Chapter 3 Summary

Chapter three begins with Bekker watching the life drain from his victim Louis Cortese. His months in jail have changed him for the worse, and he imagines his brain like a gum ball machine: he never knows what color he will get, but he can watch the exploit as if on a huge screen, like he was actually back in a moment of his past. Bekker watches Cortese die, fascinated with the moment between life and death. He wonders where Cortese's consciousness will go, if anywhere at all. Bekker's eyebrow begins to spasm at all the possibilities, and he must restrain it with a hand. Cortese is hooked up to an EKG machine, and Bekker can barely contain his excitement as he watches the blood pressure drop. He feels Cortese's "essence" being to leave his body, and takes photos trying to capture it...