Mystic River

Whitey and Sean open the trunk of a Cadillac towed from the Last Drop and discover a body. The bludgeoned state of his body makes it impossible to identify him, but they do so through his license left in the car. Immediately, they put an APB out for Dave, knowing that this is the murder he committed that night. Back at the station, Sean attempts to question Brendan again. He no longer seems confused or scared to Sean but instead “stared into Sean’s face with a kind of cruel and beaten fatigue” (347). For the first time, Sean thinks he may be capable of violence. Brendan asks for a lawyer and gets out quickly because Sean was holding him on nothing more than suspicion. Whitey returns to listen to the 911 tape with Sean. After they play it once, Sean notices that the boy who calls in refers to the victim as “her.” However, the boy couldn’t have known the blood came from a woman because Katie was far into the park by then (350). 

Dave and Val drive over the Mystic River to a bar. As Val orders them another round, Dave notices that he is not like any of the other men around him; he perceives them as men without fear, men who know they are men.