At the Court of Common Pleas in Hallowell, Cyrus Ballard stands before Judges Obadiah Wood, James Parker, and John Hubbard to answer the murder charge in Joshua Burgess’s death. Judge Joseph North is absent and has been automatically removed from the hearing. Cyrus pleads not guilty, and Martha watches uneasily as the court focuses on the fight Cyrus had with Burgess during November’s Frolic.

When the judges ask why Cyrus fought Burgess, Seth Parker reads Cyrus’s written answer: Burgess put his hands on Hannah Ballard, and Cyrus defended her. Hannah then testifies that Burgess repeatedly asked her to dance, became angry when she refused, grabbed and dragged her onto the floor, and bruised her arm. She says Cyrus intervened almost immediately, and that Cyrus, Jonathan Ballard, and Sam Dawin threw Burgess into the snow.

The judges then press for proof of what happened afterward. Jonathan and Sam confirm Hannah’s account, and Hannah states that Cyrus stayed inside for the rest of the night and later escorted his sisters home. Jonathan adds that he and Sam left to deliver lumber, were trapped at Bumberhook Point when the river froze, and were the ones who later found Burgess’s body. Martha confirms that her children returned home shortly before she was called out to deliver a baby.

Judge Hubbard continues probing the gap between two and five in the morning, hoping to show that Cyrus could have slipped out and killed Burgess. Young Ephraim Ballard bravely testifies that Cyrus was in their shared bed when the household was awakened at five after Sam Dawin fell through the ice. Seth Parker then argues that the court has produced no evidence linking Cyrus to the murder and is applying an unfair standard compared with the Foster case. After deliberating, the judges release Cyrus from jail but leave the murder charge pending, giving the Ballards relief without true resolution.