Summary

Cat goes to her appointment with the Whitman scholar at New York University. The scholar’s name is Rita Dunn. Rita stresses the value that Whitman placed on what he saw as intrinsic beauty of all life, including its goodness, its malevolent elements, and its transitory aspects. Rita says, “Whitman empathized with everyone. In Whitman there are no insignificant lives” (146). As the investigation into Dick Harte’s death continues, there is still no apparent connection between him and the bomber. Cat is then informed about another bombing that just occurred that was identical to the first one. Cat thinks that the bomber was probably the boy from the phone calls. Cat finds herself hoping that there is some pattern or motivation behind the attacks and that they are not simply random. While walking down the street, Cat notices a beautiful...