Chapter Nine, Linguine and Sympathy Summary

In the evening, the narrator returns to the offices of the New Yorker to collect his belongings. Megan Avery is still at work. He finds some vials of cocaine in his desk and shares some cocaine with her. While he is cleaning out the rest of the contents of the drawers, Megan tells him about the after-effects of the ferret caper.

Alex Hardy has been sent to a rehabilitation center for alcoholic writers. The ferret was discovered in the mailroom, hiding in a bag full of rejected manuscripts and bit the mailman. He and Allagash are at least in the clear.

The narrator dumps the rest of the desk's contents into the trash and invites Megan to go for lunch. In the cab, Megan invites him back to her apartment to cook him a meal...