The suspects are put into custody in the police station. Pilon sits at his desk and reviews the case file. He notes that Solibo’s official name is thought to be Prosper Bajole. It is believed that he was born sometime in the 1920s in Sainte-Marie. However, he lacks any official documentation. Pilon makes notes on the statements and photographs found in the case file.

Pilon brings the “word scratcher” Patrick Chamoiseau in for questioning. Patrick asserts that he did not see Solibo eat or drink anything. Next, Pilon interviews the “Syrian” shopkeeper Zozor Alcide-Victor. Zozor tells the inspectors that he met Solibo during a street fight. Two drunks were threatening Zozor when Solibo intervened. Zozor was impressed by how Solibo calmed the situation. He tells the inspectors he thinks Solibo died of cardiac arrest. They bring a “coolie” [East Indian] named Didon in for questioning. He is so nervous that he defecates on himself. They haul him away to clean him up.

Next, Pilon brings in Conchita, a supposedly Latina sex worker. When questioned, she says that Solibo was known for availing himself of sex workers’ services. She says she saw Solibo eat some candied grapefruit that he bought from Doudou-Ménar; he also drank some rum. Bouaffesse is convinced that the grapefruit was poisoned, so he goes back to the crime scene and fishes a piece of candied grapefruit out of the trash for testing.

Then, Pilon and Bouaffesse question Didon again. Didon tells the inspectors that Solibo was a charcoal-seller. Solibo made his own charcoal on Ma Cyanise’s land. Ma Cyanise was a “mulatto and common-law wife of two or three békés [white men]” (122). She was a racist, but she allowed Solibo to work on her land even though he was dark-skinned because Solibo’s mother convinced her to allow him to do so. Solibo sold the charcoal at the market. Now, Didon begins to wax lyrical about the idea that Solibo was like charcoal, but the inspectors lose interest.

Pilon continues to question the other suspects.

1: Pierre Philomène Soleil, or Pipi

Pipi tells the inspectors that Solibo did not have any enemies. He tells the inspectors they should be asking “Who is Solibo? […] And why Magnificent?” (127) rather than looking for a murderer. He says no one gave Solibo anything to eat or drink. He signed his statement with two X’s.

2: Bête-Longue

Bête-Longue tells the inspectors that Solibo had not sold charcoal during Carnival and that he had not seen Solibo earlier in the day. He says he often observed Solibo standing next to his charcoal ovens in the woods, talking to himself. Recently, Solibo seemed downcast and sad. Bête-Longue was happy to see Solibo speaking under the tamarind tree that day, “blowing words into the wind” (129). He insists that no one would have killed a storyteller.

3: Sosthène Versailles, or Ti-Cal

Ti-Cal describes himself as an “änticolonialist militant.” He says that Solibo himself was also an anticolonial resister, even though Solibo was not overtly political. Ti-Cal notes that Solibo had been less of a storyteller recently.

4: Charles Gros-Liberté, or Charlo’

Charlo’ says he cannot account for Solibo’s movements earlier in the day. He explains that Solibo was unpredictable: he had no routine and was never at the same place at the same time from day to day. He says that on most days, Solibo would go to the bar at Chez Chinotte, but he could not always be seen there. Charlo’ says it was pointless to try to look for Solibo. Charlo’ confirms that Solibo ate a piece of candied grapefruit from Doudou-Ménar.

5: Edouard Zaboca, or La Fièvre

La Fièvre’s testimony is largely incomprehensible to the inspectors. He speaks in solipsistic, lyrical meandering comments such as, “You can run into the wind which comes from the horizon, but never into the horizon” (133). Bouaffesse proposes that he beat La Fièvre to get him to talk, but Pilon does not allow it.

6: Antoinette Maria-Jésus Sidonise

Sidonise, the sherbet seller, tells the inspectors that earlier that day, she made sharkstew with Solibo and that he left her house around two. When the inspectors ask if she poisoned Solibo, she grows so upset that she faints. Pilon tells Bouaffesse to keep her in an office, away from the other suspects.

The other suspects grow worried when Sidonise does not return to their holding cell. They assume that the police have killed her.

7: Richard Cœurillon

Cœurillon cries throughout his interview. He tells the inspectors he did not know Solibo well, but he does not think that Solibo had any enemies. He tells the inspectors that Solibo had a knack for avoiding people who wanted to kill him. He compares Solibo to the maroon “blackmen” (enslaved people who have self-emancipated), as they could survive and hide in the forests. He confirms that Solibo drank rum and ate grapefruit while under the tamarind tree.

Night approaches. Pilon and Bouaffesse consider what they have learned. Pilon tells Bouaffesse his theory. He thinks that one of Solibo’s enemies decided to kill Solibo with poison that they obtained from “the old quimboiseur,” Congo. They poisoned both the sharkstew and the candied grapefruit, then lured Solibo to the tamarind tree by having Sucette play the drum for him. Then, they sat down and waited for him to die, which was why they were not surprised when Solibo collapsed. However, Bouaffesse points out that Congo covered Solibo’s body with his own clothes, which does not suggest that he hated Solibo. Pilon, “the Brain,” thinks that Sidonise and Congo were being dramatic to throw them off the scent. He points out that Congo sells manioc graters, and manioc contains poison. He thinks that the doctor will find evidence of poison. They have narrowed down their list of suspects to Congo, Sucette, and Sidonise.

The police bring Congo back in for questioning, treating him aggressively. Pilon reviews Congo’s file. Congo’s official name is Bateau Français (French Boat). He had been involved in field worker strikes in 1900 and 1935. He was not known as a quimboiseur. Congo denies having any knowledge of poisons. Bouaffesse hits him on the head with a registry book.

The narrator gives a short biography of Congo. During the enslavement that dominated the colonial period, people on the island grew manioc as a staple food. Congo sold manioc graters after losing his field work position due to his participation in strikes. However, manioc was eventually replaced with imported wheat from France. Congo became the last salesperson of manioc graters. He loved to participate in the parades during Carnival. On the day Solibo died, he was thrilled to see the storyteller in the marketplace.

The policemen beat and torture Congo, who nonetheless does not admit anything. Then, they go to beat answers out of Sucette. All that he can tell them is that Solibo had asked him to play the drum under the tamarind tree that night. When they return, intending to resume beating Congo, he jumps out of the second-floor window and dies by suicide. Sucette panics, and they put him in handcuffs. Upon seeing Congo’s corpse, Pilon begins to have doubts about the investigation. He writes up a report describing Congo’s suicide as an escape attempt.

Pilon and Bouaffesse go out in town to verify the suspects’ statements. All of the statements check out.

In the holding cell, the suspects cry. They believe that Congo, Sucette, and Sidonise are all dead.

Pilon and Bouaffesse meet with the coroner, who explains that there is nothing wrong with Solibo’s kidneys; he was not poisoned. The cause of death is interior trauma to the windpipe, which caused asphyxiation, as if Solibo were “strangled from the inside” (150). The lab confirms that there is no poison found on the grapefruit. Pilon feels that his entire theory of the case has collapsed. He asks Bouaffesse what “snickt by the word” means (152).

Pilon and Bouaffesse go to consult a sorcerer, a quimboiseur, who lives in the woods. The quimboiseur tells them, “Ask yourself, what happens when life isn’t what it should be” (153). Pilon begins to wonder who Solibo was and why he was “Magnificent.”

Pilon and Bouaffesse continue to question townspeople, who know very few facts about Solibo. They only report that he was a special man. (Solibo has since been buried near his mother in the cemetery.)

The narrator, Patrick, explains that after the death of Solibo, he wanted to forget the whole night. One day at the market, some time after Solibo’s death, Pilon approaches Patrick. Pilon tells Patrick that he has been obsessed with Solibo’s case for months. He has learned that Solibo grew silent as the venues for his stories faded away. Fewer people were interested in oral storytelling, and Solibo became despondent. Pilon has concluded that all of the words Solibo held onto for so long suddenly emerged like a hurricane during Carnival, killing him.

After talking to Pilon, Patrick once again considers writing down Solibo’s words. He knows that Solibo did not approve of writing, seeing it as “nothing but a betrayal” (158). However, Patrick has done his best to reconstitute the story that Solibo told under the tamarind tree. He gives the finished account to Pilon when he is finished.