Content Warning: This section of the guide includes discussion of death and addiction.

The Colonel comes to pick up Mo. She can’t believe that Mr. Jesse is dead after she just served him a few hours ago. The Colonel admits that it’s a shock and that although Mr. Jesse wasn’t exactly friendly, he will still be missed. 

The café hosts a karate night every week run by Mr. Li, and Mo, along with several other kids from the neighborhood, attend. At karate night, Detective Starr shows up to ask questions about Mr. Jesse. Anne-Celeste reveals that she saw a boy (Dale) pulling a boat around Mr. Jesse’s house. To try and cover for Dale, Mo suggests that maybe Mr. Jesse wasn’t murdered at all, but the detective ignores her. 

Mo notices that Skeeter, a seventh grader who wants to be a lawyer, seems to know that Dale was the boy Anne-Celeste saw and asks to speak with her the following day. Before Starr leaves, he accuses the Colonel of lying about when he bought his car. The Colonel admits that he lied and says that he doesn’t think it’s any of the detective’s business either way; the detective tells him not to leave town.