Amsterdam

The narrative flashes back to the events of the previous day. In the morning, Vernon phones Clive to request an urgent, in-person meeting. Though Clive had planned to leave to the Lake District that afternoon, he postpones his trip for another day and prepares supper for them both. Vernon arrives an hour late, looking stressed and unwell. He explains that he is facing a staff revolt at his newspaper but has just won a legal victory that allows him to publish a controversial story.

Vernon then shows Clive three black-and-white photographs taken by Molly of Garmony cross-dressing. Clive feels a sense of affection for Molly, interpreting the photos as a sign of intimate trust between her and Garmony. He decides that she would have destroyed these pictures if her illness hadn’t caught her by surprise.

However, Vernon shocks him by revealing his plan to publish the photos in the Judge the following week. He argues that it is necessary to expose Garmony’s political hypocrisy to prevent him from becoming prime minister. While Clive agrees that Garmony would make a terrible leader for the country, he also reminds Vernon that Vernon himself once fought for sexual freedom and gay rights.

Afterward, Clive and Vernon argue fiercely. Clive objects on ethical grounds, calling the publication a betrayal of privacy and of Molly’s trust. He also accuses Vernon of being a pawn in a revenge plot orchestrated by George. As the argument escalates, Vernon becomes angry at Clive’s lack of support and accuses him of being inoculated from real world problems by his wealth. Clive turns his back on Vernon and begins to eat supper alone as Vernon walks out of the house.

The narrative returns to the present timeline. Clive wakes up in his hotel the next morning feeling optimistic, and he hikes into the Langstrath Valley, hoping to find musical inspiration. The solitude initially makes him feel uncomfortable, so he chooses a steeper, more difficult ascent up Tongue Head to shake his lethargy. He struggles with the climb in heavy rain and feels old and exhausted, but his mood improves as the weather clears and he gets higher. In the distance, he sees a solitary woman in blue and briefly fantasizes about a romantic encounter with her. Feeling better, he resolves to call Vernon that evening to reconcile. He changes his route toward Allen Crags to avoid a large group of schoolchildren.

Suddenly, the three-note call of a bird startles him, providing the exact melodic inversion he needs for his symphony. As he pulls out his notebook to write it down, he is interrupted by voices. He sees the woman in blue arguing with a man in a tweed jacket by a small tarn. Clive watches as they struggle over her backpack, which the man throws into the water. The man then grabs the woman’s wrist and begins dragging her toward a rock face.

Torn between intervening and losing his musical inspiration, Clive prioritizes his art. He retreats, makes a wide detour around the scene, and finds a sheltered spot to work, justifying his inaction as being necessary for his creative process. After working for an hour, he believes he has successfully captured the melody. He hurries back to his hotel, immediately cancels the remainder of his trip, and arranges for a taxi, suddenly desperate to leave. He convinces himself that his urgent need to flee is a result of creative excitement, not shame.

On the morning before the Judge plans to publish the photographs of Garmony, Rose Garmony, Julian Garmony’s wife, who is a distinguished pediatric heart surgeon, wakes early in London. She mentally reviews her surgical cases, including a difficult operation on a nine-year-old girl named Candy.

Rose notices the press gathering outside her home. She makes a call and then makes tea and takes it to her husband. She hesitates before waking him, acknowledging that his waking moments have recently been very difficult. She sees that he has strewn Molly’s old letters on the floor, and Rose quietly thinks that she is glad Molly is dead. Then, she wakes her husband. They discuss the press presence outside the house, and she reminds him to clean up Molly’s letters. Rose calmly reassures him that everything will be fine, confirms her hospital schedule, and prepares to leave, composing herself before opening the door to face the waiting reporters.

At the same time, Vernon wakes from anxious dreams, feeling powerful about the imminent publication of the Garmony story and the Judge’s rising circulation. He is eager for the next day, which is to be publication day. Ever since the injunction was lifted, the Judge has stoked public curiosity about the photographs without revealing them. Though some people—including a few editors on his own staff—disagree with how the newspaper is violating Garmony’s privacy, most have come around to Vernon’s perspective that Garmony is a hypocrite who deserves the uncloaking.

George went on the open market with the photographs, which started a bidding war with other newspapers. Vernon was forced to quadruple his initial price to secure them. He recalls how he was struck by an existential crisis after Molly’s funeral, but now, Vernon feels full of life and purpose.

Still, he is troubled by his argument with Clive, so Vernon calls him to reconcile. Clive accepts a truce, agreeing to differ on the matter. He tells Vernon that he has been working hard on his symphony and that he will be in Amsterdam for rehearsals the following week. He also mentions that on his trip to the Lake District, he witnessed a man assaulting a woman, but Vernon, distracted by his many tasks, pays little attention.

Vernon goes to his office at Judge House and meets with his deputy foreign editor and secret ally, Frank. A flashback reveals that Frank had approached Vernon after a staff no-confidence vote, offering to be an informant to help Vernon secure the votes to publish the photographs. Frank railed against the newspaper’s old guard, who were reluctant to embrace modernization and make the changes necessary to ensure the paper’s longevity. However, he said that he and Vernon should keep his support for Vernon a secret since Frank would otherwise not have access to the dissenters’ opinions. Frank, like Vernon, wanted to ensure Garmony’s downfall and promised the support of the newspaper’s younger employees.

At the crowded 11 o’ clock morning conference, Vernon’s decision to forge ahead with the photographs is met with praise even from his previous detractors since this has resulted in an impressive increase in circulation. Deputy Editor Grant McDonald gives a speech, admitting his past doubts about Vernon’s strategy but now praising his leadership. While discussing other news stories, Home Editor Jeremy Ball mentions in passing that the “Lakeland rapist” has struck again. Vernon then unveils the next day’s front page, which is dominated by a photo of Garmony in a dress. It stuns the staff into silence. The obituaries editor is tasked with preparing material in case Garmony dies by suicide.

Later, bothered by a half-remembered detail from his conversation with Clive, Vernon connects Jeremy’s report with what Clive told him. He calls Jeremy for more details on the rapist case and then calls Clive again. Vernon accuses Clive of having witnessed the Lakeland rapist attack the woman in blue and of allowing another attack to happen through his inaction. He demands that Clive go to the police with this information. Clive furiously refuses, stating that his symphony is more important and that he doesn’t have the mental space for this complication. The two trade vicious insults. Vernon threatens to report Clive as an accessory to a crime, and Clive says that Vernon’s own ethical breach of publishing the photographs robs him of the right to judge others. Their argument is interrupted when Vernon’s secretary, Jean, alerts him that Rose Garmony is holding a live press conference.

Vernon watches the broadcast, which begins with footage celebrating Rose’s professional accomplishments as a surgeon. It showcases Rose’s compassion and skill after she successfully operates on Candy and meets the child’s grateful parents. The scene then cuts to the Garmony family’s country home in Wiltshire, where Rose stands with Julian Garmony and their children, Annabel and Ned, presenting a united front.

Rose gives a statement describing their marriage as one filled with love, mutual support, and understanding. She explains Julian’s cross-dressing habit, framing it as an endearing quirk that she fully accepts. She says that Molly was “a friend of the family” who took the photos in a “spirit of celebration” (134). Rose then holds up the exact photograph the Judge plans to use as its front-page scoop, neutralizing its shock value. In a direct message to Vernon, she calls him a “blackmailer” who possesses the “moral stature of a flea” (135). Vernon immediately understands that his story has been destroyed, grudgingly admiring Rose’s “consummate artistry” in handling the matter.

In the following days, public and political opinion swings decisively against Vernon. Protestors march on Judge House, and Garmony survives the scandal with the prime minister’s support.

At the Judge, Vernon’s allies abandon him. The board of directors convenes a meeting to fire him, but they are not sure on what grounds they can dismiss an editor they all praised just the previous week. George, who is a board member, finally provides the justification for Vernon’s dismissal, stating that Vernon’s biggest error was not pulling the story after Rose’s press conference.

The day after Vernon is fired, Frank is appointed as the new editor of the Judge. He immediately presides over a meeting that outlines a new editorial direction for the newspaper, completing its shift toward tabloidization. Among those in attendance is board member Tony Montano, who observes the proceedings.