Unsettled by Trey's troubles, Cal's edginess, and her own dislike of Rushborough, Lena decides to investigate. She visits Mrs. Duggan, Noreen's formidable mother-in-law, who once ran the village shop and knew everything that happened in Ardnakelty. Lena brings blackberry jam as a peace offering and endures Mrs. Duggan's probing about her past, including a forced admission that Lena once kissed Johnny Reddy hoping word would reach Sean and free her to leave for college.

In exchange, Mrs. Duggan tells Lena definitively: in eighty years she has never heard a single whisper of gold in Ardnakelty. The Feeneys, including Bridie (Rushborough's supposed grandmother) and Michael Duggan, never spoke of it. The whole gold legend Rushborough is peddling is a fabrication. Mrs. Duggan, amused, plans to sit back and watch the trouble unfold, including Dessie's foolishness.

Meanwhile, Cal walks home from the river with Mart, where the salting operation went smoothly and Rushborough acted ecstatic over the planted gold. Cal is uneasy about Johnny's involvement at the river, his own forced passivity, and Johnny's separation of Trey from him. He finds Lena waiting at his house.

Lena recounts what Mrs. Duggan said. Cal realizes Johnny and Rushborough must be running a con: today's small haul was bait, and they'll soon ask the men to mortgage their land for mining costs. Cal recalls Lena's earlier note that Johnny needed a haircut on arrival, suggesting he came back fleeing trouble.

Cal decides to expose the scam publicly that very evening at Seán's pub during the celebration, after Rushborough leaves. He reasons that calling out Johnny in front of everyone will protect Trey from being blamed and let her keep her place in the townland. Lena warns him to watch Rushborough carefully, sharing her own bad feeling about the Englishman. She kisses Cal as if sending him into battle and leaves.