Jonas Faukman sits bound in the back of a van that is steadily growing colder. His captors have stripped off his peacoat, searched it for hidden items, and left it on the floor; Faukman wonders if his phone is still inside and considers trying to trigger a voice call for help.

Two men oversee him: a stocky “Buzzcut” on a milk crate with an iPad, and a second man in the front seat intermittently typing on his phone. Faukman tries to make sense of the situation, stunned that anyone would hack a publisher, destroy copies, and kidnap people over Katherine Solomon’s manuscript.

Buzzcut begins an interrogation, pressing Faukman about whether Katherine is overseas and where she is. Faukman confirms she is in Prague, and Buzzcut reveals detailed surveillance: Katherine left her hotel room, used a Four Seasons Business Center computer to access the PRH server, and viewed her manuscript.

Buzzcut claims Katherine printed a complete 481-page hard copy and left the hotel with it. Faukman denies it, reading the claim as a bluff and a clumsy attempt to turn him against Katherine; when Buzzcut escalates with a veiled threat by flashing a holstered handgun, the front-seat man checks a tool called Avatar and reports Faukman is telling the truth and did not know about any printing.

Buzzcut pivots to asking why Katherine would print the manuscript and to whom she gave it, but Faukman insists he has no idea; the front-seat man again confirms this as truthful, along with Faukman’s statement that neither Katherine nor Robert Langdon has contacted him. As the cold worsens, Buzzcut taunts Faukman by opening the driver’s-side window instead of turning on heat; through the blast of air, Faukman hears jet engines and realizes he may be on a military base, raising the stakes of his captivity.