At the start of the chapter, Mahmoud is living in the more comfortable Dilshad Hotel. He is going over the story of the Whatsitsname, preparing to write it. The Whatsitsname originally returned to Hadi that night to kill him, as he held Hadi responsible for the death of Hasib, the hotel guard who left his post to chase Hadi away. Hadi attempted to argue and reason with the Whatsitsname to spare his life, but the Whatsitsname rebuked his arguments at each turn, though it was also clear to Hadi that the Whatsitsname wasn’t any more certain of his own actions.

The Whatsitsname didn’t intend to kill the beggars. As it turns out, they were already fighting when they saw the Whatsitsname and turned their fear and hatred on him. They began killing each other, then turned to the Whatsitsname, whom they would not have been able to overtake anyway. To the Whatsitsname, they wanted to die but hadn’t the means; the Whatsitsname gave them the means. The rest of the killings were out of revenge, beginning with Abu Zaidoun the barber to avenge Daniel’s death. Hadi, in talking to the Whatsitsname, determines that he is avenging the deaths of the people of whose parts he is made; he senses an opening and convinces the Whatsitsname to kill him last, since he doesn’t matter.