- Thompson goes to see Kane's old friend, Leland. Leland says that Kane was never a brutal man. He just did brutal things.
- Leland claims that Kane never believed in anything but himself, despite all the opinions he printed in his paper.
- Unfortunately, Leland can't tell Thompson much about "rosebud" because he doesn't know what it means. He offers to tell Thompson more about Kane's first wife Emily instead.
- He says that after the first few months of marriage, Emily and Charles never saw much of each other. But for Leland, there's nothing unusual about this.
- We flash back to scenes between Kane and Emily. It doesn't take long for Emily to complain about the amount of time Kane spends working at the newspaper.
- Before long, Emily starts arguing with Charles about the things his paper says about her uncle, the President.
- Kane thinks her uncle is running a big scam with a bunch of crooks.
- Over time, we can see Charles getting more brooding. Finally, Emily mentions what people might think of Charles, and he famously answers that they'll think, "What I tell them to think."
- Before you know it, Charles and Emily read the papers without saying a word to each other.
- Back in the present, Leland says that Kane did everything in life for love. He wanted everyone in the world to admire and love him, except he didn't have any love to give to anyone but himself.