Cat's Cradle Chapter 10 Summary

Secret Agent X-9

  • With the appointment scheduled for tomorrow, John has a night to kill in Ilium.
  • He heads to the Cape Cod Room, the social hub of Ilium and the hangout for the local whores.
  • He chats up a whore named Sandra. They talk about everything from Dr. Breed to the Pope to phonies to gangsters.
  • They also get drunk.
  • The bartender mentions Sandra was on the class colors committee in high school. (We're thinking that's like "Prom Theme Committee.")
  • Then it's onto the subject of Frank Hoenikker.
  • Turns out, the kid had a nickname in high school: Secret Agent X-9.
  • Why that nickname? Because he was always acting like he was heading to a secret place and never talked to anybody.
  • John suggests that maybe Frank did have a secret life, but both Sandra and the bartender agree that John is wrong there.