Skink—No Surrender

Trujillo informs Richard that the real Talbo Chock had a funeral in Florida a month earlier. Someone stole the pastor’s car during the ceremony. He tells Richard that the fake Talbo’s car has a hole in its back window.

As Skink and Richard drive, they see a driver in a blue vehicle throw a beer can onto the road. Skink follows the vehicle to a restaurant, where he fills its gas tank with beer. Later, Richard reads Skink an e-mail from his mother. She’s concerned and wants Richard to return home. Richard feels tempted to go back, and Skink offers to take him to a nearby airport. On the way, they stop in Panama City—which has a drawbridge and familiar seabird calls. Richard believes this is where Malley is hiding, and he decides to continue the search with Skink.

Richard recalls working on his ivory-billed woodpecker project with Malley. Though he believes they’re extinct, Skink assures him that he saw one. Richard and Skink arrive at Choctawhatchee Bay. Richard’s mother calls again. She asks him to come home. When he refuses, she tells him that if he isn’t home in 72 hours, she’s going to call the police.