Dr. Livingstone resumes her interview with Agnes by asking how she feels about babies. Agnes responds that she does not like them and finds them frightening, expressing anxiety about their fragility and growth. She explains that she fears dropping them and associates physical injury with intellectual impairment, stating that she believes that she herself was dropped as a child and that this explains her difficulty understanding things such as numbers and the world around her.

Agnes describes moments in which reality feels unstable; she copes by speaking to God, whom she trusts and does not fear. She states that this reliance on God is why she remains in the convent and that it provides her with comfort and helps her sleep. She recounts her childhood with her mother, describing her mother’s frequent headaches and her isolation of Agnes from the world. She claims that her mother could predict the future and foresaw Agnes’s life in the convent and her current situation.

When pressed, Agnes attributes her mother’s knowledge to messages from angels. She denies seeing angels herself but admits that her mother claimed to see them during her headaches. She avoids directly criticizing her mother, stating that disagreement would lead to punishment. Agnes insists that her mother loved her and rejects any suggestion that she was unwanted.

Dr. Livingstone questions Agnes about motherhood and reproduction. Agnes maintains that she does not want a child and explains adoption in abstract terms, describing unwanted children as the result of a “mistake.” As Dr. Livingstone presses further about sex, pregnancy, and the identity of the father, Agnes becomes increasingly distressed. She denies the existence of the child and insists that everything is a mistake. When Dr. Livingstone approaches her, Agnes reacts violently, accusing her of trying to take God away and demanding that she leave.

Mother Miriam confronts Dr. Livingstone, accusing her of hostility toward nuns and the Catholic Church. Dr. Livingstone denies any prejudice but criticizes “ignorance and stupidity” generally (34). She argues that Agnes has been kept unaware of the outside world. The exchange becomes heated, with Dr. Livingstone insisting that Agnes has a right to understand life beyond the convent, including relationships, sexuality, and independence. Mother Miriam counters that Agnes is a person, not a symbol of the Church, and demands that she be treated fairly.

Mother Miriam reveals that she was once married with children, but her family has rejected her, which she attributes to the fact that she “protected [them] from nothing” (35). Her two children are now atheists, and she acknowledges her own past failures. Dr. Livingstone argues that Agnes needs exposure to reality, while Mother Miriam warns that the available outcomes—prison or a psychiatric hospital—would harm her. Dr. Livingstone proposes a third possibility: acquittal based on “legal innocence,” which requires answers about the pregnancy.

When asked about events around the time of conception, Mother Miriam recalls an incident involving Agnes’s missing sheets. She recounts questioning Agnes, who admitted to burning them because they were stained. Agnes initially attributed the stains to menstruation but then insisted that it was not her usual cycle and expressed confusion and fear about the bleeding. She believed she was being punished without understanding why.

Mother Miriam attempted to calm Agnes by singing with her until she regained composure. Reflecting on this in the present, Mother Miriam realizes that this incident likely marked the beginning of the pregnancy and explains that it was the reason Agnes destroyed the sheets. Dr. Livingstone asks for more precise information about the timing and any unusual occurrences. Mother Miriam states that she will consult her daybook to determine the details.

Dr. Livingstone recalls a riddle about a psychiatrist and a nun who discover that they share the same birthday and parents but are not twins: They are two of a set of triplets. Dr. Livingstone explains that she encountered this riddle in an old magazine and reflects on how it influenced her thinking about the case. She states that by this point in her investigation, she had come to believe that Agnes was innocent of murdering her child. She began to consider the possibility that another person caused the infant’s death. She admits, however, that she did not yet have proof or a clear understanding of who that person might have been. 

Dr. Livingstone concludes that the answer she eventually arrived at suggested the existence of a third individual connected to the situation, which reframed her understanding of the events surrounding the birth and death of the child. Her objective was twofold: to legally establish Agnes’s innocence and to help her recover psychologically. As Dr. Livingstone finishes speaking, Agnes abruptly interrupts, insisting that she is “not sick.”

Dr. Livingstone presses Agnes to confront her emotional distress. Agnes resists, insisting that her unhappiness comes from Dr. Livingstone’s questioning and that forgetting would bring relief. The conversation shifts to Agnes’s childhood; she defends her mother despite Dr. Livingstone’s skepticism. Agnes is insistent, claiming that she herself was “bad” and was responsible for what happened.

Through careful questioning, Dr. Livingstone uncovers details of severe abuse. Agnes reveals that her mother forced her into humiliating and painful situations, including making her undress, insulting her body as a “mistake,” warning her that she could become pregnant, and physically burning her genitals with a cigarette. Agnes expresses continued fear of her mother even after her death, believing that she is still being watched. Dr. Livingstone attempts to help Agnes reclaim a sense of self-worth by having her verbally reject her mother’s accusations and affirm her own value. Agnes tentatively participates, asserting that she is not ugly or stupid and that God does not make mistakes.

Dr. Livingstone then asks for permission to use hypnosis to uncover memories Agnes cannot consciously access. Agnes hesitates but agrees after Dr. Livingstone reassures her that the procedure will be safe and that she loves Agnes.

After Agnes leaves, Mother Miriam and Dr. Livingstone confront one another. It is revealed that Mother Miriam is Agnes’s aunt and that Agnes’s mother was the “proverbial black sheep” of the family (44). Mother Miriam insists that she had limited knowledge of Agnes’s troubled upbringing; she was aware of her mother’s alcohol addiction and the isolation of the child, but not the full extent of the abuse. She admits, however, that this is insufficient as an explanation. Dr. Livingstone accuses her of withholding important information, implying negligence. Their discussion broadens into a conflict over responsibility, faith, and authority, including whether Agnes should undergo hypnosis. Mother Miriam begins to suspect that Dr. Livingstone’s attitude is personal, so she asks what the Catholic Church did to her.

Dr. Livingstone explains her issues with religion. A childhood friend died in an accident, only for her classmates to be told that the little girl died “because she hadn’t said her morning prayers” (47). She hints at her animosity toward nuns and her own childhood feelings of being ugly. Agnes begins to sing. Mother Miriam speaks of her own conversations with angels and her crisis of faith, which was resolved by the sound of Agnes singing. She begs Dr. Livingstone not to take away Agnes. Dr. Livingstone explains that her sister died in a convent. They talk about smoking and their difficulty in quitting the habit. They discuss which Christian figures would smoke, leading Mother Miriam to note that there “are no saints today” (50). She still believes in miracles, though most people have lost the capacity for wonder. Instead, most people think only about sex. Mother Miriam considers Agnes’s singing a sign that Agnes is still “attached to God” (51). She agrees to allow the hypnosis to proceed.