At lunch in The Brass Monkey, Steve Wheeler sits with his usual pub crowd: Tony Taylor, John Todd and Dr Jyoti Das. The group jokingly discusses the recent death of Andrew Fairbanks, including the shark attack, and Steve says the bullet probably killed Andrew before the shark was drawn by blood. When John asks who shot Andrew, Steve says he will ask Amy, because Amy likely knows more.

As the conversation turns to Amy and Rosie D'Antonio, Steve reflects that Amy talks about violent incidents too easily, which makes him sad because it suggests how much violence has shaped Amy's life. He is relieved that Amy seems to like Rosie and that Rosie is bringing some fun into Amy's work. The banter stays light, but Steve's thoughts about Amy reveal his protective concern for her.

The group then returns to Andrew Fairbanks. Steve admits he had never heard of Andrew, but he keeps thinking about details that do not feel right, especially Andrew's eighteen thousand Instagram followers and the mention of Letchworth Garden City. Although Steve insists murder is no longer his business, his instincts tell him those details deserve attention.

Over lunch, John and Tony also mention a blue car seen in Steve's car park the previous night and a Greggs packet left in the footwell. Steve says he is already aware of it, suggesting he has noticed suspicious activity around him. The talk drifts to Tony's complaint that someone has been putting rubbish in his recycling bins, and Steve offers to bring his Vauxhall Corsa to Tony's house so Tony can look at the sticking clutch while Steve checks possible doorbell footage, though Tony does not even realize modern doorbells can record video.

Finally, John asks why Andrew was on the boat at all, and Steve explains that Andrew had flown there to film an advert for Krusher Energy Drink. That detail sparks another line of thought for Steve: if he were still investigating, he would want to know how Krusher became involved and why Andrew was chosen. Even as Steve repeats that he does not solve murders anymore, the chapter shows him quietly assembling leads and slipping back into investigative thinking.