Alex Cross's Trial Chapter 43 Summary

  • Ben heads out to Frog Creek to see what happened the night before.
  • This isn't the lynching tree he went to with Abraham, but another one.
  • When he gets there, he sees a woman kneeling by the tree, which still has the two bodies hanging.
  • The men's bodies are beaten, and one even has his penis cut off.
  • As the woman notices Ben, she tells him to go away—her family is already dead, so he can't do anything else to her now.
  • Ben explains that he's a friend and not there to cause any more hurt.
  • He notices that she's holding something pink, which she explains is Nathan's tongue. The men ripped it out so he couldn't talk back to them.
  • The woman, Annie, weeps by Ben's side as he tries to comfort her.
  • Meanwhile, he notices a rustling in the bushes.
  • Out from the bushes, a bunch of Black men and women come to collect the bodies.