Chapter Six, Preemptive Absolution Summary

Fra Pavel, a member of one of the church's religious orders and a witness to the torturing of the witch on the boat, tells the Inquirer of the Consistorial Court of Discipline everything he knows. He knows that the knife can kill angels, that Lyra is the new Eve, that there are other worlds, and that Mrs. Coulter does not know that her daughter is Eve. Fra Pavel is frightened because he is saying things to one branch of the Church that another branch might not like. He is also able to read the alethiometer.

The Inquirer dismisses him and the nuns who have been taking dictation during the meeting, and discusses Mrs. Coulter and her work at Bolvangar and as head of the Oblation Boards. The Oblation Board wants to discover exactly what Dust does; the...