This chapter covers July 23 through August 1, although Hawkins does not include entries for each day, nor both morning and evening sections for all of the days. On July 23, Rachel does not pretend to go into work. In the apartment, she thinks about watching the news the previous day and learning about Kamal. While waiting to hear more, Rachel buys some wine and drinks it. Then, the news includes a report about Kamal being released. Rachel tries to remember what she saw on the night of Megan’s disappearance.

On July 24, Rachel stays in again, and Cathy mentions Rachel missing work. Rachel recalls getting fired because of her drunken behavior at lunch with a client several months ago. She watches the news, and Scott’s face reminds her that she tried to call Scott the night before. Her phone shows missed calls from Scott and Tom. When she returns Scott’s call, he has figured out she is the drunken and mentally unstable witness Riley told him about.

The narrative picks up on July 26, and Rachel is still not taking the train to London in the pouring rain. She has nightmares and writes Scott an email.