In Chap­ter 188 of “All the Col­ors of the Dark,” Patch is in a wait­ing space, where a sec­re­tary is mak­ing calls regard­ing judge changes in the Twen­ty-fifth Judi­cial Cir­cuit. After a twen­ty-minute wait, War­den Riley arrives, instruct­ing the guards to remove Patch’s hand­cuffs. Riley, a port­ly man in pin­stripe attire marked by shav­ing nicks and burst cap­il­lar­ies, ges­tures toward a large paint­ing in his office depict­ing a vibrant Main Street, rem­i­nis­cent of Patch’s past work from near­ly twen­ty years ago. The paint­ing sparks nos­tal­gia in Patch, tak­ing him back to his first sale, where he noticed more flaws than tri­umphs.

Riley, feel­ing proud of the art­work, reveals that it was cho­sen by his wife, Aileen, dur­ing her many attempts to dec­o­rate the office. A con­ver­sa­tion unfolds about Patch’s request for a library ser­vice for inmates on C Lev­el. War­den Riley reflects on the rec­om­men­da­tions from the Fed­er­al Bureau of Pris­ons as Patch strug­gles with his mem­o­ries, includ­ing those of his daugh­ter who does­n’t vis­it, and the hard­ships he faced while serv­ing his time—such as a fight with a gang mem­ber that result­ed in bro­ken ribs and lost teeth.

Despite the pris­on’s harsh envi­ron­ment, Patch finds solace in read­ing, express­ing to Riley that lit­er­a­ture pro­vides an escape and is a fun­da­men­tal right for inmates, regard­less of their sit­u­a­tion. He shares a quote about kind­ness and com­pas­sion, rein­forc­ing his mes­sage about human­i­ty amidst incar­cer­a­tion. As the chap­ter draws to a close, Patch pre­pares him­self men­tal­ly for his upcom­ing vis­it to C Lev­el, the dread­ed death row, hint­ing at the weight of impli­ca­tions that lie ahead. The night before, he finds him­self unable to sleep, under­scor­ing his anx­i­ety and fore­bod­ing thoughts about the mor­row.