, the wife of Aaron Hampton—a man who committed suicide under mysterious circumstances which Leah had reported on in the past. She reflects on her motivations for projecting her story onto Aaron and how she was drawn into Emmy's web of lies and deceit.