Chapter 4, Trepanning Summary

Will calls the family lawyer from a pay phone in Oxford to try and find out if his father is alive. The lawyer is unwilling to give out much information over the phone and tries to convince Will to come into the office or to have his mother call. The only information the lawyer is willing to divulge is that his father has disappeared—it is unknown if John Parry is alive or dead. The money to support Will and his mother comes from a family trust fund. The lawyer tells Will that his father's disappearance was a matter of public record and suggests he look up newspaper articles in the library to find out what happened when his father was exploring in Alaska. Will sends a postcard to his mother and begins searching for a public library, taking care...