During the court's recess, Ishmael sits thinking about Carl's death. When he called Horace Whaley, the coroner, the morning Carl was found, Horace had told him, "The man had survived Okinawa. Carl Heine, it was unbelievable." Chapter 4, page 30 Ishmael, like everyone else in town, is shocked at the tragedy. He remembers his own history: after the War he returned cynical and alienated, his arm amputated at the age of twenty-three. Other people stared at his empty sleeve, and "Since they could not forget about it, neither could he." Chapter 4, page 31He had gone to Seattle to study history, his attachment to San Piedro not as strong as that of many locals. Finally, however, he decides that books will not make him money, so he goes back to San Piedro to work for his father's press as a journalist. Arthur CHambers loved the newspaper he had started years ago, and took no vacations for years.
Ishmael was raised in the press, hearing stories of how if he caught his sleeve in the printer, he would be crushed into smithereens. Arthur was morally strict and Ishmael admired him. Arthur was also cynical, and Ishmael's mother points out that he inherits this from his father. "He loved humankind dearly and with all his heart, but he disliked most human beings" Chapter 4, page 36 she says about her husband.
Ishmael attempts to get some information from other fishermen about Carl Heine's death, feeling awkward. He is an intellectual, unlike the fishermen, but he feels that his war years lend him status in their eyes. Art Moran chats with Ishmael awhile, asking him not to write anything about an investigation--Art has been noticing some funny things about the case, but he doesn't want to go public.
