This scene is a sketchy little bit of police ethics. When a dead body is found in the trunk of a cop car, Bell and his deputies do what they can to cover it up. Well, consider how much harder it would be for them to do their jobs if there was a ton of media attention. Are they right to do it, then?

Bell often looks to his wife, Loretta, for moral guidance, but it seems like she has given up on the world—or at least she has given up trying to know about all the evil in the world. Does this mean Bell will eventually give up, too?

Once again, we see Chigurh murder people in cold blood. This is almost more shocking than his murder of the deputy, because we thought these people were on Chigurh's side. But he has only one side—his own.

This is one of the book's greatest questions, but we think Bell answers it for us as the book goes on. The work is definitely more dangerous than it used to be, and we can't predict how dangerous it will become by the time we are old.

By the second chapter, we're seeing a turning point. Sheriff Bell talks about the unpredictability of criminals, and we've already seen that in action. Maybe things aren't going to work out as well as we thought.