The three fugitives reach the room in the cave and pause; it is unlike anything they have ever seen. S. describes what they see and in a footnote, FXC mentions Durand’s cave explorations and how she helped Straka with cave descriptions in The Painted Cave. Unimpressed by the rather basic descriptions that Durand fed Straka, FXC says the caves in Dordogne may as well be the caves in Lençóis. Jen interprets the tone of this comment to be “catty” possibly because FXC may have “thought of Durand as a rival.” Both Jen and Eric try to understand why that would have been the case considering “S. + Corbeau never get together.” They assume Straka must have kept FXC from his life because he didn’t want “to draw her into” the middle of it. This whole interaction questions Straka’s intentions. It remains unanswered at this point whether he loved Durand instead of FXC or whether the didn’t want FXC to be in danger and thus kept her at a distance.

As S. and the other tow decided to leave, they accept that they will never return to this space and analyze it fully. Eric pencils in a simple “missed opportunity” which Jen connects to the book as a whole. The novel seems to be a conversation between Straka and FXC about the relationship they never got to explore.