Chuck Cormoran is on his way from from an evening at the bar. A scrawny young Irishman runs up to him with fear in his eyes and then disappears. However, the same man appears again with a policeman who points a gun at Chuck. The young Irishman tells the cops that he saw Chuck with a gun and the cops search him. Still feeling effects from alcohol, Chuck tries to deny the claims and tells the police that there was no gun and that it was “all a joke, a gag.” At the police station, the cops ask for Chuck’s personal information, and he lies about still having an occupation though he had been fired, to sound less suspicious. Unfortunately, the sergeant catches him in his lie, and Chuck is forced to tell the officers that he is “free-lancing” and unemployed.  Somehow amidst the chaos, Chuck escapes and makes it out on to the street. He thinks about the two phone calls he had made in jail, one to his lawyer friend, Frank, and the other to his wife, Alice. Continuing his escape, he wonders why the cops are not coming after him yet. He realizes that he cannot go home, nor can he go to a hotel, because alerts have likely been set up for his capture. With nothing but uncertainty, Chuck can only hope for the best.