Part V: Chapters 25-27 Summary

In Chapter 25, the end of July, Mr. Melzer calls with a settlement offer from the IRS. John accepts after some brief negotiation, and asks Melzer again why the IRS has chosen now to target him with a tax audit. Melzer does not have a definite answer, but does tell John that is does not seem to be a random act, and advises him to let things go.

Luckily, Sutter also receives an offer on the summerhouse and is able to get a fair price in the soft real estate market.

In Chapter 26, John makes his third early morning Tuesday walk to Alhambra. Frank bets him fifty dollars that today is the day he will be arrested. The two men talk while they eat breakfast, and Frank tells John that the murder charge has revealed many of his...