Chapter 6 Summary

In Washington DC, at the meeting in the Senator's apartment, Eliot's father asks how he could have missed all of the danger signals. Eliot is his only son and his father feels that he has failed him. McAllister tries to console the Senator by telling him that it isn't his fault. The Senator blames some of Eliot's problems on his being a Fire Department mascot when he was a child. McAllister says if he wants to do that, then he should be sure to blame himself for Eliot's nervous breakdown during World War II. Eliot attacked a building in Bavaria and killed three firemen, thinking they were Germans. This is the incident that led to his breakdown and hospitalization in Paris, where he met Sylvia.

Sylvia explains to the Senator how she met Eliot. Her father, a cellist, had arranged for a concert...