Dinner[]
York, George, Thomas and Emily gather at the A&G Diner for a later dinner. George tells the agent that despite his lengthy time as sheriff in Greenvale, he’s never seen a murder as gruesome as Anna's. Emily agrees, saying that even though the town is odd it’s relatively peaceful. Greenvale’s crime has never really gone beyond things like shoplifting and teenage brawling.
Things are going well until Emily asks York about what kind of cases he’s taken part in before this murder. He happily tells them about his last case, a serial killer of young girls who sawed off their heads and took them back to his house, using the skulls for a variety of household things. York is abruptly cut off after the rest of the group starts to lose their appetites.
Emily changes the subject to York himself, portraying him as some kind of elite agent from a Hollywood movie. She feels bad that she’ll never be up to the same level as York. He tells her and the group that the crimes they deal with are just as important. A crime is a crime, no matter its size or severity. Victims will never welcome a crime, and so their work is just as important each time a crime occurs.
Thomas thinks back to Anna and her murder. He begins to cry, still expecting to see her working behind the counter and realizing that she never will again. George apologizes for dinner not being a happier affair. York shrugs it off, bids them goodnight, and heads back to the hotel.
Once in his room, York and Zach go over the clues they have collected so far. Anna, the victim, was found hanging from a tree in the woods with a gash from her chest to her stomach. This is what caused her death. The other marks on her body appeared after her death. Her tongue was bitten off, and there was a red seed lodged in her mouth. She had been killed under a roof, as it was raining during her murder but tear marks were still visible on her face. This meant that the killer dragger Anna to the tree after she died.
At the tree, there were four important clues - knee prints, a woodchip with metal dust, a photo of the tattooed man, and the broken heel. The clues told York that two other people were there - the killer and a woman he dubs Miss Stiletto Heel. He also remembers the mark on Anna’s hand, suggesting that she was holding onto a round object with a peace mark on it. That object needs to be found.
York focuses his attention on Carol and Nick, as well as Diane and Harry, after his meeting with the townsfolk. Both Carol and Nick seem to be hiding something based on their odd behavior. Diane was a person of interest before, and Harry seems to know more than he’s telling. He decides to focus on them one at a time until he’s satisfied that he knows everything.
As he lays down to sleep, York tells Zach that one of the best things about Greenvale so far has been the wonderful food. Somehow, it’s motivating him to work harder on the case. He also notes a strange feeling he had when looking at Emily’s back, “nostalgic and sad almost.”
At the end of the chapter, a large truck pulls up in front of a building. A Dalmatian sits in a doghouse on the truck bed. An elegant woman gets out of the truck while the driver, a large man in overalls, watches.