- In present day July, Mattie sits with Grace's body and has a one-sided conversation. Mattie's curiosity gets the better of her, and she reads a few more of Grace's letters.
- As Mattie hears people talking outside the window, she stops reading; the conversation indicates that Carl Grahm is in the hotel registry, but then one voice mentions that some Gillettes live near Cortland, which is close to where Grace's home is.
- Then, one voice muses that the bodies should have been near each other in the water if they both had drowned.
- The two men get a drink, and one of them has just gotten a message from Albany that no Carl Grahm lives in that city.
- Mattie runs back to the attic and tries to sleep, but can't.