Elinor arrives at Gattenden to find little Phil in agonizing pain. She is overwhelmed by helplessness, and a trivial comment from her mother about the boy’s “vulgar” (381) pictures sends Elinor into a fit of hysterical laughter and tears. Back in London, Spandrell taunts a nauseated Illidge as they wait with Webley’s body. Illidge recalls the horror of the ambush, while Spandrell insists they wait until dark to move the body in Webley’s car. As rigor mortis sets in, they truss the corpse with bandages into a fetal position. The grotesque, physical task makes Illidge’s political justifications for the murder feel utterly irrelevant.

While Philip Quarles attends a concert in London, Spandrell and Illidge move Webley’s body into his car. Spandrell parks the car and goes to Sbisa’s restaurant, forcing the terrified Illidge to establish an alibi at Lord Edward Tantamount’s house. There, an oblivious Lord Edward puts the unwell Illidge to work on complex calculations. Philip arrives at Sbisa’s, where Spandrell gives him the key and Elinor’s message. Philip joins a philosophical debate with Spandrell, the editor Denis Burlap, and the painter Mark Rampion. Rampion passionately denounces all forms of intellectualism and asceticism as a sterile denial of life. Spandrell, thinking of the murder, argues for moral absolutes. Later, Burlap goes home to Beatrice Gilray. After criticizing Rampion’s “gross” (406) worldview, he seduces Beatrice with gentle, spiritualized caresses that overcome her fear.

Little Phil is diagnosed with meningitis and his condition deteriorates horribly. He suffers from screaming fits, deafness, a paralyzed eyelid, blindness, and violent convulsions. Elinor is tormented by an irrational sense of guilt, which is intensified by the news of Webley’s murder. Her father, John Bidlake, superstitiously avoids the sickroom. Philip, finding the vigil unbearable, asks his friend Willie Weaver to manage the financial settlement with Gladys Helmsley. One afternoon, Phil makes a startling recovery; he can see and speak again. The family has a celebratory lunch, and John Bidlake feels well enough to eat a full meal. A few hours later, however, Phil suffers a final, fatal seizure and dies.

The press calls the murder the “Webley Mystery” (420). With no clues, the case becomes a political sensation, and Webley’s fascist organization, the British Freemen, gains a surge of new members. Spandrell follows the news with cynical amusement, viewing his crime not as a grand act of evil but as a sordid, stupid failure. He reflects on Rampion’s philosophy and concludes that a divine “joker” (421) has predestined him to a life of squalor. He later runs into Philip, who tells him that he and a devastated Elinor will go abroad. Spandrell suggests that providence is forcing Philip back into his natural role as a detached spectator. He adds that he, too, is trapped by his nature but has one last card to play.

Spandrell invites Mark and Mary Rampion to his flat, claiming a Beethoven recording contains an undeniable proof of God. His intense, melodramatic manner raises Rampion’s suspicions. Spandrell then sends an anonymous tip to the British Freemen, revealing that Webley’s murderer will be at his address the next day. When the Rampions arrive, Spandrell plays the music. Rampion concedes its beauty but critiques it as an inhuman, “disembodied” (429) abstraction. As the music reaches a serene climax, there is a knock at the door. Spandrell’s expression turns mocking as he goes to answer it. The Rampions hear gunshots and find Spandrell dying, shot by three Freemen who claim he fired first. As Spandrell dies, the music on the gramophone stops. In a final scene, Denis Burlap walks home, happy after securing a book deal and firing his assistant, Ethel Cobbett. That night, he and Beatrice bathe together, playing like innocent children. A final sentence reveals that a few days later, Miss Cobbett died by suicide.