Zachary Solomon is murdered in a Turkish prison

Zachary Solomon is murdered in a Turkish prison as part of a scheme devised by Inmate 37 and the prison administrator, turning Peter Solomon’s principled refusal to secure his son’s release with money into the opening for a calculated theft. Reported to the family as a brutal killing followed by the theft of Zachary’s fortune, the death also provides Inmate 37 with the money and freedom to begin a new life under another name.

Causes and Background

The episode is presented as a flashback to the night that began the chain of events behind Inmate 37’s later identity. He is imprisoned at Soganlik Prison near Istanbul, where most inmates, including him, are held on drug-related charges. The prison administrator controls access and the prospect of release, and treats the prison’s rules as leverage: he tells Peter Solomon that Zachary cannot receive visitors during his first month, then offers to hasten the process in exchange for a payment.

Peter has come to ask about his son’s safety and treatment. When the administrator proposes using money and government connections to secure Zachary’s release and clear his charges, Peter refuses. He does not want to teach his son that wealth removes accountability, particularly in a serious matter. Peter instead insists on speaking with Zachary and says the State Department will contact the prison about extradition. He expects his son to be sent home within the week, but leaves without seeing him. His decision is rooted in a lesson about responsibility; in the prison’s corrupt economy, however, it also tells Inmate 37 that Peter will not pay to rescue Zachary.

The Conspiracy and Murder

Inmate 37 hears the exchange from his cell, through the ventilation shaft. The conversation gives him a way to turn the administrator’s demand for money into a plan of his own. The following day, he approaches the administrator privately with a proposal: Zachary will be killed, the two conspirators will disappear, and the administrator will have enough money to retire to the Greek Islands. They agree to the scheme, which promises Inmate 37 access to Zachary’s substantial fortune as well as an escape from prison.

Two days later, the Solomon family receives news from the State Department that Zachary has been killed. The account presented to them is that he was attacked in his cell and that the prison administrator is the prime suspect. Zachary had signed documents transferring his wealth to a private numbered account; after his death, the account is emptied, and the money’s whereabouts appear unknown. The family is thus given both a death and an apparent explanation for the disappearance of the fortune, while the conspiracy behind those events remains concealed from them.

The False Trail and Its Cost

The murder does not result in the administrator’s arrest. He disappears, and the family has no way to recover the money or learn what became of him. Peter flies to Turkey on a private jet and returns with Zachary’s casket. The family buries their son in the Solomon family cemetery, treating the prison report as the end of the story. Inmate 37, however, knows that the administrator has also vanished permanently: his body lies at the bottom of the Sea of Marmara. The alleged prime suspect has therefore not escaped with the fortune; the arrangement has served as cover for Inmate 37 to take the money and eliminate his accomplice.

This outcome sharpens the contrast between Peter’s refusal and Inmate 37’s calculation. Peter will not use his wealth to exempt his son from legal consequences, while Inmate 37 treats wealth as the instrument that can purchase escape, a new identity, and a future beyond the prison. The refusal does not cause Zachary’s death in any direct sense; the evidence instead shows Inmate 37 exploiting the circumstances created by it. The administrator’s offer, Peter’s answer, and Inmate 37’s response form a chain in which a moral choice is turned into an opportunity by men prepared to commit murder.

Consequences and Significance

The stolen fortune makes Inmate 37 free again and enables him to construct a new life. He later uses money to obtain identities and passports, choosing the Greek name Andros Dareios. Zachary’s reported death therefore conceals not only a conspiracy but the beginning of Inmate 37’s reinvention. For the Solomon family, the burial confirms a loss; for the conspirator, the same event becomes the means of escape.

As a turning point in the larger account, the episode reveals how Inmate 37’s later wealth and assumed identity originate in Zachary’s murder and the transfer of his fortune. The prison administrator’s corruption first seems to explain the crime, but the fuller account reverses that understanding: he was Inmate 37’s partner in the scheme and then its final victim. The family’s acceptance of the prison’s account leaves the truth hidden, while the concealed history supplies the motive and resources for the life Inmate 37 builds afterward.