In mid-June 1941 at the Carriveau school, a Gestapo officer arrives with the collaborating gendarme Paul and targets Monsieur Paretsky. When Vianne questions what is happening, Paretsky is accused of distributing anti-German propaganda. The Gestapo officer records Vianne’s name and, after she denies involvement but “draws attention” by speaking up, he fires her on the spot and warns her not to ask questions.

Walking home with Sophie, Vianne notices the deepening shortages and panics over money: Antoine’s savings are gone, and without her salary she cannot see how to survive the coming winter. At home she tries to keep busy with soup, laundry, and mending, then starts to write Antoine a letter admitting their desperation. Overcome with shame and fear of Sophie finding it, Vianne destroys the postcard.

Outside in the garden, Captain Beck joins Vianne and offers her a glass of expensive wine while revealing he is leaving for a few weeks to go home. Vianne admits she has been fired and is terrified of feeding Sophie; Beck calls her “beautiful,” alarming her, then quietly promises that Sophie “will not starve this winter,” implying his protection comes with an uncomfortable, private cost. Vianne retreats inside and lies awake, shaken by her dependence on him.

In Paris, Isabelle continues running the bookshop as a cover and flirts with German customers to keep suspicion low, always careful to leave safely. Anouk arrives and uses their coded signal—handing over a worn Baudelaire volume—to pass Isabelle a hidden message and delivery time for a drop at the Comédie Française. After closing, Isabelle swaps small kindnesses with Monsieur Deparde next door, receiving a sack of fries she gratefully eats on her walk home.

Isabelle senses danger and discovers a British RAF airman hiding near an apartment building. Against her better judgment, she gives him her address and later sneaks him inside near curfew, learning his name from his tags: Lieutenant Torrance MacLeish. Isabelle hides MacLeish in her secret doll-filled room behind the armoire, then disposes of his flight suit and identification tags in the Seine to erase evidence.

Returning home, Isabelle is confronted by her father, drunk and suspicious. Hearing noises, he searches the apartment by candlelight and comes dangerously close to the armoire but finds nothing. He ends by warning Isabelle that fear is necessary now and that she should be afraid of everyone, underscoring how precarious Isabelle’s decision has become.