The day before the journey, Pyne passes the time talking to General Poli about items in the newspaper, mainly the search for a crooked financier called Samuel Long who is on the run and is rumoured to be in South America. Pyne also goes to the cinema and then to a somewhat seedy nightclub where he finds a slightly drunken Captain Smethurst who seems depressed but is vague as to the reason why, saying that he doesn't, "like to go back on a pal". Pyne introduces his profession, glibly announcing that he is a sort of "confidence trickster", prompting a strange reaction from the Captain who says, "What – you too?"