When Victor arrives at Mr. Spiro’s house, he sees a duffel bag on the floor with the words “SS Patrick Henry” printed on the side. Mr. Spiro says that he’s leaving soon and will be back in the fall. Victor, thinking that Mr. Spiro is the only person he can ask about his father, asks to return to Mr. Spiro’s house when he’s finished with his collection run. When Victor gets to Mrs. Worthington’s house, he finds it empty and an envelope taped to the door. The envelope contains $5, covering what the Worthingtons owe, and a short note asking to cancel the newspaper. Victor wonders whether Mrs. Worthington had more to say to him than was contained in the note. Disturbed, Victor heads home, forgetting about the rest of his collections.

At his house, Victor remembers the rest of the collections, and he tells Mam he’s getting change to cover Mr. Spiro’s collection as well as the bags that Ara T. stole. Victor goes to his room and discovers that it’s been ransacked, with all his money stolen. He calls Mam up to his room, and the two of them both recognize the telltale lingering scent of Ara T.