In this chap­ter, the nar­ra­tor expe­ri­ences the imme­di­ate after­math of Lark’s trag­ic inci­dent. An ambu­lance dri­ver, pre­vi­ous­ly famil­iar to him, arrives, and upon rec­og­niz­ing each oth­er, he express­es his sym­pa­thy. The arrival of the police dis­rupts the moment, as they inter­ro­gate the nar­ra­tor, ini­tial­ly sus­pect­ing him of foul play. They direct their accusato­ry ques­tions toward the time­line of events, the nature of his mar­riage, and past dis­putes, while he remains com­posed, insist­ing on their hap­pi­ness and pro­vid­ing an ali­bi involv­ing a lost dog search. The detective’s demeanor shifts when the men­tion of Kel­lan, a man who har­bors fears and secrets, is brought up, par­tic­u­lar­ly con­cern­ing a threat­en­ing fig­ure named Wer­ryck.

As the inves­ti­ga­tion ends for the night, the lead inves­ti­ga­tor warns the nar­ra­tor about har­bor­ing a fugi­tive, set­ting the stage for ongo­ing scruti­ny. In the wake of these tense exchanges, Maudie, a friend, com­forts the nar­ra­tor, offer­ing him refuge in her home. Despite her kind­ness and the sup­port from oth­ers, he strug­gles with insom­nia, haunt­ed by haunt­ing mem­o­ries of Lark. Dur­ing this time of grief, he dis­cov­ers a blood­ied dog, Vix­en, and tends to her injuries, find­ing com­pan­ion­ship in her pres­ence.

As days bleed into one anoth­er, the nar­ra­tor becomes increas­ing­ly with­drawn, rely­ing on friends who attempt to help, but their kind­ness feels suf­fo­cat­ing. The weight of Lark’s absence per­me­ates his exis­tence, affect­ing his sense of pur­pose and sta­bil­i­ty. He reflects on her absence in their home filled with her belong­ings, feel­ing an over­whelm­ing sense of loss and an urgent desire to remem­ber her ful­ly.

A piv­otal moment occurs as the nar­ra­tor finds him­self in the attic, con­fronting rem­nants of Kellan’s past. Despite the tur­moil, he exper­i­ments with deep breaths from a mask and reg­u­la­tor, grap­pling with despair. As sum­mer tran­si­tions into fall, he iso­lates him­self in a near­by wood­lot, where he forms con­nec­tions with nature and ani­mals. How­ev­er, a pow­er­ful mem­o­ry of Lark resur­faces, lead­ing him to rem­i­nisce about a shared boat trip—a mem­o­ry he had near­ly forgotten—driving him to the boat shed, where he approach­es the ves­sel that sym­bol­izes their past togeth­er, lost in the echoes of absence and yearn­ing.