Darling Girls

The narrative returns to the present timeline at 9:00 pm. The women are still at the bar, and Norah has bought several rounds of drinks. Jessica is shocked to see Norah flirting with the bartender, as Norah typically never flirts with anyone. Jessica feels insecure because she has recently been worried that her husband, Phil, might leave her; he is an outdoorsy person who spends a lot of time around young women.

Detective Patel arrives. She looks upset and severe, which worries the women. Bianca invites her to join them, but Detective Patel declines. She tells them that the results from the medical examiner have come in; the bones that were discovered under the house at Wild Meadows are those of an infant. Jessica looks around the table. While the other women, the former foster infants, are merely curious, Norah is stressed and Alicia has begun crying. As Jessica and Norah comfort Alicia, Jessica can feel the eyes of the other women and the detective on them. Suddenly, Miss Fairchild herself walks into the pub.

The narrative shifts to the first-person narrator in the office of Dr.