Audrey is withdrawn and preoccupied, not eating much and being distracted at mealtimes. She is obsessing over the case, and Nathaniel tells her that he is worried about her.

Under the pretense of going to bed early, Audrey sneaks into her father’s study to find records of Miss Nichols’s employment. She uses a brass key to open his desk. She finds no further clues; the records merely contain records of Miss Nichols’s pay while she was employed. However, Audrey is surprised and unnerved to find an article on Miss Smith’s murder; she wonders why her father would have kept this article.

Audrey and Thomas meet at the tearoom in the Great Western Royal Hotel, where they exchange flirtatious banter. Thomas buys Audrey a flower and then smokes haughtily; Audrey is irritated by him but also finds herself attracted to him.

Thomas correctly deduces that Audrey is planning to take the train to Reading to search for clues about Smith, and he has brought a ticket to accompany her. They board the train; Thomas is fidgety as he finds traveling boring. Audrey explains that they are going to see a man called Aldous Thornley who used to be the family’s valet.

When they arrive, a brusque young woman with a baby on her hip answers the door; she tells Audrey and Thomas that Thornley is close to death.