The novel returns to Oly’s notes on the present day. Oly investigates Miss Lick’s background, discovering that she inherited her family’s frozen-dinner empire at a young age and has always been a loner. Oly finds that Miss Lick’s daily routine includes swimming at an athletic club; Oly becomes a member so that they can meet. Oly strategically puts Miss Lick at ease; in return, Miss Lick offers to teach Oly how to swim.

Miss Lick invites Oly to her home and opens up about her personal history. After finding Oly so easy to talk to, Miss Lick decides to tell Oly what she really does, and they go into a locked room full of recorded materials. Miss Lick shows Oly a recording of a woman named Linda, who has hideous burn scars all over her body. Miss Lick went to school with Linda, who was pretty and popular before she was burned in an accident. Linda became a successful chemical engineer and told Miss Lick that the fire was the best thing that ever happened to her. This gave Miss Lick the idea of intervening in the lives of beautiful young women and paying them to undergo surgeries to make them unattractive, so that they cannot be exploited by men, and can realize their intellectual and professional potential.