Chapter 19 Summary

The gossip around the dinner tables in Jefferson that night centers on Christmas' escape, and why he chose to take refuge in Hightower's house. Some think it was pure chance, others say it was a smart move, because no one would have suspected he was there had he not been seen sneaking across the back yard to the kitchen door. The District Attorney, Gavin Stevens, has another theory. Stevens had run into an old Harvard friend at the train station, while escorting Mr. and Mrs. Hines to their train. Stevens assures Mrs. Hines that Christmas' body will be shipped to them in the morning, and then rides back to town with his old friend and tells him the story. Stevens' theory is that the grandmother had convinced Christmas to seek sanctuary at Hightower's, hoping somehow to save him.

Stevens thinks the birth of...