At the start of the novel, Thomas is pranked by his colleague, Marsha, who announces that a big case has hit the town. When she reveals that it was a lie, he secretly wishes that a sensational crime would happen.

On the first day of Sandra's return, Thomas bumps into her at the grocery store and rekindles his old feelings for her. They have a friendly chat that gets interrupted by a text from his sister, Tamm. When he returns to his sister's home, he informs her of the new development and she teases him about his crush on Sandra. His nephew, Shawn, overhears the discussion and sends a message to his social network about the arrival of Sandra. One of his followers has a distinctly odd reaction to the news and expresses his love for Sandra.

The following day, Thomas and Marsha are performing their rounds when Sandra's car drifts into their lane, almost causing a car accident. Thomas persuades Marsha from chasing and charging Sandra, and Marsha relents. They head back to the police station where they see a poker-faced female student, Valerie, haughtily making her exit. Their colleague informs them that Valerie was given a warning for publicly posting a vulgar video of Sandra. The comments on the video are concerning, which worries Thomas.

Days later, Thomas scores a date with Sandra after visiting her home as a result of her neighbor, Dina's, complaints about noise levels. The date goes well, without a hitch, until Bartley, Sandra's male colleague, turns up at the scene. His appearance terrifies Sandra after he mocks her that he stalked her whereabouts from a geo-tagged picture of her food. Despite standing up for Sandra and threatening Bartley with arrest, she ends the date after Bartley leaves. Thomas sends her back home in silence and empathizes with her, wishing that he knew more about her.