Dantes is searching for his love, Mercedes, and the men who betrayed him. He is dressed in a priest’s black frock and is pretending to be Italian. The first person he finds is Caderousse, the tailor who used to live in the same building as Dante’s father. Caderousse played a minor part in Dantes’s imprisonment.

Caderousse is not longer a tailor. Now he runs an inn that is in poor shape because it is not doing much business. He is married, and his wife is ill. He does not recognize Dantes but treats him respectfully because Dantes rides a fine horse and buys a bottle of Caderousse’s most expensive wine.

In the course of their conversation, the priest asks if Caderousse knows Edmund Dantes. Caderousse said he once did, but alas, the boy was sent to prison. The priest tells Caderousse that Edmund Dantes died in prison. At this news, Caderousse is sincerely affected. He is sad that the boy had to die that way. The priest says that Dantes’s last wish was for the priest to distribute an inheritance the youth received right before he died. The riches are in the form of a diamond ring, which is worth 50,000 francs. Once the ring is sold, the money is to be distributed among the people Dantes most cherished: his father, Mercedes, Danglars, Fernand, and Caderousse.

Caderousse tells the priest that Dantes’s father is dead. When the priest inquires how the old man died, Caderousse says he starved to death. Though Dantes controls his emotions at this news, he is very angry that any man should die from hunger. Caderousse says that Mercedes and the boat owner, Morrel, often visited Dantes’s father and offered him assistance. The old man, however, refused all aid. Then, against his wife’s advice, Caderousse says that he has a story to tell the priest.

Caderousse tells the story of how Fernand and Danglars set up Dantes by writing and then delivering the letter that accused Dantes of betraying the king. When Dantes asks about Morrel, Caderousse says Morrel paid for the burial of Dantes’s father, but now Morrel is very poor. He has lost all but the Pharaon (the ship Dantes was to have captained).

Next, Caderousse speaks of Danglars, who went to Spain and eventually made a fortune as a banker. He is now a millionaire and a baron. When Dantes asks about Fernand, Caderousse explains that Fernand, too, is very rich, though he does not know how Fernand made his money. When Fernand returned from Greece, where he had served in the army, he persuaded Mercedes to marry him after she had waited for a year and a half to hear news of Dantes. Fernand and Mercedes have a son and live in Paris.

Before Dantes leaves, he gives Caderousse the diamond ring and tells him it is all for him. The others have all betrayed Dantes.

Dantes next appears as an Englishman and seeks out the mayor of Marseilles to ask him about the worthiness of Morrel. The mayor states that Morrel is in debt to him, and he fears he may never see the loan repaid. Morrel has lost many ships and his last one is late returning home. This is all the mayor can tell the Englishman, who says he represents an investment firm. The mayor refers him to the inspector of prisons, to whom Morrel owes an even greater amount of money. While visiting the inspector, Dantes tells him that his company is willing to take over Morrel’s debt. The inspector is very pleased and gives Dantes permission to examine the prison register when Dantes requests it.

Dantes reads the records pertaining to both himself and Abbey Faria. Before he leaves, Dantes secretly takes the letter Danglars had written long ago, which incriminated Dantes as a spy for Napoleon. Dantes also notes the order written by Villefort that was to lead to his imprisonment in solitary confinement for the rest of his life.

Maintaining his disguise as an Englishman, Dantes enters Morrel’s offices. There are only two men at the offices: Emmanuel, a young man who is in love with Morrel’s daughter, Julie; and Cocles, Morrel’s bookkeeper. Cocles takes Dantes to Morrel, where Dantes shows his former boss that he has collected all his outstanding bills. Dantes asks how Morrel plans to pay them. Morrel says it all depends on the arrival of his last ship. While discussing his debts, Julie bursts into the office in tears. The Pharaon has capsized. The surviving sailors enter the office. Penelon, one of the sailors, tells the story of a great storm and the ship’s demise.

Morrel pays the sailors a mere fraction of what he owes them; the sailors tell him that they have agreed to no more. Morrel dismisses his men and tells them to find new employment. After the men leave, Dantes sets up a deal with Morrel, telling him he will give Morrel three months to settle his bills.

As Dantes leaves, he meets Julie, who has been waiting for him. Dantes tells her that she will receive a letter from Sinbad the Sailor. She promises to do what the letter dictates. Then Dantes finds Penelon and tells him they must talk.