The City and the City

Borlú reports on the status of the investigation to the Oversight Committee; representatives from Besźel and Ul Qoma attend. The meeting takes place at an “interstice,” a location common to both cities. Borlú’s goal is to defer the investigation to Breach (the implications of the case are too dangerous for his liking). He reports that Geary was a Ph.D. student in archaeology. After a controversial speech at a conference in Besźel, she retreated to Ul Qoma to work on an excavation site. Then, several weeks ago, she was found dead in Besźel.

The committee debates the value of ceding authority to Breach, an “alien power,” and a partisan argument erupts. Borlú remembers the first time he witnessed Breach: When a car accident from one city crossed into the other, Breach—shadowy figures with powers to “contain” the incident—intervened.

Eventually, the committee votes to divert the case to Breach authority, and Borlú leaves the meeting, content that Geary’s murder is no longer his responsibility.

At the Besźel airport, Borlú and Corwi await the arrival of Geary’s parents. They drive the grieving American couple through the city to view their daughter’s body. Despite their “compassionate-entry stamps” and lack of experience unseeing, any blatant breaching could get them deported.