In the present day, Kemper is transferred to the death watch area adjacent to the execution chamber. The new cell is no more comfortable than solitary, though the mattress is slightly better. She notes the ritual preparations: Kinsey has delivered an outfit—black slacks and a blue cotton blouse—so she will not die in prison clothes, and she is told she may choose a final meal within a forty-dollar limit.

Kemper also anticipates a scheduled visit with the prison chaplain, Richard "Father" Decker. Since seeing him previously, her dreams about her husband, Noel, have darkened, and she admits to having done terrible things at the end of their marriage. She clings to the hope that Noel might have survived the gas explosion because she never saw his body.

On the day before her execution, Rhea retrieves Kemper from her death watch cell. After the routine shackling and pat-down, Kemper can think of nothing but Noel and the possibility that the chaplain is Noel. She recognizes that only a miracle could stop the execution, and the only plausible miracle would be proof that the supposed victim is alive.

As Rhea escorts her to the visiting area, Kemper trembles and nearly trips, acknowledging that the most likely scenario is that Father Decker is just a chaplain. The area has been cleared for her, and one man waits on the other side of the glass to administer last rites.

The chapter closes with Kemper walking slowly toward the man in black with a white clerical collar, bracing herself to look him in the eyes to determine whether he is Noel.