The Bourne Identity Chapter 3 Summary

How It All Goes Down

  • Anonymous dude talks to the captain of his boat about getting papers altered. The captain owed Washburn a favor but says he won't help dude get aboard to Marseilles. However, if dude can get ashore and into Marseilles by himself, then the captain may be able to meet him there and help him get papers.
  • Dude figures he knows kung fu and had a microfilm chip in his hip, so how much trouble can it be to get into Marseilles?
  • The captain agrees to meet him later that night, and dude lowers himself into the water, his clothes in a waterproof bag, and the current takes him ashore.
  • Naked on the beach, he is impressed by how cool he was when he made the deal with the captain and figures he's tough enough to rumble with anyone or anything.
  • Anonymous dude goes to a butcher shop, where he hears a couple of servants talking about how their employer, the Marquis de Chamford, is preparing to visit a prostitute nearby.
  • We get our first look at how tricky anonymous dude can be. He pretends to be purchasing meat for a wealthy employer, and he fools everybody.
  • Our tricky protagonist waits until the Marquis shows up, follows him to the room with the prostitute, breaks in, and robs the guy blind. He even takes his clothes. And his Jaguar. And of course the Marquis can't report him to the police, because then his wife would find out what he was doing. You're a tricky guy, anonymous dude.
  • Anonymous dude drives the Jaguar into the city, pawns it, then goes and buys new clothes and gets a room so he can rest up.
  • Anonymous dude meets the captain of the fishing boat who dropped him off at the appointed time in an inn. Another guy is with him. Anonymous dude arranges with the other guy to have his papers fixed. He offers extra money to have them done quickly.
  • As he's leaving after the transaction, anonymous dude runs into some guy who apparently knows him. The man is shocked that he's alive. You would be, too, if you saw some guy get shot multiple times and thrown into the sea. But anonymous dude is our hero, and it takes more than that to kill him.
  • You'd think the surprised fellow would take the hint and figure out that anonymous dude is unkillable, but no. He pulls a knife on him, and anonymous dude has to beat him up.
  • Though he loses his knife and is generally humiliated, the guy manages to escape…which is bad, since we guess he'll probably tell other folks. The hunt is on for anonymous dude.