Throughout the trial, Linda learns that Patra grew up outside Milwaukee with her parents and much older siblings. She married Leo the week she graduated from college, a year after meeting him. She’d taken Paul to lessons and classes every day, and even once secretly took him to see a pediatric endocrinologist after a teacher commented on his health, though she never scheduled the tests that the doctor recommended. It was then that Leo decided they should spend some time in their new summer home, for “some mental space” (218). The day that Linda went for Tylenol, Leo decided that his family needed another “change of scenery” (218) and packed the car with an unconscious Paul and his things. Linda learned later that they drove for over two hours, took Paul to two “private residences” (219) before he died of cerebral edema. 

After they leave, Linda tidies up Paul’s room, covering the “fishy-sweet” (219) scent of Paul’s room by arranging pinecones around his dresser. Then, she sits on his bed until the room darkens. Her father eventually comes to get her, worry haunting his words; but he never directly expresses whatever concerns he harbors.