At dusk, Frank comes into the kitchen while Beth is still reeling from the fallout of the affair and expecting the painful conversation about whether their marriage can survive. Beth has spent the day unable to do any household work, imagining that she and Frank must finally decide whether to try to rebuild their life together or let each other go.

Instead, Frank asks whether Jimmy has come home. Frank explains that Jimmy is missing and that he last saw him that morning at the dairy, still drunk, still angry, and making reckless threats. As Frank speaks, Beth realizes that Frank is not focused on their marriage but on a more urgent danger.

Frank admits that Jimmy seemed worse than usual, as if something inside him had broken, and he questions whether he has failed to see how unwell Jimmy really is. Then Frank reveals that one of the shotguns is missing. Because Jimmy was in no state to go hunting, Frank fears Jimmy has taken the gun for another purpose.

Frank says he is afraid Jimmy will go to Meadowlands and try to harm Gabriel after the things Jimmy said earlier. Beth immediately urges Frank to call the police, but Frank stops her and refuses, arguing that reporting Jimmy as drunk, armed, and dangerous would expose the affair and its humiliating context. Frank’s cold look makes Beth feel that, in his mind, their marriage is already finished. Frank tells Beth to telephone Gabriel and warn him, while Frank goes out to search for Jimmy himself.