In September 1933, 24-year-old Birdie Calhoun enters a drugstore in Oxford. She is intercepted by Pripp, a nosy acquaintance, who notes that Birdie’s sister, Frances, has been missing her volunteer hours at the local orphanage, much to the displeasure of its chairlady, Garnett Pittman. Birdie tells Pripp that Frances went to Jackson with Mrs. Tartt to see about some family.

After Pripp leaves, Birdie nervously asks the female clerk to purchase “Merry Widows,” a brand of condoms. She requests a large and unusual amount: 99 in total. To justify the purchase to the skeptical clerk, Birdie fabricates a story that they are for a married woman whose husband likely has a disease, stressing they are for “disease prevention use only” (4). The clerk sells her 33 containers, each holding three, for a total of 99 pieces. Before leaving, Birdie is required to sign a logbook, for which she uses the first married woman’s name that comes to mind. She quickly hides the tins in a grocery sack, consumed with worry that her sister is going to kill her.