Jonas takes a carriage to Salisbury, and the narrator remarks how he intends to commit murder. He waits on the side of the road until he hears a carriage carrying Pecksniff and Tigg, the latter of whom gets out of the carriage near Jonas and continues his journey on foot. Jonas had heard of these plans the previous day. He now follows Tigg into the woods on the way to London, where he murders Tigg.

Jonas walks for a while before continuing home in a coach, all the while worrying that someone in his house is knocking at his locked door, but feeling no regret for his actions. He fears everyone he meets suspects what he has done, but he makes it back to the locked room safely before anyone in the house wakes up. Later that morning, Merry wakes Jonas, telling him that no one knocked at his door, but Nadgett had come to visit him.

The Pinches remain happy, and Ruth gets some work to supplement Tom’s income. They both notice how their landlord, Nadgett, hasn’t been seen since the incident at the docks. They receive visitors early one morning, and Tom is stunned to see it is Martin and Mark, whom he is overjoyed to see alive and well.

The old friends share stories from their time apart over breakfast. Martin asks Tom for advice on how to get honest work, as he hopes for nothing more any longer. He is a changed man who is more concerned with living a good life than making a fortune. They visit John, but see that the man has a mysterious visitor. Tom has to go to work, but John asks Martin to stay while he meets with the visitor, as he might have information about Martin’s family.

Mark walks with Tom and tells him he is interested in settling down and marrying Mrs. Lupin, but he hasn’t asked her yet. Martin sees that John does not entirely trust him from their previous meeting. He tells John he has changed greatly since then and now sees Tom for the worthy person he is. This is sufficient for John, who tells Martin what he knows about the patient Lewsome as well as the events at the docks. Martin is unsure how these events are connected, but John takes him into the next room, where he meets Lewsome. Lewsome had wanted to tell John something he knew before he left London, but only had the courage to write a note, which he now keeps in his pocket. Lewsome reveals that he practiced medicine and had been friends with Jonas Chuzzlewit, who often complained about wanting his father dead.

One night, Jonas told Lewsome that his father was ill, and he wanted to put him out of his misery. A week later, Jonas asked Lewsome for two drugs: A little bit of one that worked instantaneously, and a lot of one that worked slowly, so as not to be suspicious. Jonas claimed he didn’t intend to use the drugs for harm, and Lewsome knew Jonas could get the drugs from many places. Lewsome gave him the drugs, and Jonas forgave some gambling debts he had. A few days later, Anthony died, and Lewsome has felt guilty of his murder ever since. John believes that Lewsome can’t be the only one who knows or suspects Jonas’s guilt, and assumes someone is blackmailing him, leading to the events at the docks. He and Martin want to learn more about these circumstances, but the only person they can think of asking is Tom’s infamously absent landlord.

They bring Tom and Mark into their confidence. Tom remembers Chuffey’s outburst the other day when he remembered Anthony’s death. They determine to question Chuffey, Gamp, and Merry separately, and have Lewsome sign his note to verify he made the confession when he thought he was going to die. John keeps this note in a safe place, along with one charging Pecksniff with stealing Martin’s architectural designs.

They know that Old Martin should be told of Jonas’s crimes, but don’t know how to approach him without going through Pecksniff, who may want to protect his son-in-law. After a busy day of planning and questioning, Martin finds lodgings in London for him and Mark, and is happy to do the work of setting it up for Mark.

Mrs. Gamp is preparing her eclectic room for a visit from Mrs. Prig when Sweedlepipe comes to tell her he just learned Bailey has died. The papers say his employer, Tigg, has not been found, and David Crimple has since taken his money and is offering a reward for Tigg’s discovery. Mrs. Gamp immediately asks about Jonas, knowing he was among Tigg’s company and not trusting him, but the newspaper never mentioned Jonas as a member of the Anglo-Bengalee Company. Instead, it reported that Jonas had gone to the Lord Mayor and complained that he had been swindled by Tigg and his company. Mrs. Prig arrives for lunch and, having already read the paper, doesn’t want to discuss the matter. Mrs. Gamp and Mrs. Prig argue a bit, especially when Gamp mentions her likely imaginary friend, Mrs. Harris, and Gamp continues her morning routine of getting drunk.

Mrs. Gamp tells her about Chuffey—whom she admits is not as “mad” as Jonas wants her to believe—and how Jonas wants the two nurses to take care of the man. When Gamp mentions Mrs. Harris again, Mrs. Prig denounces her, telling her she doesn’t believe Mrs. Harris exists and does not want anything more to do with the strange lady.

As Mrs. Prig storms out, Mr. Sweedlepipe comes in with John and Martin, the former of whom she remembers well. Mrs. Gamp complains ceaselessly about the cruelty of Mrs. Prig before John can ask any questions. She mentions Chuffey and says she believes the man needs to be kept safe. Though John and Martin get no significant information from Mrs. Gamp, they think that her disappointment with Mrs. Prig will eventually lead her to be more open about what she knows about Jonas.

Ruth sees that her brother is more pensive lately, even though he keeps what he has learned about the murder from her at John’s request. Martin visits them and shocks Tom by telling him that he is disappointed that he chose money over their friendship. Martin feels he has been deceived by Tom, but does not blame him. Tom is entirely confused, having always felt he was a true friend to Martin, but is equally confused when Martin mentions Tom’s employer before storming out of the house. Tom knows that someone must have deceived Martin, and has faith that everything will eventually be set to rights, but Ruth knows something is wrong. She also knows what Tom hasn’t told her—that he is in love with Mary—and cries for her good brother.

Tom admits that he is sad that he can’t be with Mary, but knows that the idea of being with her was nothing more than a dream, and he is not any less happy for it. He knows Mary will eventually show Martin that he is wrong about him, comforting Ruth. Tom is relieved Ruth knows about Mary, as he has hated keeping the secret from her.

Tom goes to work and tries to forget Martin’s mistaken impressions of him. He is surprised when he hears someone coming up the stairs of the building, and even more surprised when he sees it is Old Martin Chuzzlewit, appearing stronger and healthier than ever. Old Martin reveals that he is Tom’s employer and confesses that he has been pretending to be under Pecksniff’s influence. He tells Tom to close the door before Pecksniff can follow. Tom doesn’t know whether or not he is dreaming.

Jonas still fears the time when Tigg’s body is eventually discovered in the woods, but isn’t sorry. He keeps an eye on Chuffey before the nurses can come to take care of him, telling him he will be gagged if he says anything. Merry has gone out without telling Jonas where she has gone, and when a servant cannot find her at Todgers’s, Chuffey hears this and assumes Jonas has done something with her. Mrs. Gamp arrives and helps Chuffey upstairs at Jonas’s instruction, though he suspects something is off about her. Jonas sees some men reading the newspaper outside, and fears there is something about the murder in it that Mrs. Gamp might have also read.

Mrs. Gamp nervously tells Jonas that the other nurse is with Chuffey upstairs, but when Jonas turns to see her, he instead sees Chuffey with John, Mark, and Old Martin. Lewsome also enters, and Jonas knows that they all must know his guilt. Old Martin laments what has happened to his brother at the hands of his nephew, and Chuffey reveals that Anthony swore him not to say anything against his son with his dying words. Chuffey wants to know what Jonas has done with Merry, and Old Martin reveals that she is safe and has been kept away to be spared this awful meeting. Lewsome reveals the whole truth of Anthony’s murder once again, and Jonas can’t deny it.

However, Chuffey claims Lewsome’s story is wrong and that he knows the truth. He says that Anthony, a few days before his death, took Chuffey downstairs to show him a drawer that Anthony had repeatedly seen Jonas visiting. Inside was the poison Jonas had mixed with Anthony’s usual medicine, which Jonas had been too cowardly to deliver to his father. Anthony told Chuffey that, after seeing this, he recognized the error of his selfish ways. Rather than hoarding his wealth, Anthony wanted Jonas to have whatever he wanted after his death, and asked Chuffey to tell Jonas that he forgave him for his hatred after his death. The day of his death, Anthony made a show of pretending to take the medicine he found, but never did so, and made plans with Pecksniff to let Jonas marry as he chose. Anthony’s attacks on the day of his death were real, yet he told Chuffey to spare Jonas from any suspicion just before he passed away from natural causes.

Jonas feels some hope as this story goes on, and mocks Old Martin for believing Lewsome’s story once Chuffey’s tale has concluded. Jonas dismisses everyone, and Old Martin invites Chuffey to leave with him, but he cannot leave Merry. However, as Jonas looks to the door, he sees Nadgett has entered with the police. Jonas is arrested. Nadgett reveals himself to be a spy and accuses Jonas of murder. Jonas loses all the hope he briefly gained. One of the police reveals himself to be Chevy Slyme, another Chuzzlewit cousin, who has joined the police force. He reveals that Jonas killed his old friend Tigg. Nadgett reveals how he discovered the truth about both Anthony and Tigg’s deaths, and Jonas is finally regretful that he killed Tigg, only because he thought Tigg was the only one who knew his secrets. The company leaves and allows Jonas to be processed.

When Jonas is alone with his distant cousin, he tries to bribe Slyme with a hundred pounds to allow him five minutes in the next room, where Slyme believes he will die by suicide. He asks Jonas if he is guilty, and Jonas agrees, so Slyme allows him five minutes in the next room. After, he finds Jonas still alive, having not had the courage to do what he planned. Jonas is thrown into a carriage and taken to jail, where Slyme sees a few minutes later that Jonas has poisoned himself. There is nothing the police can do, and Jonas dies in the street.

Old Martin had been scheming for months. When he first met Pecksniff, he had been moved by his correct description of his selfishness. Old Martin began to reflect and change, just as his grandson had in Eden, and wanted to do good. When he learned of Pecksniff’s true selfishness, he determined to teach him the lesson Pecksniff himself had taught him, and to do right by Pecksniff’s victims. His plans were coming to a climax when he revealed himself to Tom, but were temporarily diverted when he learned the truth about Jonas. Though he called on the assistance of Tom, John, and Mark, Old Martin told them little about his plans and mentioned that he did not want to see his grandson until after everything was settled, saying they could meet at Temple Bar the next day.

After the events of the previous chapter, Mark, John, and Tom leave Old Martin alone for the night, where he stays awake all night reflecting. Mark visits him the next morning at his request, after having given a message to Martin that his grandfather wishes to see him. Mark tells Old Martin how much his grandson has changed, and regretfully lets it slip that he thinks Martin’s selfishness was caused by that of his grandfather, which Old Martin considers. John, Tom, and Ruth enter shortly before Martin does, later followed by Mary and Mrs. Lupin. Everyone, aside from Old Martin, is surprised to be there with the others, particularly when Pecksniff finally arrives.

Pecksniff immediately begins his typical moralizing and soliloquizing, criticizing everyone in the room but Old Martin, who responds by striking Pecksniff with his cane. Old Martin asks for Pecksniff to be dragged away before he can be hit again, as he cannot help striking him when he sees him. Old Martin knows that seeing everyone there must be a pain for Pecksniff. He embraces his grandson. Old Martin asks his grandson how he could ever fly from him to Pecksniff, but ultimately blames himself for their quarrel. He summons Mary, telling everyone that he regards Mary as a daughter. Old Martin admits that he has been selfish and suspicious, but he lambasts Pecksniff for taking advantage of Martin and everyone else.

Pecksniff still patronizes Old Martin, even when he details how he would have given up his plans against him if Pecksniff had even once stopped pandering to him and shown his true self. Old Martin never once saw an ounce of goodness in Pecksniff, which he would have given him credit for if he had expressed it. He gave him many chances to be kind, starting with when he could have shown Martin mercy when he asked Pecksniff to dismiss him.

Old Martin also reveals that he employed Tigg to keep an eye on Martin to learn what he was doing with Pecksniff. He never thought Tigg was as much a criminal as he was, but Mark remarks that many people are made into criminals by their circumstances. Old Martin charges his grandson to never be like Pecksniff, who is now bankrupt due to his dealings with Tigg and Jonas. He also tells Martin that he always hoped he and Mary would marry, but became worried that they were only doing so for his money when Martin told him he was engaged, leading to their quarrel. At the Blue Dragon, he had rewritten his will to include Martin in it and to approve his marriage, though Pecksniff’s accounts of Martin later led Old Martin to burn this. His mind was again changed by the kindness of those like Mary and Tom, whose goodness he repaid with Tom’s new job. He continues to disparage Pecksniff, especially for rejecting Martin when he had come home from America a changed man.

Martin apologizes to Tom for what he had said days earlier, because he had seen him going into Old Martin’s house and suspected Tom of being scheming against him. Mark proposes marriage to Mrs. Lupin and hopes to change the name of the Blue Dragon to the Jolly Tapley. Pecksniff becomes more and more irritated by the joy he sees around him and tells Old Martin that to be deceived shows a trusting nature, as he has been deceived by almost everyone in the room. He continues his pandering to the last and tries to gain sympathy from someone, never once showing his true self. He asks Old Martin to still consider him in his will and forgives him for deceiving and striking him, then leaves.

However, as Pecksniff is leaving, he is knocked over by the entrance of Mr. Sweedlepipe and Mrs. Gamp, who have come with the news that Bailey is not, in fact, dead. The man himself is with them, and Sweedlepipe wants to know if anyone knows him, so they can hear the good news. Mark mentions that Mrs. Gamp has been part of their plans and has been paid, and Old Martin advises her to care more for her patients and less for her liquor before they leave.

Old Martin invites the remaining company to dine with him, leaving the new couples—Mary and Martin, and Mark and Mrs. Lupin—to stay in his lodgings while he goes on an errand with Tom. Old Martin also sends Ruth home to get ready and asks John to escort her, with a knowing smile.

Ruth and John find themselves wandering around town arm-in-arm rather than heading home. Once they finally reach the Pinchs’ house, John admits that he has always loved Ruth, and she does the same when he proposes. John hopes that Tom will be happy to hear of their engagement, and promises to never take Ruth away from her beloved brother. John talks about reestablishing himself as an architect back in Wiltshire, where he could employ Tom, and they all could live happily together.

Tom and Old Martin arrive at the house, and the happy couple can’t help but tell him their good news immediately. Old Martin reveals that he has bought two sets of jewelry as bridal gifts for Ruth and Mary, having suspected what he would learn when he came to her home. They all go back to Old Martin’s lodgings, where Mark has prepared a grand dinner in preparation for being the landlord of the Jolly Tapley.

Tom’s heart is full of all of his friends’ happiness, and even Mr. Fips comes to dinner and congratulates him. When they get home, Tom leaves John and Ruth alone for a moment, but John later finds him and brings him back into their circle.

At Todgers’s, Cherry prepares for her wedding to Augustus Moddle, and she invites all of the Chuzzlewit family. Merry has been staying at Todgers’s, but hasn’t left her room, keeping company only with Chuffey. Old Martin comes to see her, begging her forgiveness for how he thought about her the last time they spoke, as Tom had delivered Merry’s message to him. Merry reveals how she has changed and become more serious. She tells Old Martin that she cannot return to her father, knowing how he forced her marriage. Old Martin says she may stay with him and see Mrs. Todgers and Chuffey whenever she likes. He advises Merry to leave before her sister’s wedding, as Cherry is still bitter and means to cause Merry pain with the spectacle of her happiness. Cherry even comes in to gloat before she sees Old Martin, who mentions that her wedding comes at an inopportune time.

As Old Martin and Merry are leaving, Mark comes to him excitedly, revealing that his friends from the ship to America, New York, and Eden, have once again met him through coincidence, and are now their neighbors in London. The Chuzzlewits begin to arrive and start their usual quarreling, when Cherry notices that Moddle cannot be found. She receives a letter from Moddle, apologizing for abandoning her and confessing to loving another. He also condemns her for her poor treatment of him. Cherry faints as the selfish cousins ignore her to read the letter and rejoice in Cherry’s misfortunes.

Later, Tom Pinch plays the organ and reflects on his happy, tranquil life. He occasionally receives letters from Pecksniff—who has become a drunken beggar—asking Tom for money. Martin and Mary have a daughter who loves Tom above all else. Old Martin has passed, but his spirit still lingers around those he loved. Ruth and her children surround Tom with love as he looks toward the future.