Harry responds to the missing person call and arrives at an apartment shared by Wilhem and Lisbeth Barli. Wilhelm Barli reports that his wife, Lisbeth, has been missing for about two hours—she left on a short errand to a nearby grocery store which should only have taken a few minutes. Although Lisbeth has only been gone a short time, Harry decides to take the case seriously and calls for backup. Beate Lønn and a dog handler arrive with a police dog, and they search the flat. Harry then questions the neighbors across the courtyard who confirm they spent the afternoon on their balcony, saw Lisbeth and Wilhelm on the terrace until around four-thirty, and witnessed Wilhelm making an angry phone call at 5:15. They reveal that Lisbeth and Wilhem have been married for eight years; he is a theatre producer and she is a singer. The couple is currently rehearsing a production of My Fair Lady for the Norwegian National Theatre: Wilhem will direct and Lisbeth will star. The neighbors also comment that, based on what they overheard, the couple seemed to have a passionate sex life. 

Back at the flat, the dog handler finds nothing suspicious. Harry briefly lies on the waterbed in the couple’s bedroom and notices a chisel in a toolbox near the bed. Outside, the search yields one lead: The dog finds a high-heeled shoe beneath a parked car and Wilhelm identifies it as belonging to his wife.

Early Friday, Harry wakes from a nightmare and, finding no alcohol in his apartment, calls his taxi driver friend Øystein Eikeland for sleeping pills. Øystein recognizes his friend is spiraling and refuses to give him anything, telling Harry that only he can help himself. Harry laments the end of his relationship with Rakel, explaining that she was previously in a relationship with someone who suffered from alcohol addiction (Oleg’s father) and refused to go through that experience again. Harry now has the chisel which he took from the Barli apartment.

Later that morning, Harry arrives at Police HQ. Tom Waaler visits his office and reveals that he knows Harry is about to lose his job. Waaler praises Harry’s skills but warns he must join the winning team to survive. Echoing Øystein’s earlier words, he tells Harry that only he can ensure his own survival.

In a bedroom in an unspecified location, an unnamed woman watches her lover dress as he prepares to depart for a trip to Oslo. She notices a clergyman’s collar in his suitcase as he leaves; although they have been together for two years, he is very mysterious about what he does for a living. She touches the pendant on her necklace: a red diamond shaped like a five-pointed star.

In Oslo, Harry drinks at Underwater Bar, frustrated that there has been no progress on either Camilla or Lisbeth’s cases. He encounters Vibeke Knutsen, who mentions calling Harry’s office and speaking to Waaler, telling him that Camilla Loen frequently had male visitors. Vibeke was hesitant to discuss this detail in front of her partner, Anders, since he is bizarrely protective of anyone talking about Camilla’s sex life. She also received a disturbing call consisting only of breathing.

After Harry and Vibeke leave the bar and part ways, Harry spots a red sports car and confronts the driver: Tom Waaler, who claims to be surveilling Camilla Loen’s building. Harry gets into the car and accuses Waaler of orchestrating Ellen Gjelten’s murder. Harry claims that once Ellen was dead, Waaler staged a violent confrontation while arresting Sverre Olsen (the man who killed her) so that he could justify killing Olsen as self-defense. With both Ellen and Olsen dead, Waaler’s crimes could not be traced back to him.

Waaler admits he intentionally killed Olsen, saying it was for Ellen. Waaler claims that only circumstantial evidence linked Olsen to the crime and he feared he would get away with it, so he enacted his own justice. He again offers Harry a vague but lucrative opportunity, alluding to Harry abandoning his principles. Harry tries to question Waaler about Kvinsvik (the man who was initially going to testify about a link between Waaler and Olsen). Waaler explains there is no point pursuing this: he admits that he met with Olsen on the night Ellen dies, but insists that the events are unconnected, there is no way to prove anything, and Kvinsvik will not talk. He nonetheless reveals that Kvinsvik is currently attending choir practice at a local church.

On Sunday evening, Bjarne Møller opens an envelope that has been sent to him at police HQ and finds a severed finger inside. Meanwhile, Harry has made his way to the church in pursuit of Kvinsvik. Kvinsvik flees inside and locks the door. Harry (who is extremely intoxicated) staggers up the steps, smashes the circular window with his head, and bloodies his hands punching the door before collapsing. Police arrest him without resistance.

After midnight, Møller arrives at the custody block and finds Harry in a cell, injured and reeking of vomit. Harry says he doesn’t want to sleep because he doesn’t want to dream. Møller releases him unofficially, saying he needs him sober. He then reveals the severed finger which he received, which has been confirmed to belong to Lisbeth Barli. It is the middle finger from her left hand, and she is wearing a ring set with a red diamond in the shape of a five-point star.