Ron Ritchie goes to the Dove, a quiet seaside pub, to find Bill Benson after learning Bill may be connected to the Compound. Bill immediately recognizes Ron from 1974, when Ron spoke on a miners’ picket line and was hit by a police truncheon. The shared history makes Bill friendly and respectful, but Ron stays focused because he has come to ask about Holly Lewis.

When Ron raises Holly’s name, Bill first denies knowing her. Ron realizes Bill is lying, and after some pressure Bill admits that he is not supposed to know Holly or speak about her. Bill then becomes cautious and suspicious, because almost nobody should know about his link to Holly.

Ron decides to be partly frank and tells Bill that he has heard Bill may be connected to a place called the Compound. Ron explains that Nick Silver has disappeared and that someone planted a bomb under Nick’s car the day before Holly died. Ron means to explain that all of it seems tied to the Compound, but he stops when Bill reacts with genuine horror.

Bill had not known that Holly was dead, and the news devastates him. His shock convinces Ron that Bill cared about Holly and may not be involved in her death. Once Ron asks for help, Bill decides to trust him, provided the police are not involved. After Ron promises that they are not, Bill agrees to take Ron to the Compound, giving the investigation its clearest route yet.