The novel alternates between Billy's narration and the actvities from the police. In the parts of the police the novel focuses on the two detectives sent as extra. They are Jessica West and Oliver Rogers. It is their last night as the investigation does not advance. That last night they drink too much, and Jessica, who has recently broken up with her boyfriend, lets herself be seduced, reasoning that she won't see him again. Yet, the next day they are called by Chief Collins to say that they need them as Olive's parents are planning a huge advertising campaign to gather information about the disappearance of their daughter, and Oliver and Jessica will collate the right information.
Oliver Rogers is divorced and claims that he has no reasons to return to more trouble with his ex-wife. Jessica does not want to return home with this failure she feels it would be if they don't discover what happened to Olive. As Jessica and Rogers' friendship deepens, she tells him about her past. Her father wanted her to be a swimming champion, and her best friend in the team was Sarah. One day before a competition Sarah was nervous and decided to go for a run. Sarah never returned and was found strangled in an alley. After that, Sarah lost the zeal to complete, and she was eventually kicked out of the team.
Billy finds out that Olive is alive by watching the footage from the camera he left on Mr Foster's property. Then in another file he sees the man carrying a hefty carpet to his van, and Billy realises that the carpet must contain Olive's body. His first reaction is to contact the police, but then he realises that he may get into trouble because he didn't say anything when Olive was still alive. Yet, he needs to say something to prevent any other girls from being murdered. He decides to write an email to the police, using a fake email account and uses several filters to be untraceable. After sending the email, he hopes to hear about the raid in Mr Foster's place, but nothing happens. So he decides to send a similar email to the local newspaper, which may trigger some action.
When Billy is in the school, Detectives Rogers and West come to talk to him, and he is taken to the police station. His father is summoned and he is not very happy that the police are questioning his son. The police show the email to Billy, who at first denies having seen it before, but then West and Rogers say that they managed to trace him down after going to see Phil Foster and found his camera who has a tag with his name attached to it. They tell him that Mr Foster has a daughter who visits him every weekend, and that is the girl who Billy captured on camera, and they tell him that the carpet he saw Foster carry was part of a renovation plan to turn some rooms in vacation rentals, but he got rid of it at night to avoid paying tax. They also explain that Mr Foster was a teacher in the mainland and a girl from the school who was known to cause problem accused Mr Foster, but there were no charges. That is why some rumour spread on the island. Billy says that he saw him the night Olive disappeared, and the detectives tell him that he was there with his wife and daughter, and then they went home. Rogers warn Billy not to do something similar again because he may be charged with perverting the course of justice.
Just before the end of the interview West and Rogers are called as there hve been some developments. Some children have found a hand and forearm in a rockpool on the beach, and even though there should be some tests, it is clear that it belongs to Olive as there is a tattoo. Now the case is one of murder.
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