Werner begins hallucinating, seeing visions of a dead, red-haired girl as they drive toward Saint-Malo. When they reach the ocean, Werner climbs over the sea wall to walk on the beach, heedless of the mines and barbed wire. He begins to think that he is not real.

Reinhold von Rumpel is given three or four months to live. He receives a phone call that takes him from an elaborate dinner party, where the discussion focuses on the retreating German armies. His French informant tells von Rumpel of Daniel LeBlanc, the locksmith, and his connection to Saint-Malo. Von Rumpel has identified the final diamond courier.

During the last days of May, rumors spread through the resistance that the Allied forces are coming within the week. Marie-Laure sits with her snails in the grotto, dreaming of her father’s return.