- When she leaves, Gustave orders an adolescent Indian boy with a drawn-on mustache to go light a candle at the elderly lady's request, before suddenly calling him back because he's never seen him before.
- The boy's name is Zero, meaning we've found our current narrator, Mr. Mustafa. Mr. Mosher, another hotel employee who appears out of an upper window like a cuckoo clock, says Zero was hired for a trial period pending Gustave's approval.
- Thus the interview process begins. Gustave throws any sort of menial experience and education Zero has out the window, and we also learn that Zero doesn't have any family.