Cities of the Plain

John Grady goes to the café in Juarez. When he asks about Magdalena, no one remembers seeing her. He visits other establishments—anywhere that is open that is not the White Lake—and asks about her. No one can tell him anything. Eventually, he goes to the morgue and finds her dead body. Her throat has been slit. As the attendant calls for him to identify the body, John Grady leaves the morgue.

John Grady rides alone over the plain. He declines an offer to eat dinner, choosing instead to visit the small house where he had planned to live with Magdalena. After sitting alone in the house for a while, he rides back to the ranch in the dark. He changes his clothes, takes his money and a knife from his locker, unreins his horse, and lets it vanish into the night. John Grady hitches a ride to Juarez with an old rancher who reveals that he is driving out to help an injured mare.

Billy walks into Juarez. He searches through the city’s bars and eventually arrives at the White Lake. The old one-eyed maid answers a side door and allows him inside after trying to close the door on him.