Chapter 5 Summary

When they return to Rome, Molly moves in with Paul and drives out Cathy's ghost. He loves her because she has not been part of his past. A letter arrives from David, quoting two lines of one of Paul's poems and code directing him to a specific box in the Union de Banques Suisses in Geneva under the name P. S. Runner. Paul draws $25,000 in $100 bills and CHF 25,000 in CHF 100 notes, rents a Peugeot with French tags, and drives all night to Paris. It takes half a day to find Nguyên Kim. Paul slips a tail before stopping for dinner, during which Kim explains the Vietnamese terms "toc," "chi," and "phai," and applies them to the Ngo family. Kim warns him off writing about the anti-American Ngos and sees that Paul is up to something.

Tom Webster darts over when Kim is...