Joyce and Elizabeth arrive in Fairhaven to follow up on Elizabeth’s lead about Nick Silver. While Joyce buys flapjacks despite Elizabeth’s impatience, Joyce reflects on how their friendship has changed: she is more willing to assert herself, and Elizabeth’s familiar annoyance reassures Joyce that her old friend is still emotionally present after Stephen’s death.

As they walk to 8b Templar Street, Elizabeth finally explains the situation. Nick asked her to meet him there, told her someone wants to kill him, and said a bomb had been planted under his car. Elizabeth believes Nick has important information, so the visit is no longer just a casual inquiry connected to the wedding but part of a more dangerous investigation.

They reach a shabby, heavily secured building Nick has apparently called “The Compound.” The upper windows are boarded, a camera tracks Elizabeth’s movement, one buzzer has been ripped out, and the remaining buzzer is labeled DO NOT PRESS. Elizabeth presses it twice, but no one answers.

Elizabeth sends Joyce to check the side passage for another entrance. Joyce finds no way in because the windows are barred and the back is blocked by a high wall topped with barbed wire, but Joyce notices steam coming from a heating vent. That suggests someone is inside or has only recently been there. Although Joyce argues they should be cautious and return later, Elizabeth agrees only in theory; both women know they are going to continue, and the chapter ends with Elizabeth taking out her phone to find another way in.