I Am Pilgrim

Murdoch boards a commercial flight to Lebanon to begin preparations for his Saudi Arabia trip. He calls Battleboi, who tells him the family is from Jeddah. Murdoch agrees to help the hacker avoid his prison sentence and reunite with his partner.

In Frankfurt, al-Nassouri continues his final preparations, overjoyed to learn that cold weather is arriving early in North America, since infected people will be more likely to gather indoors.

On the flight to Jeddah, Murdoch has the vision of sailing on a boat again, feeling as though his doom is “drawing closer” (477). Upon arrival, Murdoch is careful to praise all his Saudi colleagues in effusive terms, noticing that several are connected to the ruling family. Murdoch gives the agency’s research teams the information he has on the al-Nassouri family and the only son, Zakaria. After some hours, the director reveals that al-Nassouri’s father was a specialist in clownfish, and Murdoch finally understands the papers he found in Cumali’s home. He is stunned to learn of the family tragedy and finds it distasteful that intelligence officers speak casually and cruelly of the mother’s decision to work. Murdoch discovers that al-Nassouri faked his own death and must have adopted a new identity.