Eleven days before the execution, Sam gives Adam a bag of fan mail to dispose of and accurately assesses the Fifth Circuit judges based on their political reputations. He urges Adam to file new motions quickly.

Adam proposes a mental-incompetency strategy, arguing that Sam is experiencing cognitive deterioration that affects his ability to comprehend the reasons for his execution. Sam agrees to cooperate if examined by an expert. He asks to be buried beside his late wife, and Adam agrees to handle the arrangements. Sam reveals that he has no money, only a will he drafted himself. Before Adam leaves, Sam asks him to bring Eskimo Pies, a favorite snack from his childhood.

Later, an unexpected visitor arrives claiming to be Sam’s brother. In the visitors’ room, Sam does not recognize him. The visitor reveals himself to be Rollie Wedge. Wedge warns Sam to remain silent about his involvement. He taunts Sam for getting caught and tells him that he hopes they execute him. He then leaves.

That evening, Adam takes Lee to a movie and dinner. They silently agree not to discuss the recent crisis or any family history.

That weekend, Warden Naifeh experiences a mild heart attack and is hospitalized. Doctors forbid any involvement in the Cayhall execution.

Adam wakes to find Lee and her car gone. He discovers a Sunday Metro article exposing Lee as Sam’s daughter, featuring a photo of Lee and Phelps Booth. The story details her marriage into the wealthy Booth family and mentions Lee sitting near Ruth Kramer at a charity dinner. Adam realizes that the story triggered Lee’s disappearance. He drives around Memphis searching for her and then goes to his office.

At Parchman, the new chaplain, Ralph Griffin, visits Sam. Sam is pleased that Griffin opposes the death penalty. Griffin offers to be Sam’s spiritual adviser during the execution. Sam asks Griffin to also visit inmate Randy Dupree, who is experiencing a mental-health crisis.

That evening, Adam calls his mother in Portland and then his sister, Carmen, in Berkeley. Carmen asks if she should visit Sam. Early on Monday morning, Phelps Booth calls Adam. He reports that Lee was arrested for drunk driving, posted bail, and disappeared. Phelps asks Adam to help retrieve Lee’s car from impound.

During the drive, Phelps reveals that Lee has been to rehabilitation half a dozen times, often at Spring Creek. He predicts that she will turn up there. Phelps asks Adam to visit Lee when found. However, he also tells him that after the execution, Adam must return to Chicago and leave Lee alone permanently, explaining that Adam is a painful reminder of the past. He reveals that Lee was sober for five years before Sam’s conviction and that Eddie’s death deeply affected her. Adam senses that Phelps still loves his wife.

With Naifeh incapacitated, Colonel Nugent takes charge of the execution, armed with a detailed protocol manual he created. With nine days before the execution, Nugent summons Mann and orders daily written updates on appeals. Mann refuses, saying that Nugent isn’t his boss, but he agrees to review the protocol.

Adam receives faxes confirming two losses: The Fifth Circuit upheld the gas chamber’s constitutionality, and the district court denied the ineffective-counsel claim. Death clerks call, monitoring Adam’s appeal plans. Phelps reports that Lee remains missing. The attorney general’s office announces that a team of 12 lawyers is responding to Adam’s appeals.

At Parchman, Adam brings Sam some Eskimo Pies. Sam says that he’s tired and wants to give up the legal fight. Adam argues against quitting, telling him that a psychiatrist is coming from Chicago to examine him. He instructs Sam to exaggerate his condition. Sam discusses potential visits from Carmen and Lee but is noncommittal.

Mann stops Adam at the gate. He reveals that McAllister wants to hold a clemency hearing. Adam is conflicted over going against Sam’s wishes. Mann reviews final procedures: burial arrangements, visitor designations, and execution witnesses.

Eight days before the execution, Sam marks his calendar and calculates that he is 85 feet from the gas chamber. Gullitt asks for reassurance, and Sam lies to him, telling him that his lawyer will get him out soon.

Nugent introduces himself to Sam and tries to discuss arrangements. Sam is defiant. His neighboring inmates mock Nugent from their cells. When Nugent asks about Sam’s will and witnesses, Sam mockingly describes the planned mental-incompetency claim, explaining that his psychiatrist will also have time to examine Nugent. The inmates erupt in laughter, and Nugent retreats angrily.

Adam drives to Parchman with Goodman and psychiatrist Dr. Swinn. Swinn is taken to the prison hospital for a private evaluation of Sam. Adam and Goodman have lunch with Mann, discussing the future of capital punishment. Mann and Goodman agree that executions will become more frequent as courts grow weary of appeals.

Adam calls Phelps but learns that there is still no word on Lee. Back in Memphis that night, Adam and Goodman prepare the legal petition that contains Swinn’s report. The report concludes that Sam is experiencing advanced cognitive decline. They request for a stay of execution on humanitarian grounds.

Seven days before the execution, Goodman flies to Jackson, Mississippi, and visits the state capitol. He meets with Andy Larramore, the governor’s chief counsel, and arranges a potential meeting with Governor McAllister. Goodman then rents a small office suite near the capitol, paying cash for two months’ occupancy.

In Memphis, Adam is flooded with legal work, filing petitions and fielding calls from court clerks. Phelps calls to inform him that there is still no news about Lee.

In Jackson, Goodman meets with McAllister; the governor’s chief of staff, Mona Stark; and Larramore. Goodman formally requests a closed clemency hearing. McAllister refuses unless Sam reveals his accomplice’s name. After Goodman leaves, Mona tells McAllister that polls show 84% percent support for the death penalty. She suggests granting an open hearing for media coverage and announcing it the next day to build momentum. McAllister and Mona agree that the hearing must be public, wanting Ruth Kramer’s testimony for the cameras.

Goodman rents four cellular phones as part of a plan conceived by Adam. He visits a public library and copies names and phone numbers from Mississippi town directories. He goes to the Mississippi College School of Law to find Professor John Bryan Glass, an anti-death-penalty academic, but Glass is unavailable.

Six days before the execution, Adam stops at the Auburn House to ask counselor Joyce Cobb about Lee. Joyce reveals that Lee called on Tuesday to say that she would be out for a while and needed help but gave no location.

Nugent meets with the penitentiary administrators, as well as Morris Henry, to finalize preparations for Sam’s execution. He informs them that because the execution is expected to take place, they will have the gas chamber undergo a maintenance inspection, after which they will hold a rehearsal of the execution. He forbids anyone from speaking to the press without his approval. He also warns them that protestors from various groups, including the KKK, may cause trouble outside the penitentiary. He reminds everyone to be professional over the next week.

Goodman finally speaks to Professor Glass and convinces him to recruit students for a “market analysis” project. Goodman then visits the Southern Capital Defense Group, an anti-death-penalty advocacy firm, and speaks to their director, a Black lawyer named Hez Kerry. Goodman enlists his help for the project as well. Finally, Goodman visits the governor’s office to formally request for a clemency hearing.

Adam becomes anxious over the lack of updates on his filings. He steps out to clear his mind and goes to get a drink. However, this makes him worry about Lee again. Kirk Kleckner, a reporter from The New York Times, approaches Adam and asks to interview Sam. Adam refuses and looks for somewhere else to escape to.

That evening, Nugent and his team rehearse the execution, placing a captured rabbit in the newly cleaned and repainted gas chamber. Once the poisonous gas is released, the rabbit experiences convulsions and then dies less than a minute later. They clear the chamber and laugh over their success. Sam hears the laughter and realizes that Nugent’s team is preparing for his execution.

Five days before the execution, Adam arrives at Parchman and sees seven Klansmen setting up a protest site. He confronts them, saying that Sam is on death row because of the KKK. He accuses the organization of co-opting Sam to create a martyr for their cause. A television crew arrives as Adam walks away.

Adam learns that the Mississippi Supreme Court denied the mental-incompetency claim and that the US Supreme Court denied certiorari on the gas-chamber claim. He files the incompetency claim in federal court.

Sam confronts Adam about the clemency hearing reported on television, which he never approved. He also reveals that they tested the gas chamber the previous night. Adam tells Sam that he confronted the Klansmen.

Sam tentatively approves Carmen visiting and says that he will think about Lee coming the following week. He gives Adam his approved visitor list: Adam, Lee, Carmen, and his brother Donnie. Sam refuses an offer from author Wendall Sherman for his story rights and instructs Adam to draw up a document assigning his life-story rights to Adam after his death.

Sam gives Adam three letters to deliver after the execution: an apology to Quince Lincoln for killing his father 40 years earlier and apology letters for Ruth and Elliot Kramer.

In Jackson, Goodman initiates a phone campaign with Professor Glass, Hez Kerry, and three law students. They flood the governor’s People’s Hotline with calls from fake identities across Mississippi, all opposing the execution.

Mona Stark announces that Governor McAllister will grant a clemency hearing on Monday morning.

Four days before the execution, Sergeant Packer allows Sam to visit the outdoor recreation yard. Sam watches his first sunrise in over nine years, believing that it will be his last.

In Jackson, McAllister arrives at the capitol. His team reports that the execution is more than likely to proceed. However, Mona delivers the hotline report: 486 calls on Friday, with over 90% opposing the execution. McAllister is stunned but decides to keep the hotline open and begin polling that afternoon.

In the rented office, Goodman and his team resume the phone campaign. He meets with Larramore at the capitol, who reiterates that the hearing is pointless unless Sam names his accomplice. During their meeting, Larramore takes another call from someone opposing the execution. He tries calling the number back and gets no answer, which Goodman knows is by design. Larramore confirms that the clemency hearing will be public.

That afternoon, Sam’s youngest brother, Donnie, arrives at Parchman. Donnie left the KKK and Mississippi decades ago but has supported Sam by sending monthly cigarettes and cash. The brothers have an emotional reunion.

Sam tells Donnie that he’s tired and ready for the end but resents the state winning. Donnie says that their brother, Albert, is too sick to visit. Sam asks Donnie to buy him civilian clothes to wear for the execution, instead of his prison jumpsuit. Donnie tearfully agrees. The brothers spend an hour reminiscing and laughing.

Adam arrives later in the afternoon. Sam gives him more apology letters to deliver to the other bombing survivors after his death. When Adam suggests filing more petitions, Sam refuses and fires Adam. Adam refuses to be fired, dismissing their written agreement as fatally defective. Sam relents.

Sam gives Adam a letter addressed to Governor McAllister, demanding that the clemency hearing be canceled. Adam tells Sam that Donnie wants to meet him, but Adam refuses upon learning that Donnie was in the KKK. They share a grim joke about filing a wrongful-death lawsuit after the execution.

Sam declines increased offers from author Wendall Sherman and signs forms designating Adam and Chaplain Ralph Griffin as his sole companions during his final hours. He signs another form giving his personal effects to Adam.

Outside, Nugent patrols the protest area, where Nazis and other white supremacists have joined the Klansmen. Nugent approaches two Catholic nuns protesting and identifies himself as acting warden. The nuns tell him to leave.

Three days before the execution, Adam feels an unexpected calm before the coming storm. He decides to find the book that Lee told him about with the lynching photograph.

In Lee’s bedroom drawer, he finds the book, entitled Southern Negroes and the Great Depression. The second of two lynching photos shows a group of 17 white people posing at a lynching site in rural Mississippi in 1936. Adam easily identifies teenage Sam in the front row. A faded blue line points to Sam’s ear with his name in block letters, presumably marked by Eddie. Adam feels strange comfort upon viewing Sam as a product of his hateful environment who “never had a chance” (556).

At Parchman, Nugent visits Sam to discuss final arrangements. Sam is sarcastic and defiant, telling Nugent to talk to his lawyer about his last meal and witnesses. After Nugent storms out, Chaplain Griffin arrives.

Sam tells Griffin that he wants to pray for forgiveness. He confesses to killing Joe Lincoln in 1950 and murdering, with his brothers, the two men who killed their father. He confesses to being in the front row of a lynching mob at 15 and mentions another lynching he cannot talk about. Griffin assures Sam that God will forgive all his sins if he is truly sorry. Sam asks the chaplain to stay close in the final days, admitting that he has bad things buried in his soul.