Shortly after Thanksgiving, a snowstorm arrives, and the babysitter begs off. Mickey needs to leave Thomas with Mrs. Mahon for the day. He is excited about his upcoming birthday party at McDonald's. Mickey thinks, “[E]ven acknowledging my gratefulness for Thomas too frequently in my thoughts—seems to me to be a kind of jinx, an invitation, an open window through which some creature might come in the night and spirit him away” (217).

At work, Mickey tells Ahearn about Paula’s tip that a bad cop in Kensington is demanding sexual services from hookers and may be involved in the strangulations. Her supervisor says he will alert the detectives, though he takes the tip lightly because the accuser is a prostitute.

Meanwhile, Truman follows Dock to his house and pretends to be a junkie in need of a fix. Dock, also a pimp, shows Truman some photos of girls, one of whom is Kacey. Later, Truman describes Dock’s house to Mickey and speculates that Kacey might be inside.

When Mickey gets home from work, her neighbor Mrs. Mahon says that a man, presumably Simon, came by, but she told him that Mickey had moved away. Mickey changes out of uniform and sneaks inside Dock’s house to look for Kacey.