After confessing, Katie runs back to the farm during milking time. Seeing Samuel in the barn, she vomits by the side of the building and flees to the pond. Ellie confronts her there, and Katie says she wants to confess to the jury. Ellie refuses, warning that Katie will face years in prison. Katie insists she must confess, comparing it to the Amish confession process. Ellie tells Katie she will write a disclaimer advising against testifying and walks away.

That night, Ellie tells Coop about Katie’s confession while folding quilts. Coop theorizes Katie is lying to be punished “psychologically,” but Ellie insists Katie meant it. Frustrated and angry, she moves to sleep on the couch rather than share a room with Katie.

On the porch, Katie waits for Adam, but Samuel finds her and tells her Adam went to Philadelphia but will be back for the trial. Samuel takes Katie for a walk to an apple orchard, where he reveals that Mary Esch is marrying someone else and asks Katie to wait for him and marry him someday. Katie promises to think about it.

The next morning, Ellie presents Judge Ledbetter with the signed disclaimer. On the witness stand, Katie feels paralyzed by the crowd’s stares. Ellie begins gently, having Katie describe the Amish process of confession and forgiveness after being accused of sin. Katie testifies that her community did not accuse her of murder. She recounts what she remembers of the birth, including holding her beautiful baby before falling asleep. When she woke, the baby was gone. Ellie ends her direct examination without asking Katie if she killed the baby.

On cross-examination, George immediately asks what happened to the baby. Katie confesses that she killed him. When George asks how she did it, Katie refuses to answer. At a sidebar, Ellie instructs Katie on how to invoke the Fifth Amendment. George resumes his cross-examination, portraying Katie as a habitual liar and badgering the weeping witness until the judge calls a recess.

In a conference room, Ellie angrily confronts Katie. Katie reveals she is afraid she still has the listeria infection and might pass it to future babies. Ellie suddenly realizes the true meaning of Katie’s confession: Katie believes she killed the baby by passing on the infection, not by intentionally harming him.

On redirect, Ellie has Katie clarify her confession. Katie states she believes she killed the baby by transmitting listeriosis. Ellie establishes that in Amish culture, one confesses when accused to receive forgiveness, even if not strictly guilty. Katie states she confessed because the baby is dead because of her and she wants to be forgiven. Ellie whispers to Katie that she will forgive Katie, if Katie forgives Ellie in return. On recross, George gets Katie to admit that since she does not remember what happened after falling asleep, she cannot be certain she did not smother the baby. The defense rests.

In her closing argument, Ellie emphasizes reasonable doubt and Katie’s lack of criminal intent. George focuses on the physical evidence, Katie’s history of deception, her motive, and her confession. After court, both lawyers tell reporters they will win, but Ellie privately admits to Coop she does not know what will happen.

A full day after closing arguments, the jury is still deliberating. Ellie has George’s beeper to be notified of a verdict. Twenty-eight hours later, Ellie and Katie are washing windows for Annie King, a neighbor with a broken hip. Ellie admits her anxiety, but Katie says worrying will not help. While using the bathroom, Ellie discovers she is bleeding and cramping.

Sarah drives them to the community hospital in her buggy. In the emergency room, a doctor tells Ellie she might be having an ectopic pregnancy or a miscarriage and orders an ultrasound. Coop arrives as they see the baby’s heartbeat on the ultrasound screen. The doctor explains that while the heartbeat is a positive sign, the heavy bleeding is a bad sign. He sends Ellie home on bed rest with instructions to return if the bleeding worsens.

Coop wants to take Ellie to his apartment, but Sarah insists they stay at the farm so she can watch over her. Sarah comforts Ellie, sharing that she lost three babies between Katie and Hannah and telling her she will get through it but never get over it. Later, Coop sits with Ellie and proposes marriage, telling her that the fear of losing her is far greater than the fear of losing the baby. Ellie accepts. Coop then helps her to the bathroom, where she is happy to discover the bleeding has stopped.

Five days into deliberations, George is stressed. At lunch, Lizzie Munro tells him the jury requested transcripts of the psychiatrists’ testimony and that Ellie was hospitalized for pregnancy complications. At the farm, Katie helps Ellie take a short walk to the pond. Katie sees a vision of her sister, Hannah, holding her baby and begs Ellie not to let them send her away.

Jacob returns to the farm during milking time. After a tense silence, he begins helping with the chores. His father, Aaron, wordlessly accepts his help.

George visits Ellie at the farm and offers a plea bargain. After negotiation, they agree on a nolo contendere plea for a capped sentence of two-and-a-half to five years, pending Katie’s approval.

At the courthouse, Adam says a final goodbye to Katie, telling her he is returning to Scotland. In Judge Ledbetter’s chambers, George and Ellie present their plea agreement. Ellie argues Katie should not serve jail time and suggests electronic monitoring instead. Judge Ledbetter agrees, sentencing Katie to one year of electronic monitoring at home. The jury is dismissed. A plastic monitoring cuff is placed on Katie’s ankle.

Outside the courthouse, Katie expresses sadness that she will never know exactly how her baby died. Ellie tells her that “know[ing] how he didn’t die […] may have to be enough” (401).

Ellie packs her belongings, reflecting on what she has accumulated during her time with the Fishers, both physical items and spiritual growth. Sarah comes to say goodbye, admitting she did not want Ellie to stay at first but has learned from her and is grateful she kept Katie with her. Sarah tells Ellie that a mother would do anything to save her child.

Sarah gives Ellie a parting gift: the heavy, silver scissors used to cut the baby’s umbilical cord, still tied with blood-stiffened twine. Sarah confesses that she was the one who made the baby disappear. She explains that she feared Aaron would disown Katie as he had Jacob, so she intervened after Katie fell asleep to ensure Katie would not be sent away. She admits she chose to save her daughter even though it nearly cost Katie everything.

Coop arrives to pick up Ellie. As an attorney “bound by the law” (405) to report the crime, Ellie processes Sarah’s confession. Sarah asks Ellie to bring her new baby back to visit someday. Ellie chooses to keep the secret, embraces Sarah, and hurries outside to leave with Coop.