Summary
Ray goes to a diner and reads the local news. He notices that the mayor is going up for reelection. Freddie arrives and they share a meal and catch up. They talk about the shifting power dynamics in the crime world. Freddie now primarily steals jewelry and no longer works in crews. He and Ray haven't worked together on a job since the Hotel Theresa robbery. Freddie then tells him he made a new friend, a wealthy white college dropout named Linus. He recalls how they met at a party and have been hanging out ever since.
Ray asks about Freddie's association with a drug dealer named Biz Dixon. He says that Dixon has been selling heroin all over Harlem and that addiction has been sweeping the neighborhood. He asks if Freddie is involved with him, worried that he is potentially dealing and or using drugs. Freddie gets angry that he would even ask about that. Linus appears at the window and Freddie says he has to split. Ray makes a quick stop at a hotel and sees Wilfred Duke leaving. He has been having him shadowed for a while and knows that he goes to a hotel for an hour every week.
Later, Ray goes to Times Square to meet up with an associate named Mr. Moskowitz. He is a jeweler who works in the diamond district. He serves as a middleman for Ray's fencing business. He allows Ray to move objects of higher value at a better rate than his previous partner, Buxbaum. They talk and Ray asks Moskowitz to help him develop a better eye for expensive jewelry. They trade money and jewels and then Ray leaves to take the subway home.
Ray talks with Pepper over the phone and then has a conversation with Detective Munson, the cop taking payoffs for Montague. He tries to convince him to go after Biz Dixon and Cheap Brucie. They talk outside and Munson seems uninterested. He makes a brief speech to Ray about how the city runs on envelopes of cash. They part ways. Ray thanks Rusty for handling things so well at the store and then heads home. Ray has a dinner consisting of leftovers with his family. He and Elizabeth chat about possibly taking a vacation and Elizabeth says she got into a fight with her father earlier that day about the Dumas Club. Ray takes a picture of everyone with their new Polaroid camera but messes it up. The picture comes out blurry and out of focus.
Ray meets up with Laura, the woman who Duke has been visiting at the hotel. She is a sex worker who is on Cheap Brucie's payroll. They have a late-night conversation about how they plan to get back at Duke. He meets with her several times and they get acquainted. She is suspicious of him at first but gradually comes to trust him as a partner in crime. Ray reflects on how he has been spending increasingly large amounts of time out at night, getting two separate sleeps and taking part in "dorvay," a period of illicit night work. Laura tells Ray he has to close in on Duke soon or he'll find out he's being watched. She says that she trusts him to get it done.
Ray visits his Aunt Millie, Freddie's mother, and they catch up. She says she hasn't seen Freddie in a little while. They reminisce and, at the end of the visit, she reveals that Freddie was picked up with Biz Dixon, who was arrested earlier in the week. Ray brings Pepper in on the Duke job, asking him to run surveillance. Pepper is skilled at doing stakeouts and has years of experience. He agrees and falls into the rhythm of the job, getting used to the routines of the block he is casing. He watches Laura's apartment, keeping track of Duke's comings and going from the vantage point of a nearby diner.
He notices Cheap Brucie stop by the diner sometimes. He also sees Laura look out the window at the men leaving her apartment with an expression of rage on her face. Pepper meets up with Ray at his store and tells him his safe is too small. They talk more and Ray mentions Biz Dixon, who Pepper remembers, with dislike, from a poker game he ran security for. Pepper sets out to begin looking for Dixon on the streets. He notices other criminals while he is out and remarks to his partner, Tommy, that the quality of their work has deteriorated. That night, he goes out to a bar and sees that Dixon has been arrested. He realizes Ray had him do legwork for the police. He is furious.
Analysis
Secrets are a central theme in this section of the novel. Almost every character has something that they conceal for their own self-preservation. Duke is having an affair with Laura. Freddie is likely doing, and possibly dealing, hard drugs. Mr. Moskovitz keeps certain parts of his business out of Ray's purview. These secrets are dangerous to the people they involve and have the potential to carry significant consequences. Ray recognizes the value of this knowledge and plans to use Duke's secret to destroy his reputation in the community. At the same time, he worries about Freddie's secrets, as they pose a threat to both Freddie and Ray. Ray is a good criminal in large part because he is able to be discreet about his secrets and hold onto those belonging to his enemies.
Power is another main theme in these pages. Munson remarks to Ray that the entire city runs on envelopes. What he means is that the entire city is structured around payoffs and illicit activity—networks of small favors. He says this, in part, because he wants to explain to Ray why he isn't interested in getting involved where he doesn't belong. However, despite his relative lack of credibility, Munson's observation is actually a keen one. As Ray sees it, the city does run on favors and payoffs, regardless of whether a transaction happens in a backroom or at city hall. Systemic power, as portrayed in the novel, is not only in the hands of a few key players, but is actually controlled by a web of relationships and deals. For this reason, Ray is more readily able to contend with threats and problems, as he makes it his business to know who is working for whom.
Crime is also a key theme in these pages. Ray is described as being patient. He is furious in the aftermath of Duke's rejection of his Dumas Club membership. He plans to get revenge but also decides to bide his time and do it slowly. Similarly, Pepper reflects on the way in which a stakeout is like barbecue, as it requires long and slow preparation. He is also unimpressed by the over-the-top and impulsive behavior of many of the younger criminals he sees on jobs. Pepper and Ray, despite their relative differences, are actually alike in that they never behave reactively, and both perceive the value of bided time. Their willingness to do things carefully makes them more effective than figures like Freddie.
Consequences are also a prominent motif in this part of the book. Ray is rejected by the Dumas Club after giving money to Wilfred Duke. While Ray is not crushed about being denied, he vows to get back at Duke for his dishonesty. He slowly gathers information about him, uncovering an affair he is having with a sex worker named Laura. Duke is unaware of Ray's big plans but, like many other characters in the novel, he fails to consider the long-term consequences of making an enemy out of Ray. The small decision of denying Ray membership ends up causing much more extensive damage to his career.
In this section, Ray prepares to get revenge on Duke. He lays out a plan and slowly gets the pieces into place. It shows him in a complex light. Where before he used his careful demeanor to get Freddie and himself out of a difficult spot, here he is seen deliberately engaging in criminal activity for the sake of a personal vendetta. He becomes a more studied and adept criminal, inadvertently following in his father's footsteps.
