Book 2 Chapter 9: The Well and Stars ● How the Ladder Disappeared (Pgs. 248-255) Summary

It is shortly after five o'clock in the morning and Toru Okada is staring up at the stars through the half-moon opening at the top of the well. He searches for the rope ladder in the darkness only to discover that someone has removed it. Then he remembers coming back from Sapporo after Kumiko has the abortion. Suddenly, he hears May Kasahara yelling at him from the top of the well.

He tells the young girl that he is just thinking. May tells him that she is the one who pulled the rope ladder up out of the well, telling him that she is the only one who knows his whereabouts. If she chooses to, she could leave Toru Okada in...