Chapter 6 Summary

After Horace's testimony, Nels cross-examines him on several points before he finally comes to the wound above Carl's ear. In response to Nels' questions about he wound, Horace explains that a thin, flat object formed the cut precisely because the cut is thin and flat. However, Horace cannot give a definite answer as to just which object it might have been, nor can he say whether the wound occurred before or after Carl died.

Meanwhile, Art Moran, who is sitting in the gallery, remembers the day of Carl's death and, as he does so, the action flashes back to September 16, 1954 when Art arrives at the Heines' house. He has come there in order to tell Susan Marie about her husband's death, but he cannot bring himself to do it at first. After all, he knows Susan Marie from church and he always appreciated...