Raoul is on the way back to Las Vegas, 20 miles east of Baker. Inspired by a hatred of lizards, Raoul gets out of his car and shoots his gun into the desert. He then inspects what remains of the drugs in his kit-bag. As he says, “the stash was a hopeless mess, all churned together and half-crushed” (100). As such, Raoul gets new supplies in a pharmacy on the outskirts of Las Vegas. There he buys tequila, whisky, and a pint of ether. He also steals and reads a journal which contains a story about a man who tore out his own eyes after taking an overdose of animal tranquilizers.

When Raoul arrives in Las Vegas he goes to a rental car lot at the airport and trades in his red Chevrolet Caprice, nicknamed “The Red Shark”, for a white Cadillac convertible he calls “The Whale”. He pays for it with a credit card that he later learns has been cancelled. Raoul then drives to the Flamingo, a hotel across the street from where the drugs conference is being held. There, as he walks to the reception, he witnesses an argument between a policeman trying to check-in and the hotel desk clerk.