Things go well for over a year, with the Tosoks taking a tour of the major civilized countries of Earth, during which they view and are impressed by the August 11, 1999, total solar eclipse.

Calhoun bled to death when his leg was completely severed with a tool unknown to human forensic pathologists; also, his jaw, one eye, and his appendix have been removed and are never found.

Hask appears while the police are investigating and, in the Tosok fashion, has shed his skin; it is speculated that he did so in order to hide any tell-tale blood splatters.

His attorney, Dale Rice, an African-American who is famous for defending civil and political rights cases, believes that another Tosok murdered Calhoun for deviant reasons; the Tosoks have as strong a taboo about internal anatomy as most humans do about sex: it is a private matter, not to be shared with others, except for extreme cases, such as surgery.

When Rice brings this last hypothesis to the courtroom, Hask is alarmed and announces that he wants to change his plea to guilty.

At last Hask persuades Rice to take a day off court duty, and they and Frank secretly travel to the Arctic, where the eighth Tosok, Seltar, is indeed alive.

There are a number of pungent comments about the justice system, such as when a juror is discovered to be a "UFO nut" and is dismissed from the jury.