At the trial, Beth watches Andy Morris take the witness stand, where the prosecutor refers to him formally as DS Morris. Beth reflects that Andy had once been considered a friend, but that changed after the shooting. Andy gives his oath calmly and pointedly avoids looking at the defendant in the dock.

The prosecutor begins by asking about Andy’s relationship with the Johnson family. Andy tries to minimize the connection, saying they were only acquainted in the general way villagers know one another. When pressed, Andy admits he had dealt with Jimmy Johnson repeatedly over the years because of Jimmy’s past trouble, including fights and drink driving.

The prosecutor then turns to the night of September 28. Andy states that police received a call at 9:37 p.m. reporting a shotgun accident at Blakely Farm and that the victim was already dead. As the officer on duty, Andy drove from the local station to the Johnson farm.

When the prosecutor asks what Andy thought on the way there, Andy says he did not initially suspect murder because farming accidents happen often. That answer establishes that the case did not begin with a fixed theory of deliberate killing. Instead, the suspicion developed after Andy reached the scene and assessed what he found there.

Andy tells the court that once he arrived, the facts did not seem to fit the story being given. Drawing on his twenty years of experience, Andy says he recognized the feeling that something was wrong. He ends this portion of his testimony with a decisive claim: within twenty-four hours, he knew the case was a murder investigation.