The full details of what Ishigami did to protect Yasuko are revealed. Tension is created around the uncertainty of how Yasuko will react. She is at a crossroads: on the one hand, she has the opportunity to start a new life, a point that Sayoko makes all too clearly. On the other hand, she has to live with full knowledge of the fact that an innocent man had to die in order for her to be free from police suspicion and the fact that her new life of freedom is predicated on Ishigami being in prison.

This conflict is heightened by the atmosphere. She is on her way to the very same corner restaurant where Togashi met with her in Chapter 1, setting her on the path towards murder. It is by this very same restaurant that she is confronted with the truth, which could set her on the path of a full confession if her remorse is strong enough. Yet it is also at this very same restaurant where she is to meet with Kudo, with whom she could start a new life.

The issue of "blind spots" due to inappropriate assumptions about the case applies to the reader as much as it does to Yasuko and Kusanagi. Up until now, the reader has been led to believe that the murder took place on March 10. By failing to question this, the reader is as much guilty of falling into trap as are Yasuko and Kusanagi.

Among the many themes in the novel, as well as in other Japanese media, is the ninji/giro conflict, the conflict between one's duties to society and one's feelings as a human being. This conflict structures much of the inner conflict exprienced by each of the characters as they struggle to make the correct choices. In addition, as each character deals with this conflict, the reader feels ambiguity about how they should view each of the characters, whether favorably or unfavorably. In this way, the inner conflict experienced by the characters along with their morally ambiguous behavior evokes mono no aware on the part of the reader, who feels sympathy and pity for the characters on the one hand and some degree of revulsion or dissatisfaction on the other.

Ishigami is a case in point. In reference to Ishigami, Yukawa says, "He's a man capable of doing anything as long as it makes logical sense." Yukawa further says that a "murdered body was the piece [Ishigami] needed to complete his puzzle." In the preceding chapter, Ishigami heroically turns himself to the police, which causes us to view him more positively. In this chapter, though, we discover that Ishigami had to exploit an innocent homeless person in order for his plan to work, causing us to view him more negatively yet again. Hence, the reader is constantly forced to re-evaluate how they should view Ishigami, which is the case throughout the story.

By the same token, Yasuko has been entertaining the possibility of getting together with Kudo all while Ishigami has been going to great lengths to protect her. While we sympathize with her to the extent that she didn't ask for Ishigami's help and is potentially having her feelings manipulated by him so that she will be forced to return his affectoin, we have also been made to feel put off by her insensitivity to Ishigami and the ease with which she starts a relationship with Kudo, against her better judgment. As her fate hangs in the balance, she is a character as much defined by moral ambiguity as is Kudo.

Kusanagi likewise must struggle with his own dilemma: should he betray Yukawa's confidence by starting a new investigation, despite promising not to reveal the secret entrusted to him by Yukawa, or should he honor their friendship and respect Yukawa's request for secrecy? On the one hand, he has a duty to public to apprehend criminals. On the other hand, Yukawa has provided invaluable help as a friend.

As for Yukawa, he too has been at a crossroads in that he must struggle about what to do. On the one hand, he feels compelled to honor the wishes of his friend Ishigami by not sharing the truth with Yasuko. On the other hand, he feels burdened by the thought that Ishigami's sacrifice (and genius calculations) might go unacknowledged by a woman who is guilty of actual murder. He struggles with his role as dispassionate advisor to the police and friend to Kusanagi, bystander with no involvement in the case and old friend of Ishigami. He also struggles with his role as both competitor with and friend of Ishigami. He had indicated previously his desire not to get involved in police investigations and even showed displeasure with Kusanagi for embroiling him in police matters, which he ridiculed as being too simple to be worthy of his time, and yet he has personally interfered with a strictly police matter that should be left to professionals. In fact, his involvement has changed the entire course of the investigation, causing Ishigami to turn himself in. Revealing the truth to Yusaku may very well also cause her to make a confession of guilt in the same way that revealing the truth to Ishigami prompted him to make a confession of guilt. Has he betrayed his professional responsibilty to avoid getting involved in a police matter? Has he interfered where it is not his place to interfere, making both Ishigami and probably Yasuko confess to their crimes? Has he betrayed his friendship with Ishigami by spoiling Ishigami's plan, or is he being faithful to that friendship by ensuring that Ishigami's sacrifice doesn't go unacknowledged? Is there an element of pride and jealousy in his decision to tell Yasuko the truth and thereby undermine the perfect calculation made by a genius competitor or is the decision strictly based on empathy for a fellow genius whose squandered intellectual potential arouses a strong sense of indignation? In juggling all of these roles and consideration, Yukawa is not immune from his fair share of criticism, nor is he exempt from the feelings of ambiguity on the reader's part.