He soon becomes obsessed with the idea of performing a full human eye transplant, despite Katherine's insistence that it would destroy Nancy's optic nerve.

The surgery succeeds at first, but Nancy's blindness returns a few days later; meanwhile, Leonard keeps the now-eyeless Dan locked in an electrified cage in his basement.

His second interviewee is an unmarried orphan who had only been in town for a couple of weeks, Leonard "hires" her and offers her a drugged glass of wine.

As the transplants continue to fail, Leonard amasses a group of eyeless victims whom he keeps contained in a large holding cell in his basement.

Leonard tells Simon that, though rare in younger people, the eyes may be removed for a number of reasons, ranging from syphilis to cancer.

After Simon leaves, Leonard enters the basement and promises his victims that he will restore their eyes once Nancy's surgery is successful.

Shortly after, Nancy frees her father's victims from their cell, and Al, one of the "donors", gouges out Leonard's eyes with his finger as the rest of the captives flee from the doctor's home.