The chapter opens with Ron's flat crowded for dinner, bringing together Ron, Pauline, Elizabeth, Joyce, Ibrahim, Joanna, Paul and Kendrick. The warm, teasing conversation emphasizes how much the group has settled back into its familiar rhythm, with Elizabeth's return restoring the old balance among them.

A brief flashback explains why Ibrahim is there. Earlier that morning, Ron had sensed that Ibrahim was uncertain and alone after they parted, so Ron turned back and invited Ibrahim to dinner, pretending Pauline had asked for him. Ibrahim accepted, and Pauline supported the idea by widening the invitation to Joanna and Paul as well.

Once everyone is seated, Elizabeth shares the latest results of the investigation into Holly Lewis's death and the missing Bitcoin fortune. Donna has identified a man named Bill Benson, a seventy-seven-year-old former miner living in Fairhaven, who may be connected to The Compound. Because Bill Benson might know where The Compound is and may even know what is hidden there, Elizabeth assigns Ron to speak to him and get answers.

Elizabeth and Joyce then reveal a second lead: seconds before Holly died, Holly placed a call to Jill Usher, a nursery-school teacher in Manchester. That discovery gives them a concrete next step, so Elizabeth and Joyce decide they will travel to Manchester to question Jill. At the same time, Elizabeth reports that despite extensive efforts, no trace of Nick Silver has been found, even with ports and airports watched.

Elizabeth presses Paul for any idea where Nick might have gone or where the money might be hidden, but Paul can offer almost nothing beyond Nick's warning that the location was too dangerous to share. Pauline bluntly suggests Nick may already be dead, while Kendrick listens closely and proposes that the hiding place could be underground. As the meal continues, Ron reflects on the strangeness of the year, the comfort of having everyone together, and the way Elizabeth still holds this unlikely group together, while he resolves to take Ibrahim with him to meet Bill Benson.