We Begin at the End

With their mother dead, Duchess and Robin are sent to Montana to live with their grandfather, Hal. Walk agrees to drive them because Robin is terrified of flying. The trip is long. Duchess asks about Vincent and his mother’s murder, hoping the state will execute him. When they arrive at Copper Falls, where Hal’s ranch is, Duchess admits she does not like her grandfather. He made no effort to contact them for years.

Hal is cordial when they arrive. Walk assures him that Vincent is under arrest but that he is certain Vincent is innocent. Hal objects, “Vincent King is the cancer of my family” (98). When Walk cautions Hal that Darke is looking for Duchess, Hal assures him she is safe here.

Duchess resists her grandfather’s hospitality. She will not even eat. Hal, however, bonds with Robin, who delights in the ranch’s animals.

Meanwhile, Walk returns to Cape Haven. Neighbors have told police there was some sort of argument right before the shots, but they have not located the gun. On slender evidence—Vincent and Darke argued two nights before the shooting—the police charge Vincent with capital murder. Vincent refuses to speak. Walk does not buy the theory that Vincent killed his ex-girlfriend in a jealous rage.