The housemates are sitting around the fire—Cassie and Abby are doing their nails, and Justin is studying while Rafe and Daniel clean the gun—when a rock crashes through the window. Daniel, Rafe, and Cassie chase the perpetrator through the gate and into the lane. The three chase the man until they lose sight of him. Realizing he is hiding nearby, Cassie begins to taunt him, a detective technique to draw him out of hiding, and Daniel and Rafe join in hurling insults about the lower class in Glenskehy. Cassie hears a rustle and a click, and the man crashes out of the hedges and attacks Rafe. A brutal fight ensues with kicking, scratching, and punching. The attacker escapes leaving the three housemates bleeding and, in an adrenaline-infused stupor “they looked like lethal strangers, ghost warriors from the last stand of some lost and savage tribe” (251). They find Abby hiding with the fire poker and Justin in a complete panic when they return home to tend to their injuries. Daniel finds the rock with “WE WILL BURN YOU OUT” written on the attached message (254). Rafe is laughing it off, but Abby wants to alert the authorities. Daniel calmly agrees and feels they should call the detectives not the local police.