For a month, Patch skips school and rides buses to distant towns, putting up notices and calling every hospital in Missouri in hopes of finding Grace. His search continues until Chief Nix arrives at Patch’s house early in the morning and pushes into the kitchen, bringing food and a bag containing Patch’s old magazine.

As they sit down, Nix reveals that Harkness saw Patch cleaning the station after hours. Patch denies it, but Nix uses the moment to point out how exhausted Patch looks and to warn him that the school has been reporting concerns because Nix told them to watch Patch. When Nix says Social Services cannot be held off indefinitely, Patch agrees to return to school, but only because his real focus remains Grace.

Nix then asks about Patch’s friend and notes that loyal friends like that are rare. Patch rejects the conversation and turns the accusation back on the police, saying he does not need friends but officers who will do their jobs. Nix studies him and sees how much Patch has changed since returning.

Trying to stop Patch’s obsession from consuming him, Nix explains that the state police believe Patch’s time in total darkness could have distorted his mind. Nix compares Grace to a mirage, suggesting Patch may have imagined her as a form of salvation, and urges him to speak with Dr. Tooms.

Patch angrily rejects that idea and insists Grace is real, a lost girl the police are duty-bound to protect. Nix cannot promise that Grace is safe, and Patch answers that if Nix cannot say she is okay, then the case is not over. The chapter ends with Patch refusing both the official explanation and any attempt to make him stop searching.