At the police station, Jake asks Tom if they found him; Tom thinks he means the killer, but Jake is talking about the boy in the floor. Tom worries that by not revealing Jake’s earlier mention of the boy in his first statement to the police, he may have put them in danger. He tells Jake that they’ll talk about it later.

Beck enters and tells Tom that they’ll need to stay somewhere else for the night. She introduces Pete, who will help them get settled—and Tom recognizes that Pete is his estranged father.

Jake has had a confusing day: He got in trouble at school, and while the principal was reprimanding him, he worried that Owen might be messing with his Packet of Special Things. Then, after his father stood up for him, he took him to a police station. Jake finds it all interesting more than anything.

He meets Pete, who he doesn’t know is his grandfather. He likes Pete instantly but feels a strange tension between Pete and his father. Pete asks Tom about Jake’s mother, and when he asks if Tom has any family to stay with, he says, “No, both of my parents are dead” (172).