Five nights after Clara’s disappearance, Lizzie Rose tells the constable about Grisini’s link to children who went missing years ago. The night of the performance at the Wintermute house, Grisini disappeared on the walk home, and Lizzie Rose “can’t help wondering if he was looking for a place to hide someone” (77).

Eight days after Clara’s disappearance, Clara’s father, Dr. Wintermute, receives a ransom letter promising her return. As he waits at the mausoleum where his other children are entombed, he remembers how much Clara disliked coming there. Repentant, he vows to do better: “if Clara came back to him alive, he would see to it that she was never forced to come here again” (79). Dr. Wintermute also realizes how much he truly loves Clara, even though he hasn’t shown her love since her brother died.

Cassandra dreams of Grisini saving her from the phoenix-stone’s destructive powers. When she wakes, she chastises herself because “Grisini was no fairytale prince” (84). She climbs to her tower room, from which she casts her most powerful spells, and looks into a seeing crystal. It shows her Grisini and the shadows of three children, followed by more images of herself burning.