The townspeople are starting to find out about Mab’s secret relationship with River, and she is bashful when she learns that the news is out. Maribel tells Mab and Monday about Nathan’s therapy confession, but she adds that because the information is covered by doctor-patient privilege, it would be inadmissible in court. Monday and Mab want Maribel to testify because she is not a doctor, but she refuses on ethical grounds. The girls bicker over this point, and Maribel obliquely accuses Mab of wanting the plant to open so that her boyfriend (River) will remain in town.

The girls reconcile after their argument and discuss how to proceed with their investigation. They know that their mother will not break doctor-patient privilege and that they will have to find independent evidence confirming the information to which Nathan confessed. Because the poisonous compound was originally part of Nathan’s PhD research, they decide to look for his dissertation. This avenue of investigation proves unsuccessful, but in a random box in their house, they do find the letters that Apple is searching for. From the correspondence, they learn that Apple’s family sold Duke Templeton the land to build the chemical plant, knowing full well that he intended to produce a material that had the potential to be toxic.