Saint is summoned to the police station, where Chief Nix publicly recognizes her with a certificate and a two-thousand-dollar check while Daisy Creason takes her photograph. Saint understands her grandmother will treasure the moment, but instead of keeping the money, Saint has her grandmother cash the check.

On the second Monday, Saint arrives early and puts every dollar into an envelope, which she leaves in the Macauleys' mailbox. Beside the trash, Saint finds a box holding Patch's neatly folded pirate flag, his antique treasure chest, and his doubloons, showing that Patch is throwing away part of the identity he once embraced. When Saint notices the flintlock is missing, Patch says it was a gift, and that small answer gives Saint a little hope.

Patch comes out and walks with Saint to school. He is wearing ordinary clothes, looks much too thin, and tells Saint, "I'm not a pirate," making his rejection of his old self explicit. Saint tries to fill the silence with stories about local mishaps and gossip, but Patch remains quiet, withdrawn, and emotionally distant, and Saint sees that he no longer smiles.

Because Patch's return has worried her, Saint has already gone to the library, borrowed a book on trauma and psychological disabilities, and stayed up reading so she can understand what he may be suffering. She has prepared herself for nightmares, flashbacks, anger, and shame, determined not to push him while still being ready to help. Even so, Patch catches her completely off guard when he abruptly tells her that he needs to steal a car.