Content Warning: This section of the guide includes discussion of mental illness.

Theo goes to Lazarus to tell him about Alicia’s story. Theo doesn’t believe Alicia’s story, which portrays her as innocent. The telltale giveaway that she’s lying is the detail of how many times the intruder shot Gabriel: According to Alicia, the intruder shot Gabriel six times but the police have long said it was five times. Lazarus agrees with Theo that Alicia’s story is “cock and bull,” and says, “I don’t believe a single word of it” (298). He urges Theo to confront Alicia: “You must refuse point blank to accept her story. Challenge her. Demand she tell you the truth” (300). 

The narrative jumps back to the subplot of Kathy’s affair. Theo describes following her as she meets her lover. He then follows Kathy’s lover home. He picks up a rock, planning to bash the man over the head with it from behind. In this moment, Theo dissociates his mind from his body: “My hands knew what to do: they had decided to kill him” (302). Theo raises the rock but, but he stops when a neighboring house opens the door and people come out.