Chap­ter 20 opens with Will and Jim, both trapped in frus­trat­ing sit­u­a­tions at home. Their par­ents, bur­dened by their own wor­ries and frus­tra­tions, express their dis­con­tent, send­ing the boys to their rooms, hun­gry and full of con­fu­sion. The evening unfolds with grow­ing chaos, as the ten­sion in the house­hold escalates—doors slam shut, and locks are heard clank­ing. Will, feel­ing iso­lat­ed and cut off, stands by his door, reflect­ing on the silence that sur­rounds him. His thoughts turn to Miss Foley, some­one he wish­es he could con­fide in, but as he con­sid­ers reach­ing out to her, he real­izes she would nev­er respond, leav­ing him to grap­ple with a trou­bling thought. He starts to believe that Miss Foley’s nephew is far from the inno­cent per­son he appears to be. The unease he feels only deep­ens as he tries to make sense of this grow­ing mys­tery.

As the night con­tin­ues, Jim across the street finds him­self in a sim­i­lar sit­u­a­tion, caught in a web of parental con­trol and expec­ta­tions. Like Will, Jim seeks solace in the qui­et of his room, hop­ing to find com­fort in famil­iar sur­round­ings. The boys, each in their sep­a­rate spaces, begin to search for small distractions—hidden stash­es of can­dy or snacks that will take their minds off the grow­ing ten­sion. Time drags on, and the weight of the night becomes unbear­able. Will’s mind races with thoughts of his father, who is now approach­ing his door, sig­nal­ing an impor­tant moment. Will hopes for an open con­ver­sa­tion, but when his father mere­ly stands out­side, seem­ing­ly lost in thought, he is left long­ing for a con­nec­tion that is not forth­com­ing. The moment builds with antic­i­pa­tion, but Will is met with silence, feel­ing more dis­tant from his father than ever.

A brief exchange between Will’s par­ents fur­ther inten­si­fies his feel­ings of aban­don­ment. His father offers a vague warn­ing to be care­ful, but his words lack clar­i­ty or com­fort, only increas­ing Will’s uncer­tain­ty about what’s hap­pen­ing. When the door final­ly shuts, Will is left alone, urg­ing his father to stay inside as he sens­es the grow­ing dan­ger in the world around him. Iso­lat­ed in his room, Will’s thoughts drift to the library across town, a place where he has always sought refuge in times of trou­ble. The library, with its qui­et spaces and end­less books, had always been his sanc­tu­ary, offer­ing a chance to escape from the wor­ries of the world. Yet, tonight, despite the com­fort it offers, Will knows some­thing is dif­fer­ent. The events unfold­ing are no longer part of the usu­al child­hood tri­als but are becom­ing some­thing far more com­plex and fright­en­ing.

In a des­per­ate attempt to con­nect with Jim, Will throws peb­bles at his friend’s win­dow, hop­ing to elic­it a response. But the min­utes stretch on, and the silence between them grows, ampli­fy­ing Will’s grow­ing anx­i­ety. Jim, who is usu­al­ly quick to respond to their shared mis­chief, remains silent, mak­ing Will feel more iso­lat­ed and uncer­tain than ever. Will’s con­cern deep­ens, espe­cial­ly as he reflects on Miss Foley’s nephew and the strange, unset­tling influ­ence he seems to have over Jim. Will begins to fear that Jim might be drawn into some­thing dark and dan­ger­ous, some­thing they can­not eas­i­ly escape. His con­cern for his friend inten­si­fies, and with a final mar­ble thrown in frus­tra­tion, he real­izes that Jim is not just absent in body but in spir­it as well. As Will lies back on his bed, cold and stiff from his rest­less­ness, he feels the weight of the night press­ing down on him. A grow­ing sense of urgency fills him, as he sens­es that some­thing impor­tant is about to hap­pen, though he remains unsure of what it is or how to pre­vent it. The chap­ter ends with Will left in the dark, his mind rac­ing, aware that he is at the precipice of some­thing much larg­er than he can com­pre­hend. The sense of impend­ing change lingers, and he knows that he, Jim, and Miss Foley’s nephew are caught in a web that is rapid­ly clos­ing in around them.