Joyce reviews the investigation and sees how close the group is to the Bitcoin. Ron has secured Bill Benson’s cooperation, Ibrahim has found Connie Johnson to accompany them, and Elizabeth has cracked Holly’s six-digit code as 416617. Because Nick Silver’s code is the only missing piece, Joyce feels she is the only one who has not made a useful contribution.

Joyce reflects on Ibrahim’s attempts to solve Nick’s code through names, birthdays, and other combinations. Thinking about passwords and codes in her own life, Joyce notes that people often reuse familiar numbers and words because they are easy to remember. The thought makes her circle back to the mystery of Holly’s code, admiring how Elizabeth realized the answer came from a phone number linked only randomly to Holly.

Joyce also thinks about the wider case and the secrecy around her. She notices that Kendrick and Tia were at Ibrahim’s flat and that no one has explained why, which adds to her sense of being excluded. Remembering Donna’s visit, Joyce deduces that Donna likely traveled to London to question Paul, and Joyce further reasons that Elizabeth must have arranged it, even though Donna is not officially working the case.

Although Joyce accepts that Paul should be questioned, she does not personally believe he is guilty, because Nick’s texts were sent to Paul openly and because Joanna does not seem to suspect him. Still feeling ineffective and overlooked, Joyce compares herself unfavorably with Elizabeth and dwells on small personal failures, from heavy brownies to forgetting to tell Joanna she loves her. By the end of the chapter, Joyce steadies herself with a different conclusion: she will never be Elizabeth, but Elizabeth will never be Joyce either, and Joyce may have her own separate kind of useful work to do.