Patch is back in prison, looking out through a narrow cell window over the prison grounds, a distant water tower, and the world beyond. From his bunk he imagines the lives continuing outside through news, gossip, disasters, and ordinary conversations, which emphasizes how cut off he is and how much time has passed beyond the walls.

The prison itself is old and decaying, marked by failing electrics, cracked stone, and the weight of its violent history. From his cell, Patch watches a new prison being built nearby and sees the workers leave each day for ordinary freedom. Even though the institution is different, Patch experiences this imprisonment as a continuation of an old judgment, with his brief period outside feeling only like a temporary interruption.

Patch settles into a strict routine. He leaves his cell early, eats little, and works in the prison library, where a year of careful conduct earns him a single key and a measure of trust. He shelves returns, tends the reference section, quietly expands the art collection, and helps guide other inmates toward practical books, while librarian Cooper becomes part of the stable pattern of his days.

After five hundred and thirteen days of disciplined behavior, Patch writes a letter to Warden Riley. Two months later, that act produces a response: guard Blackjack removes Patch from his cell after lunch, cuffs him, and escorts him across the yard toward the warden's office. On the way, Blackjack shows both familiarity and confusion, thanking Patch indirectly for helping with his daughter's school project while again asking why Patch killed the zookeeper, leaving Patch's summons charged with consequence before the meeting even begins.