- Our intrepid priest has made his way to the capital. That's like sneaking into the Death Star.
- A chance encounter with a beggar on the street might enable him to buy wine. Illegally, of course.
- Uh oh. The mestizo is here too. Walking with the police. He and the priest make eye contact. We knew he'd be back.
- The beggar takes the priest to a hotel where the cousin of the governor might have spirits to sell.
- Now comes one of those cringe-inducing scenes where you know everything is going to go wrong and it does. The cousin of the governor has wine, but he's hesitant to part with it. Negotiations proceed and the priest acquires a bottle of California wine (for saying Mass) and a bottle of brandy (for himself).
- The beggar, however, has instructed the priest to offer a drink to the cousin of the governor. Good politics. And, of course, they drink all the wine. The priest is forced to watch as the governor's cousin pours himself one drink and then another and then another. The chief of police joins the secret little party. The priest leaves with no wine and a little brandy. At least he got out, right?
- Not so fast.
- A tad drunk on brandy, the priest accidently bumps into a Red Shirt. The minor collision is enough to rattle the bottle of brandy, alerting the Red Shirts to his carrying something suspicious. They discover the brandy and the priest tries to flee.
- Now we get the novel's frantic chase scene. The Red Shirts don't know he's the priest; they're just having fun with a minor lawbreaker.
- The priest evades them for a time and finds himself at the residence of Padre José. Recognizing the former priest, our hero begs for his help, but Padre José refuses, too fearful of the consequences.
- The authorities catch up with the priest and take him to the station.
- The lieutenant doesn't recognize him, thankfully. Since he has no money to pay the fine, the priest is thrown into a pitch black, packed jail cell for the night.