Familiaris

After Claude leaves, Gar buys more alcohol but doesn’t drink it. Five days later, he pours it out and visits his parents’ farm. Mary informs him that they sent Forte to Frank and that Claude left. Gar recounts the night with Claude and realizes that, while Claude left on his own, Mary and John would have kicked him out. They reveal Claude was working with Ev Minch. Gar wants to find Claude, but Mary advises against it.

In the military, Gar initially hesitated to work with the dog program, assuming it involved training dogs for dangerous missions. However, after meeting with the program director, Alvin Brooks, a Sawtelle client, he learned that the program helped soldiers make better decisions and agreed to help.

Ocky, or Octavia P. Suspenders, was the last dog Mary and John took as a family pet; they were too heartbroken after her death to take on another. Gar flips through Practical Agriculture and Free Will, and he reflects on his deep knowledge of the Sawtelle dog files. He goes to Mary and expresses his desire to buy the farm from her and John and take over the family business. She agrees but asks him to wait for a while until she can talk to John.