Devine’s subterfuge involves using a replica of Cowl’s phone to access the mysterious 51st floor. The tension heightens as he navigates the risk of swapping the phones, while Cowl’s ignorance of the attackers suggests that he wasn’t behind the attempt on Devine’s life, complicating the web of suspicion surrounding Ewes’s murder.

Devine’s explores the 51st floor, a stark space buzzing with financial activity that may or may not be illicit. He uses a concealed camera to monitor the trades, worrying all the time about the likelihood of being caught. On the way out, he sees Montgomery’s clothes on Cowl’s floor and feels both jealous and remorseful at his inability to warn Montgomery about Cowl’s involvement in illicit activities. He speaks with the man at the reception desk and learns that no one entered the building during the time when Ewes was killed, which means that whoever killed her was already in the building.

Devine’s covert operation leaves him with more data than answers. The Locust Group comes up frequently in transactions conducted from “Area 51,” as does Chilton’s Mayflower Enterprises. Tapshaw asks Devine about the presence of the police at the house the previous morning, and Devine evades the question by telling her that he was mugged.