thirteen days after
- The Colonel and Miles go to the police station to try to find eyewitnesses.
- To accomplish this deception, the Colonel says he's Alaska's brother (lie) and that he wants to talk to the cop who saw Alaska last.
- Finally the cop comes outside and relates what he saw: he saw her, his lights were on, his siren was on, but she just keep going until she ran right into him. "She didn't tarn. She didn't brake. She jest hit it" (13after.10).
- After this information, Miles gets his first inkling that the Colonel's theory about suicide may be right.
- The cop continues to say that she was dead when he got to the car; moreover, her blood alcohol content was .24. Also, the cop says, there were white tulips and college brochures in the back seat of her car.
- Walking away from the station, the Colonel tells Miles that Alaska's parents had always put white flowers in her hair when she was young.
- The Colonel is convinced Alaska killed herself; Miles says that all they're doing is smearing her memory—to which the Colonel says, "It's like now you only care about the Alaska you made up" (13after.35). Ouch.