Summary
The following chapter begins with the arrival of FBI Agent Tom White in Oklahoma City, four years after the murder of Anna Brown. White is a former Texas Ranger assigned to investigate the Osage killings. His boss, J. Edgar Hoover, hopes that the case will portray the newly formed Bureau in a positive light, particularly in the wake of years of highly publicized government corruption. Worried about facing a scandal at the beginning of his tenure as director, Hoover specially selects White for the job. White recognizes the importance of the case and knows that if he fails to solve it he will likely face relocation or the termination of his career.
White goes over the case files and struggles to find a common link. He notes that the killers had no standard method and followed no obvious patterns. He quickly gathers that these crimes were not carried out by a single person but were likely the work of a careful mastermind, someone with the patience to see out this reign of terror over time. White concerns himself with creating "an unbroken chain of evidence," showing no interest in gossip or hearsay. White assembles his undercover team and heads out for Osage County.
The team quickly gets to work collecting data. They make a deal with Kelsie Morrison, throwing out his previous criminal charges in exchange for him working as an informant. They pursue a lead about Anna possibly being killed by a woman named Rose Osage, but quickly find out that it is a dead end. Meanwhile, Hoover begins nervously hectoring White for updates about this case. White begins to look into Ernest's brother, Bryan, who was the last person to see Anna before she died. They travel to the house of his uncle, Hale, where they are received coldly by him and his wife. Further investigation reveals holes in Bryan's alibi. White begins to look into the possibility of a third, unknown individual being present.
The investigation hits a roadblock when White discovers that there is a leak in the team. He learns that someone has been releasing private information and has also tried to blow Morrison's cover. They track down a double agent by the name of Pike and try to get him to give them the name of the third man. They fail to get that information but learn that he was hired to conceal the whereabouts of Bryan Burkhart on the night of Anna's murder. He reveals he was hired by William Hale and instructed to never talk about the case in Mollie's presence.
In the next chapter, Grann shares some of White's backstory. He writes that he grew up as part of a large family in Texas. His father was a sheriff with a strong sense of fairness. At the age of twenty-four, White joined the Texas Rangers. As part of the rangers, he undertook many investigations and tried to avoid violence, unlike some of his colleagues. During a routine arrest, White's brother Dudley was killed in a gunfight, a loss that haunted White for years after the fact.
White turns his attention to Bill Smith, knowing that he was looking into the case at the time of his death. He questions the individuals in the room with Bill while he was in the hospital. He learns that Bill never identified his killer, but said his only two enemies were William Hale and Ernest Burkhart. White subsequently learns about the corrupt guardian arrangements and sees that after these murders many prominent white individuals became executors of the estates of the deceased.
White also learns that Henry Roan had taken out a large life insurance policy which went straight to Hale. He subsequently discovers Hale was the one who helped Roan take out the policy. He begins to suspect Hale is guilty of the murders, noting his proximity to all of the victims in the case. White feels a building sense of momentum about the case. Grann further describes Hoover's hopes about the case functioning as a showpiece for the Bureau. He also writes about Hoover's exacting standards and clandestine rules and regulations. He notes that White was extremely different from Hoover, but conformed to his expectations in order to do his job.
Analysis
Justice is a major thematic component in this part of the book. White is driven by a strong sense of right and wrong. It is a quality he admires in his father, who Grann says wouldn't cut corners in his work as sheriff, refusing to treat people differently based on their race or ethnicity. White is a dutiful agent who works hard to separate real evidence from town gossip. He never seems preoccupied with material gain or improving his image, but instead places his attention squarely on his work. He is a unique figure in the book in that he never seems to be working from a personal angle. He is steadfastly determined to bring the killer to justice, a fact that makes him all the more unsettling to criminals in Pawhuska.
Corruption is another prominent theme in these chapters. Grann portrays Hoover in a complex light. While he also wants White to successfully track down the guilty party in Osage County, he has other motives for this desire. Hoover wants the FBI to be seen as a paragon of reform and justice, a spotless example of strict law enforcement. However, Hoover is less concerned with actually building the FBI according to these values; in fact, he actively suppresses negative information about the Bureau in an effort to maintain its image. Grann demonstrates that Hoover is not above corruption; instead he values the appearance of lawfulness above the actual fact of it. In this way, despite being on the side of law enforcement, Hoover is framed as having more in common with Hale than White, as he is more concerned with personal gain than the delivery of justice.
Racism is also an important theme in this section. White's investigation quickly uncovers the deep-seated antipathy for the Osage among the white residents of Pawhuska. When White and his agents visit Hale's home, his wife makes hateful comments about Anna, calling her a racial slur and saying she was a drunk. Similarly, White also finds that Hale's supposed charity towards the Osage is tied up in self-interest, as he seems to be involved in a number of the victims' business affairs. He even goes so far as to joke about killing Henry Roan while taking him to a medical exam. What these offhand remarks reveal is a sense, among Hale and his white companions, that the Osage are not people. This racist behavior makes it apparent that the Osage have many enemies in Pawhuska, who could actively want them dead.
Greed is also a theme in these chapters. Grann goes deeper into the financial conspiracy working against the Osage, revealing how Hale benefits from the guardianships and is closely involved with the management of several dead tribe members' affairs. White uncovers what the residents of Pawhuska offensively refer to as "Indian Business," describing the profits white individuals reap from their involvement in Osage finances. This ties in directly with the racism displayed in the town, as Grann clearly shows the overt factors behind these murders. The Osage are in possession of something that Hale and others desperately want and clearly will go to any lengths, however vicious, to get.
In these chapters, Grann begins to reveal the root cause of the murders. He underscores the dual factors of financial jealousy and racial resentment, showing how the Osage are surrounded by hostility and conniving schemes on many fronts. If the book's first section dealt with the crimes themselves, this part shifts focus to the intent behind them, suggesting who might be responsible while continuing to show the systemic injustice the Osage were faced with.
