Later

Returning home, Jamie tells Tia why Professor Burkett’s daughter never visits: She’s been in a psychiatric hospital for decades. She killed her baby and then tried to die by suicide; she is now catatonic.

Tia contemplates the story and says they now know something they don’t have a right to. Adult Jamie interjects that he later found out his mother’s secret.

By the time Jamie is 14, Therriault has almost disappeared from his mind. He sees other dead people from time to time. He escorts a dead boy home and recognizes him as someone who was drowned in the park by some older boys. The boys all cried and claimed they’d only been messing around. Adult Jamie doesn’t know if they were telling the truth.

Time goes on, and Tia’s literary agency thrives; Jamie has a girlfriend. Jamie has just turned 15 when he learns from Tia that Liz lost her job; she was finally caught transporting heroin. Jamie feels sad for Liz, even after everything she did. At the moment, Liz is out on bail, but there’s a good chance she will end up in prison.