Cameron navigates Seattle to a nondescript Capitol Hill building and descends to Mudminnow, a tiny speakeasy-style bar filled with faux candles. He is greeted by Natalie, a green-haired bartender, before Simon Brinks emerges and explains he chose this venue because it connects to Daphne.

Expecting a confession, Cameron confronts Simon about abandoning him. Simon calmly states he is not Cameron’s father and offers a DNA test. The class ring Cameron brought is revealed not to be Simon’s; Simon produces his own high school ring engraved SOB (his initials), while Cameron’s ring reads EELS, ending that lead.

Simon explains he and Daphne were best friends, not lovers, and that Mudminnow was a shared teenage dream he later built in her honor. Cameron’s encyclopedic riff on mudminnows prompts Simon to note Cameron resembles Daphne’s sharp memory and curiosity; Daphne felt misunderstood by family and kept parts of her life private.

Pressed about Daphne’s fate, Simon says he last saw her years ago in Eastern Washington, still using; he gave her money but couldn’t “fix” her while raising his daughter Natalie. Simon insists Daphne loved Cameron deeply. Overwhelmed and ashamed, Cameron mentions his aquarium job, rejects reassurances, and leaves abruptly, shaken and no closer to finding his father.