At the initiation of the chapter, Mr. Tate announces to the family that Bob Ewell is dead. This causes Aunt Alexandra great distress as she decides to leave and go to the living room. Mr. Tate confidently lets the family know there will be no more trouble, and that the children will not be harmed. Atticus is distressed and "showing his age"(Lee 306). Mr. Tate then begins the process of questioning scout on all that she had witnessed. (Lee 306-307
"He won't hurt these children again" (Lee306).
Scout desperately runs to the comfort of Atticus, and begins to tell the story of the night. Starting with her losing her shoes, Scout recalls everything that occurred within the evening. Startled at Scout bluntly stating she was a ham, the remains of the costume was brought to Mr. Tate. Mr. Tate came to understand that the puncture wounds on Mr. Ewell, was from the costume. "A shiny clean line stood out on the dull wire" (Lee308) which indicated that Bob Ewell was in fact trying to murder Scout. Eventually, Scout recalls the man who carried Jem into the house, who was presently leaning against Jem's wall. (Lee 308-309).
"Mr. Ewell was tryin' to strangle me to death,I reckon... Then somebody yanked Mr. Ewell down" (Lee 309).
"This thing probably saved her life," (Lee 308).
In a beautiful realization, Scout comes to realize the person who carried Jam home is the mysterious person of Boo Radley. The same man they had fantasied over for years, was suddenly real and standing inside her house. With a "timid smile" (Lee 310) he smiled at her. (Lee 309-310)