Bertuccio continues to recount the night he spent in hiding at Caderousse’s inn. Bertuccio had overheard Caderousse insinuate that some harm might come to the jeweler who had just handed over a large sum of money to Caderousse in payment for the gem the count gave Caderousse earlier.

Bertuccio feels suspicious of what might happen next, and his concern is aroused when he hears gunshots, moans, and the thudding sounds of someone falling down a flight of stairs. When he sees Caderousse leave the inn, Bertuccio goes inside and finds Caderousse’s wife dead on the stairs. Bertuccio ventures up the stairs, where he discovers the jeweler who is in the throes of death in the bedroom.

Bertuccio runs outside and encounters the police, whom he directs to the house to find the murder victims. But the police do not believe Bertuccio’s story and arrest him for the murders. Once in prison, Bertuccio learns that a priest by the name of Abbey Busoni gave the jewel to Caderousse. He asks to see the abbey, who in fact is Dantes in disguise. Bertuccio tells his story, and Abbey Busoni (Dantes) believes him and gains his release. Before leaving the prison, the abbey tells Bertuccio that he should seek out the Count of Monte Cristo should he need a job. Caderousse, in the meantime, is found and arrested for the two murders.

Once released from jail, Bertuccio goes to his sister-in-law’s house to find that she has been murdered (set afire) by robbers. The group of thieves included Benedetto, the child his sister-in-law had been raising, presumably the illegitimate son of Villefort and his mistress. Bertuccio tells the count that he has not seen Benedetto since that time. The count reflects on the story and says he is sure that Benedetto will once again come into Bertuccio’s life.

The count then returns home, where his servants are preparing for the arrival of the Greek slave the count has bought, a woman called Haydee.

Danglars pays a visit to the count’s house in Paris. Although he is home, the count gives his servants the order that he does not want to be disturbed. This rebuttal increases Danglars’s curiosity about the count, whom he has not yet met. Before Danglars leaves, the count comments to his servants about the beauty of Danglars’s horses and orders his servants to buy the horses at whatever price they can obtain them.

By the time the count goes to visit Danglars, those same horses are pulling his carriage. While at Danglars’s, the count discusses an unlimited line of credit for which he is applying through Danglars’s bank. Danglars questions the count’s financial accountability, but the count dazzles Danglars so much with stories of his wealth that Danglars agrees to loan large sums of money to the count without any further questions. Before the count leaves, he asks to see Danglars’s wife.

Upon meeting Madame Danglars, the count manipulates the situation so the conversation eventually includes the horses the count has recently bought from Danglars. These horses belonged to Madame Danglars, and when a maid informs her that the horses are not in the stable, she questions her husband about their disappearance. Danglars confides in her, telling her he sold them to some fool who paid 15,000 francs for them—twice what they were worth. Then Madame Danglars looks out the window and sees her horses attached to the count’s carriage. The count, feigning ignorance, claims he bought the horses for 30,000 francs but did not know they belonged to Danglars’s wife.

Madame Danglars is furious with her husband, and the count leaves them alone. Upon returning home, the count sends one of his servants to the Danglars’s home with the horses. The horses are each decorated with a large diamond. A note accompanies the horses in which the count graciously bestows the horses to their previous owner, Madame Danglars.

Villefort’s wife had arranged to borrow the carriage and horses of Madame Danglars the next day (as the count knows). The count puts a scheme in place through which the horses are spooked and race wildly through town with Madame Villefort in the carriage. One of the count’s servants is waiting for the carriage and stops the horses, thus saving Madame Villefort’s life. Madame Villefort later tells her story to her husband, who proceeds to meet the count to thank him.

Villefort has become even more arrogant and condescending than he was when Dantes met him in his youth. Married for the second time and one of the most politically powerful men in Paris, Villefort is stunned that the count has the audacity as well as the intelligence to match him in a conversation. The two men become engaged in a philosophical discussion about justice. Villefort uses his father, Noirtier, who once was a Bonapartist, as an example to prove that when a man does something wrong, even if he is not punished by law, nature ensures that he suffers. Villefort’s father has suffered from a stroke and no longer can care for himself. Thus Noirtier is being punished for his evil political actions. Villefort leaves the count’s house believing that the count is either crazy or an amazing mystic.

The count visits Haydee, a female Greek slave who has recently arrived in Paris. She is set up in the count’s home with servants of her own. She appears to be in love with the count. The count tells her she is free to leave him now that she is in France. She swears that she will never do that. The count tells her he is too old for her, but she is undeterred.

It is unclear what kind of relationship the count has with this woman. He seems to think of Haydee as a daughter, but Haydee tells him that her feelings for him are not the same as her feelings for her father.

The count leaves for an evening visit with the Morrels.