The narrative returns to Mrs. Bainbridge’s written testimonial, in which she describes Isabella’s psychological episodes during adolescence. Isabella experienced fugue states in which she appeared to channel Iris, often requesting to search for a specific silver necklace that Iris was wearing on the day she died and that had gone missing afterward. These episodes prompted Isabella to request psychoanalysis, after which the channeling incidents ceased, though she subsequently developed a pattern of seducing and abandoning young men.

Mrs. Bainbridge recalls reporting the missing necklace to Chief August Vollmer, who was Sullivan’s mentor. Vollmer confirmed its existence, saying that it was a gift from Tillie von Urban but went missing when Iris died. He said that it might have become caught in the laundry chute as Iris fell to her death and might explain the lacerations on her neck. However, he and Mrs. Bainbridge decided that the missing necklace was insufficient evidence to reopen Iris’s death as a homicide investigation. Vollmer also revealed that Isabella’s mother, Sadie, was having an affair with her psychoanalyst, Dr. von Urban.

Sullivan has the jade artifact that was found in Wilkinson’s mouth examined by an expert on Chinese art, who identifies it as an official Republic of China government seal. Then, Sullivan goes to the Forbidden City nightclub in San Francisco’s Chinatown to meet tong boss Eddie Gong. Gong says that Jane Chao’s actual name was Shirley Wang and that she was a former servant of Madame Chiang Kai-Shek. She had been fired because Madame Chiang suspected her of being a communist spy for Mao. Gong says that neither he nor the other San Francisco tongs had any hand in the murders. 

Sullivan then goes to Shreve & Co., the San Francisco jewelry store where the jewelry box on the crime scene came from. The store manager identifies the box as one that was sold prior to 1932. As Sullivan heads to his car, he is abducted and brought to a meeting with Madame Chiang herself. Elegant and charming, she denies any involvement in the murders. She also denies that she was having an affair with Wilkinson, though she says they were close friends. She says that Wilkinson mentioned that he would meet someone “very important to him” on his trip to Berkeley (174), though she doesn’t know who he meant.

Sullivan then confronts Isabella at the Stafford house, asking her about Wilkinson calling the house on the night of his death. Isabella says that she was about to write a story on him for her paper, so he must have been calling to schedule the interview. Sullivan finds it suspicious that Wilkinson would do this so late at night, especially after someone tried to shoot him once, but he can get nothing else out of Isabella. As he leaves, he witnesses Nicole and Cassie arriving to deposit a satchel in the house before quickly departing with Isabella. Acting on his suspicions, Sullivan illegally enters the house and discovers that the satchel is empty, but he finds a painting of Iris holding a doll identical to the one found at the hotel. While searching upstairs, he encounters Sadie, who appears mentally unwell and escapes down a fire escape and runs out of the house. He is surprised because he had assumed that she was too ill to leave the house.

Miriam is still at Sullivan’s apartment since Rosemary hasn’t returned. She tells him that her teacher at school doesn’t like her, and Sullivan is frustrated when she tells him that she plans to drop out. He tells her that she has to finish school to support herself since he is not her father and can’t always care for her. He immediately feels guilty about this, but Miriam quietly agrees. 

Sullivan then heads to the police station to review the 1930 cold-case file on Iris’s death. The autopsy reveals a neck laceration and old bruises that precisely match marks found on the Dy-Dee doll discovered in Wilkinson’s closet. A crime-scene photograph from 1930 shows a mysterious hooded monk present at the hotel.

Sullivan visits Mrs. Bainbridge at her home, and she supports her granddaughters’ alibi, saying that she called them at the country house on the night of the murder. She says that she met Wilkinson once at Madame Chiang’s party, where he flirted with Isabella. She also says that Sadie is very unwell and asks Sullivan to respect her privacy. On his way out, Sullivan asks if Iris’s father was someone other than Roger Stafford. Mrs. Bainbridge admits that Sullivan is right. She then reveals that she knows that Sullivan changed his name and asks him why he chose to do so. Sullivan finds her questions annoying and wonders if she is trying to distract him from the investigation. 

Upon returning to the station, Sullivan is met by a woman named Eliana Halikias, who is Sal Ibarra’s cousin. She says that Nicole Bainbridge murdered Wilkinson.

The narrative returns to Mrs. Bainbridge’s testimonial. She recounts Nicole’s embrace of communist ideology in 1941, describing her granddaughter’s transformation into a political activist. Nicole became involved in picketing, denouncing her family’s privileged position, and developed a romantic attachment to fellow activist Sal Ibarra. Her political passion appeared genuine during this period.

However, Mrs. Bainbridge notes that upon entering university, Nicole’s activism became more intellectual. She emphasizes that Nicole’s character traits contradict any capacity for violence. She describes her granddaughter as physically timid and squeamish around blood to the point of fainting; she concludes that Nicole is incapable of violence.

Eliana Halikias claims that Nicole confessed to killing Wilkinson to impress Sal Ibarra. Sullivan finds Sal working at the shipyards in Richmond, and Sal reluctantly corroborates Eliana’s account. He adds that Nicole was the one who threw a bomb into a police car in 1941, though the police assumed that Sal was guilty. At the Claremont, kitchen worker Adrianakis provides additional evidence, telling Sullivan that he witnessed Nicole and Cassie sneaking into the hotel at 11:15 pm on the night of the murder. The evidence prompts DA Doogan to create a multicounty task force for the case, appointing Sullivan as its head. In this way, he wouldn’t need Chief Greening’s permission to get a warrant.  

Sullivan arrests Nicole and conducts an interrogation, during which she panics, denies all accusations, and desperately asks for her grandmother. Sullivan refuses, figuring that it would be the easiest way to break her. When he returns home, he finds a note from Miriam, who says that her mother is back and that she has gone home. 

A search of Nicole’s dormitory room yields no evidence, prompting Sullivan to execute a warrant at the Stafford house in search of the murder weapon. The housekeeper, Mrs. Biddleston, tells him that Sadie often sneaks out at night, though no one knows where she goes; she also reveals that Roger Stafford hates the family and never comes home. Sullivan’s search uncovers a hidden floor compartment containing another Dy-Dee doll and a collection of childhood drawings and adult-written poetry by Isabella. Many of these works feature images of hooded figures.

Isabella intercepts Sullivan during the search and makes several revelations: She claims that Nicole is being framed by Eliana and admits that their Sonoma alibi was partially fabricated, revealing that they reached the Sonoma house only at one o’clock in the morning. She says that she cannot tell him where they were but that it has nothing to do with the murder. She also tells him that Sadie underwent a lobotomy in the past and that while she sometimes leaves the house at night, their doctor believes she might be sleepwalking. Isabella tells Sullivan to investigate Sal and Eliana by speaking to a man at the Scottish Rite Auditorium. 

DA Doogan is not disappointed that Sullivan hasn’t found the murder weapon. He dismisses both the Chinese angle and the significance of the doll in Wilkinson’s murder, which makes Sullivan uncomfortable, and remains focused on building a case against Nicole.