After Judith Deuteros’s death, Ortus Nigenad takes charge of preparing the body, assisted by Magnus Quinn. Harrowhark watches as Judith is washed, arranged, and dressed in her Cohort jacket, while Abigail Pent helps examine the corpse and the projectiles removed from it.

Harrowhark determines that the first bullet destroyed both atria of Judith’s heart and would have killed Judith quickly. The group finds eight bullets in total, but Abigail’s old reference book identifies the weapon as a carbine rifle that can fire only six shots before being reloaded. This means the killer continued firing after the fatal wound and took time to reload, suggesting panic, anger, or another motive beyond mere necessity.

Harrowhark and Abigail question Marta Dyas, who has been waiting rigidly outside. Dyas explains that Marta was in a sealed test chamber when the attack occurred; the chamber unlocked when Judith died, and Marta reached Judith within seconds. Marta did not hear the shots because the chamber was soundproofed.

Dyas then reveals that, after finding Judith dead, Marta saw the Sleeper at the end of the corridor. The figure looked like the body in the glass coffin, wearing breathing gear and an orange hazard suit, and carried a weapon. Dyas pursued the Sleeper to the atrium, where the coffin was open and empty; the Sleeper climbed back inside and shut the lid.

Dyas says Marta then attacked the coffin with tubing, fists, feet, and the butt of Marta’s sword, leaving Marta’s own blood on the surface, but nothing woke or released the Sleeper. After Ortus offers an awkward martial verse, Dyas asks Harrowhark whether Judith has any hope, and Harrowhark bluntly confirms Judith died quickly.

Regaining Cohort composure, Dyas lists the facts: the Sleeper can leave the coffin, pass through necromantic wards, resist noise or force against the coffin, and carries a rifle. Dyas adds one uncertain final detail: inside the coffin, beneath the Sleeper, Marta glimpsed what looked like a standard-issue two-handed infantry sword.