Outside Pollard’s Tavern, Martha Ballard tells James Wall that she must run an errand and asks him to keep watch on Dr. Benjamin Page because she does not trust him. As Martha leaves, she reflects on the practical problem Joshua Burgess’s murder has created: the frozen ground prevents burial, so the townsmen must wrap the body and store it in the shed behind the tavern. Martha also notes that Chandler Robbins, drunk, had suggested cutting a hole in the ice and throwing Burgess back into the river, though no one took him seriously.

Martha crosses the street to Coleman’s General, intending to seek something only Samuel Coleman can provide. Before entering, she overhears two trappers complaining about the price paid for their furs and discussing a silver fox seen near the mill owned by Martha and her husband, Ephraim. Their casual assumption that they can kill game on Ballard property unsettles Martha, and inside the shop she notices a stack of pelts that deepens her unease.

In the store, Martha finds Samuel Coleman alone, playing chess against himself. Their conversation begins lightly with news of Betsy Clark’s newborn daughter, but Martha soon tells him that the dead man is Joshua Burgess. Coleman is unsurprised, explaining that much of Hallowell has already heard. The exchange reinforces Coleman’s place as the town’s central listener and collector of news, someone Martha relies on for information.

Martha asks whether the town is naming a killer. Coleman says he has not yet heard a specific accusation, but he immediately names Isaac Foster, Joseph North, and many others as men who had reason to hate Burgess. After reminding Coleman of their informal arrangement to trade information, Martha says she will return in a few days, then asks the question that brought her there most urgently: what Coleman knows about the new doctor, Benjamin Page.