Joyce travels with Elizabeth expecting a dramatic London-style investigation into the bomb photographs, imagining secret rooms and dangerous specialists. Instead, Elizabeth takes Joyce to Purley, where they walk through an ordinary suburban street to the bungalow of Jasper, an old contact of Elizabeth’s. Joyce is underwhelmed by the setting and by Jasper’s cat-filled sitting room, but she settles in to make the most of the visit.

Jasper, a cheerful but eccentric bomb expert with past ties to MI6, examines the photographs on Elizabeth’s phone. He confirms that the device appears to be real, probably Russian or Russian-made, and says it is a stable but deadly bomb. When Elizabeth asks whether it was intended only as a warning, Jasper says it is certainly powerful enough to kill, meaning the threat against their target was genuine and extreme.

Elizabeth presses Jasper on whether this kind of weapon would be difficult for a criminal to obtain. Jasper replies that a connected criminal could get one easily enough, which widens suspicion rather than narrowing it. He is disappointed that the bomb itself has disappeared, because he would have liked to inspect it directly.

During the visit, Joyce notices how lonely Jasper seems beneath his jokey manner. He admits he hates the many porcelain cats in his house and only keeps them displayed because they were gifts and he does not want to hurt anyone’s feelings. When Donna phones Elizabeth with information about The Compound, Elizabeth immediately decides they must leave. As Joyce says goodbye, she recognizes Jasper’s isolation and resolves that she and Elizabeth should come back to see him again.