Chapter Summaries

The Tinkerer treated Derek’s wounded companion with an improvised cauterization, then defended himself when Derek tried to rob him. After arranging for an ambulance to collect Derek, the Tinkerer returned to his Black Clinic and reflected that saving lives might make him a superhero.

• The Tinkerer removed a bullet from Derek’s companion and cauterized the wound with a soldering iron, then stitched it closed.
• Derek drew his gun and demanded the Tinkerer's money, but found nothing valuable in his bag.
• The Tinkerer disarmed Derek and shot him in the abdomen with Derek’s own gun before briefly choking him unconscious.
• The Tinkerer called 911, moved Derek to a nearby location without surveillance cameras, and returned to his Black Clinic.
• The Tinkerer left a note for the recovering companion, cleaned the clinic, and heard an ambulance arrive for Derek.

Henry treated a young mother’s seriously ill son at his underground clinic but could offer little hope for the child’s recovery. He left the clinic’s helplessness behind, gathered intelligence from his patients, and went to the Continental Hotel to report it.

• Tinkerer treated William, a young boy with polio, by giving him a fever-reducing injection and sent him home with his mother.
• The mother offered Tinkerer her remaining money, but he refused it and told her to prepare for the worst.
• Henry returned to his rented place, changed out of his Tinkerer disguise, and wrote down identifying details he had learned from two gunshot victims.
• Henry drove to the Continental Hotel with those details and information gathered from clinic patients, hoping to earn informant fees.

Henry brought intelligence from his Black Clinic to the Continental Hotel’s administration office and negotiated a payout with Lina. After Lina assessed the documents and sent them to the records room, she paid Henry twenty-three in large bills.

• Henry entered the Continental Hotel through a side entrance and brought his intelligence documents to Lina’s counter.
• Henry flirted with Lina as she prepared to assess the intelligence.
• Lina searched the hotel database and calculated a bounty of twenty-three based on the number of matching entries.
• Henry requested large bills to buy medicine and supplies for the Black Clinic.
• Lina sent the documents to the records room and placed the counted cash on the tray for Henry.

Henry tried to leave with his payment, but Muni Fisher stopped him to ask about the surgeries he had performed at his underground clinic. He dismissed them as simple and attempted to leave again, but Muni’s next words caught his interest.

• Lina pinned Henry’s hand down and demanded that he call her, but Henry kissed her tattoo, took the money, and headed out.
• Muni Fisher blocked Henry and teased him about calling other women by name while addressing her as Ms. Fisher.
• Muni asked Henry about a difficult surgery, and he explained that surgeons could make procedures seem harder to justify higher prices.
• Henry described how his Kryptonian abilities let him perform operations with extreme speed, then told Muni that surgery only took three steps: cut open, cut out, and sew up.
• Henry started to leave, but an interesting piece of news from Muni made him stop.

Muni Fisher investigated a bounty job that left the Continental Hotel with a tiger cub after the person who posted it died and his family refused the animal. She was left facing the problem of caring for the cub after the poacher who delivered it took the reward and disappeared.

• A concierge told Muni Fisher that the bounty on a tiger cub had caused a problem, and Henry followed her to the lobby.
• Muni learned that the bounty poster had died in Africa and that his family refused to take the cub, though they did not request the reward money back.
• The Continental Hotel faced the expense and difficulty of keeping or disposing of the living tiger cub, and Muni considered putting it down before seeing it.
• Muni found the cub caged in the lobby and learned that Walter, an out-of-town poacher, had taken the reward money and run off.

Henry Brown adopted a hungry tiger cub from the Continental Hotel after a bystander was bitten, and named the cub Kitty. He discovered that Kitty was male but kept the name, leaving the cub in Henry’s care.

• Henry offered to take the cub, and Muni Fisher questioned whether he could handle keeping a tiger.
• The cub bit an onlooker, and Henry pried her jaws open so the injured man could free his hand.
• Henry opened the cage, picked up the hungry cub, and asked Muni for permission to keep her.
• Muni let Henry take the cub but warned him not to bring her back if he changed his mind.
• Henry named the cub Kitty and discovered that she was male.

Henry brought the rescued tiger cub Kitty home and introduced him to his rental’s security robot, BB. He registered Kitty as a secondary user and began caring for him, leaving himself responsible for feeding the hungry, dehydrated cub.

• Henry drove home with Kitty after leaving the oversized cage behind and secured permission from old Gary to keep the cub.
• BB identified Kitty as an intruder, and Henry registered him as a secondary user with limited access to the robot’s functions.
• Henry gave Kitty a large bowl of water and cooked steaks for him, deciding he needed to earn enough to support the tiger.

Henry began researching brainwaves to find a way to understand Kitty, while upgrading computer storage to handle the data his project would require. Kitty learned to use a designated spot, but her energy and rough play kept creating new problems for Henry; meanwhile, another customer arrived at the Black Clinic.

• Henry considered studying brainwaves to communicate with Kitty and started planning a device to collect and analyze brainwave and scent data.
• Kitty kept chasing and chewing BB, damaging its casing and draining its battery, while Henry repeatedly repaired the robot.
• Henry turned to hard drives and data storage, dismantling a drive as he considered building solid-state drives for his research.
• Kitty learned to relieve herself in a designated spot, and Henry considered building her a cat tree to give her more room to play.
• A bell rang at the Black Clinic, and Henry changed into his Tinkerer outfit and set off to meet another customer.

Tinkerer was summoned from his clinic by a thug and taken to an abandoned factory, where he met a powerful older man. He admitted his identity and asked what the man wanted with him.

• A thug confronted Tinkerer at the Black Clinic and ordered him to come with him, threatening him when he hesitated.
• Tinkerer packed his medical supplies, left a note at the clinic, and rode with the thug in a Rolls-Royce to an abandoned factory.
• Tinkerer found a lavish lounge inside the filthy factory, where an older, obese white man waited with two women and a pianist.
• The older man asked whether Tinkerer was the clinic doctor, and Tinkerer admitted he was before asking what he wanted.

Tinkerer agreed to operate on a wealthy, reckless man with advanced bile duct cancer after demanding one million for the price of his life. Threatened at gunpoint, he headed to the portable operating room and asked whether the surgical instruments were ready.

• A fat old white man asked Tinkerer to treat his hilar cholangiocarcinoma, but Tinkerer initially refused because of the man’s unhealthy lifestyle and suspected infectious disease.
• After the man revealed a portable sterile operating room and medical staff, Tinkerer demanded one million for the operation.
• Tinkerer explained that he charged according to how much a patient valued life, while the fat old white man’s subordinate was worth only twenty-three seventy-five.
• The fat old white man had a gun pressed to Tinkerer’s head and ordered him to operate, promising the price he had demanded if he saved him.
• Tinkerer walked toward the operating room without his bag and asked whether the staff had all the surgical instruments.

Tinkerer began operating on the fat Old Bai after the gang leader decided to trust him, despite having barely examined the case. He used spinal anesthesia and gold acupuncture needles to keep Old Bai conscious but unable to feel anything below his neck as the surgery began.

• Tinkerer dismissed Old Bai’s hesitation and offered to operate that day or after a ten-year wait.
• Old Bai weighed the risks of trusting Tinkerer against finding another surgeon, then agreed to surgery that day.
• Tinkerer and Old Bai entered the inflatable operating room, where Tinkerer ordered regional anesthesia instead of general anesthesia.
• When the anesthetist struggled to find the injection site, Tinkerer took over and administered the spinal anesthesia.
• Tinkerer inserted gold acupuncture needles, leaving Old Bai conscious but unable to feel anything below his neck, which made him panic.

Tinkerer began Old Bai’s operation, exposing his liver and gallbladder before abruptly leaving the operating room to demand the agreed million-dollar payment. When Old Bai’s armed subordinates threatened to shoot him, Tinkerer warned that they would be left with an open abdomen and no surgeon to finish the operation.

• Tinkerer used acupuncture and an injection of anesthetic to keep Old Bai conscious but unable to move during surgery.
• Tinkerer opened Old Bai’s abdomen, extracted the fat temporarily, and exposed the liver and gallbladder.
• Tinkerer clamped blood vessels and left surgical instruments inside Old Bai before walking out of the operating room.
• Tinkerer returned with a cigar and demanded the million dollars he and Old Bai had agreed on.
• Old Bai ordered his subordinates to kill Tinkerer, but Tinkerer warned them that Old Bai would die without him or another surgeon to complete the operation.

The Tinkerer forced Fat Old Bai to pay a million before continuing the difficult bile duct operation, while Old Bai's subordinates and the medical staff feared what would happen afterward. After removing the cancerous tissue, the Tinkerer paused before finishing the surgery to make an important phone call.

• The Tinkerer demanded a million from Fat Old Bai, and Old Bai agreed after the Tinkerer burned him with his cigar.
• Old Bai's subordinates brought two suitcases holding a million in small bills, which the Tinkerer ordered them to place beside his bag.
• The Tinkerer resumed the operation, removing the cancerous bile duct and affected liver tissue while warning Old Bai to stay calm.
• Before suturing the wound, the Tinkerer asked Old Bai's lackeys for a phone so he could make an important call, and Old Bai ordered them to get one.

Tinkerer tested whether Andrew Saxon’s name would draw the authorities by calling 911 while treating him, and the call prompted a police response that included the FBI. As Andrew Saxon’s men prepared to flee and a gunman watched Tinkerer, officers began sealing off the routes from the warehouse district.

• Tinkerer asked Old Bai his name, and Old Bai identified himself as Andrew Saxon and bragged about his reputation in Los Angeles.
• Tinkerer used a Siemens portable phone to call 911 and gave the operator the warehouse’s location, prompting Andrew Saxon’s men to realize he had alerted the authorities.
• Tinkerer handed the still-connected phone to the gunman and taunted him, then returned to the operation and explained that he had wanted to test whether the police recognized Andrew Saxon’s name.
• Andrew Saxon ordered his men to prepare to move their base and told the gunman to kill Tinkerer if he stopped operating.
• Emergency center staff escalated the report to the FBI, and police dispatchers sent nearby officers to seal the main routes out of the warehouse district.

Tinkerer finished Andrew Saxon’s surgery as police closed in, then disabled the gunman threatening him and escaped the warehouse after Saxon’s men fled. He left with his cash and medical tools, followed by the other medical staff.

• Tinkerer carefully completed the surgery while the armed men and medical staff waited for the police to arrive.
• After Tinkerer finished suturing Andrew Saxon, the young gunman threatened to shoot him, but Tinkerer stabbed the man’s wrist and left his gun hand limp.
• As police stormed the warehouse and a gunfight erupted, Andrew Saxon ordered his men to abandon Tinkerer and the medical staff and carry him to the waiting Rolls-Royce.
• Andrew Saxon’s men fled in the Rolls-Royce, leaving the medical staff behind at the warehouse.
• Tinkerer removed his surgical gown, collected his bags of cash and medical tools, and headed outside with the other staff following him.

Tinkerer gave a bag of cash to the people who had helped with the surgery, then used their greed to escape while LAPD arrested them. He slipped through the police cordon and disappeared.

• A middle-aged Black man stopped Tinkerer and demanded payment for helping with the surgery.
• Tinkerer tossed the group a bag of cash and told them to split it and deny seeing him.
• LAPD officers surrounded the group as they divided the money and arrested them.
• The arrested men shouted about Fixman, but the officers kept them in custody while other police pursued the fugitive.
• Tinkerer used his super speed to flee through a gap in the cordon.

FBI agents investigated the arrests of Andrew Saxon’s gang and questioned witnesses about the elusive Tinkerer, who had operated on Saxon. Agent James explained why the Bureau avoided pursuing the Tinkerer because of his connection to the Continental Hotel, but a seized duffel bag might offer a lead.

• FBI agents prepared charges against Andrew Saxon’s gang and the illegal medical workers, using the seized illicit funds as leverage.
• Agent James learned that the Tinkerer had not been caught and that witnesses described him as a scarred white man dressed like a nineteenth-century Frenchman.
• A rookie agent asked why the FBI did not arrest the Tinkerer, and James explained the Bureau’s policy toward Continental Hotel service providers.
• James told the rookie that the IRS needed evidence to prosecute the Tinkerer, but a raid that uncovered illicit funds could create an opening.
• The rookie pointed out that witnesses said the seized duffel bag had belonged to the Tinkerer, and James considered whether its evidence might be useful.

Henry counted the money from his outing, arranged for Big O to keep the Black Clinic closed and frustrate any police visitors, and prepared to spend the next two months organizing his medical knowledge. He then took Kitty to his Sheep Cave Valley Laboratory.

• Henry counted his earnings and found the total was six hundred eighteen thousand, six hundred forty-six dollars.
• Henry called Big O, asked him to arrange a harmless welcome for anyone investigating the Black Clinic, and agreed to pay two months' rent.
• Henry left the rent money at the clinic and removed its summoning bell and instruction notes before closing it for two months.
• Henry decided to use the closure to organize his medical experience and insights.
• Henry picked up Kitty and took her to the Sheep Cave Valley Laboratory for exercise.

Henry established a concealed laboratory in Sheephole Valley Wilderness to manufacture and stockpile medicines for the Black Clinic. He focused on proven chemical formulas and left traditional Chinese medicine behind because he could not obtain reliable ingredients.

• Henry chose the granite caves of Sheephole Valley Wilderness for his container-home laboratory and equipped it with water, electricity, and backup power.
• Henry moved drug production and equipment-making from his rental home to the remote laboratory.
• Henry decided to synthesize only established medicines and avoid developing drugs, running human trials, or making addictive painkillers.
• Henry used his two-month clinic closure to produce routine medicines and build up supplies for the Black Clinic.
• Henry gave up researching traditional Chinese medicine in North America because the available medicinal ingredients were inadequate.

Henry fed Kitty raw prey in the wilderness and reflected on how to keep her instincts under control. As he experienced a mysterious state of insight beneath the stars, he began levitating before someone sealed him inside the Mirror Dimension.

• Henry caught a desert rabbit and gave it whole to Kitty, who ate the meat and some of its organs.
• When Kitty still seemed hungry, Henry caught a fox and fed it to her, taking away her food whenever she started playing with it.
• While Kitty gnawed on the fox, Henry looked at the stars and let his mind rest as he listened to the wilderness.
• Henry entered an unfamiliar state in which his Super Brain seemed to reach toward understanding the world, and he followed his intuition.
• Henry unconsciously began flying, sat cross-legged in the air as colored lights appeared across his body, and was enclosed in the Mirror Dimension by someone.