Chapter 10 (pages 161-174) Summary

In the safe apartment, Fred watches holo-scans of Bob Arctor's house. He sees Barris read a book on mushrooms, pick an ugly dried mushroom out of a paper bag, crush the mushroom, and put its pieces into a capsule. Barris calls several people and attempts to sell them drugs made of potent mushrooms. In the safe apartment, one of Fred's fellow agents notes that the mushroom Barris used is likely toxic.

Horrified, Arctor goes into the bathroom to calm himself. He thinks about the day he saw dog excrement after Barris gave him a pill, and he thinks that Barris might have given him poison mushrooms. Arctor thinks that he will never again be able to eat or drink anything in his own house. He thinks that he should kill Barris to save the lives of everyone who comes...