Chapter 1 Summary

It is a cold day on December 6, 1954 and Kabuo Miyamoto, a 31-year-old local fisherman, is on trial for the murder of Carl Heine Jr., another 31-year-old fisherman. Judge Llewellyn Fields is presiding over the trial, Alvin Hooks is prosecuting, and Nels Gudmundsson is the lawyer for the defense. Outside the courtroom, snowflakes are just beginning to fall on San Piedro Island.

In the courtroom, there are several out-of-town newspapermen reporting the trial and they are joined by Ishmael Chambers, a 31-year-old World War II veteran who lost an arm in the service. Ishmael is also the owner, publisher, and reporter for The San Piedro Review, the newspaper that serves the island.

San Piedro is a small island and almost everyone on the island knows everybody else. In fact, Ishmael knew Carl Heine Jr. and he knows Hatsue Miyamoto, Kabuo's wife. However, when he...