Six of Crows: Chapter 23: Jesper Summary & Analysis

Jesper and Wylan sit anxiously on a bench, Matthias and Kaz across the cell from them. Jesper thinks of his father and wonders why Kaz is so worked up, but then Wylan starts hissing that the plan won’t work: Jesper is useless without his guns and Kaz doesn’t have his lockpicks. Jesper tries to get Wylan to say why he left home, but Wylan says only that Van Eck used to take him everywhere. Finally, the Elderclock chimes and a guard brings a bucket of water and asks for the piss bucket so he can empty it. The prisoners shrug, so the guard leaves. Jesper procures a pill that Nina sewed under the skin of his ankle and gives the signal for the crew to cover their faces. He puts the pill in the piss bucket, which creates a green gas and knocks out the other prisoners.

Jesper then begins working on the bars—he’s secretly a Fabrikator, though he’s barely trained. He creates two new lockpicks for Kaz, and Kaz explains that he gave up his picks earlier so the guards wouldn’t suspect Jesper or Matthias. Once the crew is out of the cell, they split up. Jesper and Matthias go to find rope, and Wylan and Kaz go to free Inej and Nina. Jesper shudders when he passes the enslaved Grisha woman at the prison entrance, collects rope, and he follows Matthias down to the basement. Wylan and Inej are already there—and the incinerator is hot, as though it ran recently. Jesper opens the doors and tosses a shirt down, and the shirt burns up before it hits the coals. They can’t take explosives in there, and Inej is uncertain if she can climb it.

To make matters worse, for some reason, Kaz has gone with Nina to search the cells instead of Jesper and Matthias. But then, Wylan finds Inej’s leather slippers in a bin of clothing, and Inej smiles. With them, she says she can climb the incinerator.