Flanked by silent security guards, Barr rides a speedboat across the ocean to an unknown dock. He takes a van and a plane, then is blindfolded and taken to a man named Emil, who grills him before relenting and taking him to see Mattiece. Barr enters an all-white room and discovers that Mattiece is a gaunt man with long grey hair and a beard. To Barr, Mattiece seems “crazy as hell” (316) who speaks with a worrying intensity. They discuss the pelican brief and Grantham’s investigations. Mattiece blames Coal and the “clowns in Washington” (318) for spreading the brief to too many people before confirming that the pelican brief is correct. Mattiece exits the room and Barr is killed.

Darby and Grantham need to get to Curtis Morgan. Darby visits the law firm’s offices and claims to have an appointment with Morgan, but a shocked receptionist tells Darby that Morgan is dead. He was killed a week earlier in a botched mugging. Grantham comforts Darby in a hotel room, talking about sex and pelicans. Grantham doesn’t tell Darby about the gun he is carrying. Grantham is attracted to Darby, but “sex is the last thing on [her] mind” (323).