Chapter 13 Summary

Sophie wakes up early in the morning. She feels awful, and drinks some whiskey. She then views a book Otto had left open from late night reading. She notices that he had underlined a passage "To vindicate the law" and is annoyed. She recalls the order and structure her mother had placed on her in the form of blessings, encouragement and chipper advice.

Otto wakes up and notices that her hand is better. He insists the ASPCA won't call to tell her about the cat. She asks about the passage, about what has to be vindicated. He says the law will never be vindicated and she mentions that the law was 'vindicated' when children were hung in the book he was reading. She wonders whether he could have hung the children, which she analogizes this to the cat. Would he have killed the...