McClain is looking forward to sleeping late, but wakes up as usual at 4 am the next morning, goes to the dock and finds Sid watching their boat heading away to more productive fishing waters in Alaska.
Sid takes out ten thousand in cash to show her and the money attracts the attention of bar patron Starkey, one of two unsavory members of a work crew assigned to pave the dock.
Sid had planned to take his family to a new life on an Iowa farm and, when McClain goes to comfort his widow Annie and two teenage sons, there is a "SOLD" sign in front of the house.
That evening, McClain is drinking at "The Tides" bar and grill and hears Julio, Rudy and Joe sitting in a booth complaining about crime and hard economic times.
McClain spends the evening at Vangie's place, returns in the morning to the dock and then goes to ask Lt. DeNisco to be reinstated as a police detective.
When DeNisco refuses, McClain's next step is to visit his old friend Irv Sutherland at the San Pedro Dispatch who prints the headline "SPPD Rejects Former Hero".
The following morning, McClain arrives at 6:30 for his 8 am shift, sees African-American detective Miller at his desk and assumes her to be a records clerk.
The man, Eddie Grant, a known receiver of stolen goods, is booked, while the 8 mm gun that was found on him arouses Gates' curiosity.
After his shift, McClain goes to eat at the Flatfish Café and listens to Vangie regret that Sid felt the need to show her the wad of money that likely caused his murder as well as her fears about the rising crime rate and asks, "Where did it all go wrong?"
In the police car, Gates tells McClain that Eddie Grant's gun, a Japanese Nambu 8 mm, was the one used to kill Sid.
McClain goes to police property storage, takes one of Grant's confiscated ship-to-shore radios to his houseboat and examines it for clues.
They are then assigned to replace Cross and Shaner at the warehouse where they spot the robbery truck with three men who are listening to police radio and hear DeNisco's instructions to wait for backup.