The chapter opens with a description of the room in which the crime is being committed. The narrator introduces the protagonist, a young woman named Sara, who is a member of the police force. She is the daughter of a detective and was promoted to detective in January of that year. The protagonist asks who the detective is and is told that he is a new detective named Patrick Gleasson, who has been on the force for seventeen years. He tells the protagonist that he has come to find out what has happened to Sara and that he will play a role in her recovery. He asks the protagonist to tell him his name, and the protagonist tells him that he does not want to be called a "curator" because he has entered her life. He also tells the detective that he should tell him why Sara is in a coma and that if she does not wake up, the world will be consumed with blood and fire.