All the Sinners Bleed

Scott Cunningham calls Titus and asks him to have some police officers attend a vigil for Mr. Spearman. Titus does not plan to go. Titus goes to Gilby’s café to pick up dinner and encounters Cole Marshall and Royce Lazare, who thank him for killing Latrell. Titus detects that implicit racism is at play and exits the conversation.

Titus returns home with food to find that his father and Darlene have already eaten Chinese takeout. Titus’s father runs a church garden with a man named Gene, and they donate vegetables to people around town. Darlene has always worried for Titus’s safety at his job, but now she is even more worried. Word has gotten out that Mr. Spearman wasn’t exactly an upstanding citizen, but some people still attended the vigil for him because they either haven’t heard the truth or don’t believe it.

In the morning, Darlene leaves early to take her mother to an appointment and then open her flower shop. Titus’s brother, Marquis, texts to check on Titus but turns down Titus’s invitation to come over. He always does this even though he lives close by. The narrative provides information on two other police officers on Titus’s force: Trey, the first Black investigator, who is now tasked with looking into the shooting of Latrell; and Pip, who used to be in the Peace Corps and is calm compared to the other officers.