Mira’s criminal trial begins. In his opening statement, district attorney Eric Lindley (whom Mira discovers is good friends with Elizabeth Catton) portrays Mira as a reckless and selfish young woman who vandalized the Tallmadge Country Club’s driving range net by ripping off its target. He argues this act directly caused the death of Kenny Foster, and reminds the jury that police found the target “wadded and buried” in Mira’s golf bag (260).

Mira notes that the jury selection was effectively a battle of class, with the prosecution seeking working-class jurors who might align themselves with Kenny and her defense wanting wealthy people. She sees Kenny’s parents, Nick and Sharon, in the courtroom, and Nick’s gaze on her isn’t hatred but pity. 

In his opening, Barker portrays Mira as an innocent “child” who is being made a scapegoat. He suggests that club pro Harry Fallows is the more likely culprit and brings up Mira’s recent attempt to die by suicide, part of the defense’s strategy to elicit sympathy. Barker concludes by stressing that Mira’s fingerprints were not on the target and that anyone at the club could have planted it in her bag.