Early Wednesday morning, Clay goes into Silver to buy a copy of the horse race schedule. He then continues working on the bridge with the Murderer (Michael), where the two talk about retrieving stone and Clay reveals he has read The Quarryman. Clay borrows the car keys to listen to the radio and hear Carey’s race results. Afterward, he and his father start to bond over The Quarryman, and the Murderer teases him about having an obvious crush.

When Clay is 13, he runs barefoot through the streets in the dead of night, looking for his father. Earlier that year, Penelope died of cancer, and at the ceremony, Clay found a clothes pin that he carries for years to follow. Michael becomes emotionally distant from his sons. He avoids them, sitting in the garage or in his car for hours. Matthew increasingly takes over financial and emotional responsibilities. Clay tries to draw their father out of his stupor, but within six months, Michael leaves.

Clay returns to the city on the weekends that the Murderer (Michael) is working in the mines, but the rest of their time is devoted to