Content Warning: This section of the guide contains descriptions of rape and murder.

Throughout Anna’s trip back to New York from Denver, she thinks about Evan and the sticky note. Because she killed Evan, she knows he isn’t alive and couldn’t have written the note. However, she can’t imagine who would be behind it. Back at home, she dons a robe, makes herself a drink, and sorts through her fan mail. Then she begins to wonder if the note-writer might be one of Jake’s students. She believes all aspiring and failed writers turn out to be bitter. At the bottom of her mail, she finds a manila envelope containing a manuscript excerpt that resembles the plot line of Crib. In this story, however, the characters are called Diandra and Ruby, which Anna knows are pseudonyms for her and Rose. Reading the pages, Evan comes alive again. She can’t understand who else might know about her past life.

The next morning, Anna goes through the rest of the mailed manuscript. In the story, Diandra lives in her family’s old house. It’s filled with ancient furniture and the walls are stenciled with pineapples. She lives there with her daughter Ruby, whom she had when she was 15.