1934 Peter Pan in Chains: Finale/A Conversation Between Inmates

Synopsis
While in Alcatraz, Ladd Russo tells Firo Prochainezo about his fiancée Lua Klein's love of white jigsaw puzzles: every time Lua completes a white jigsaw puzzle, she paints a painting on the puzzle's surface and then breaks the puzzle apart while wearing a blissful, lonely smile.

Firo comments that she sounds like just the sort of woman for Ladd, then admits that "[his] girl" and her friends have a similar sort of fun: they repeatedly set up dominos with all sorts of beautiful designs, only to knock the dominos down the second they finish. At Firo's remark that he cannot understand why, Ladd opines that it is similar to life; life is enjoyable because people know that death will eventually come for them. Only—many people are not aware of their impending deaths, and it is in lecturing such people that Ladd himself feels incredibly alive.

Ladd further says that life is a jigsaw puzzle as far as Lua is concerned, and is about to explain what he will do to her once she "gets all her pieces together" when he cuts himself off. He then apologies for being 'sappy', a word choice which Firo questions.

Trivia

 * The puzzle metaphor used here and in other color inserts is invoked by the novel's color and chapter illustrations.

Quotes

 * "Hey, it's just like life. Even if you know you're gonna die, living's way too much fun. That's what makes it so enjoyable: knowing death's on its way... But too many people don't know that. Just thinking of the instant I lecture fellas like that on life is enough to make me feel so alive, I can hardly stand it." —Ladd