John Grady tells his interrogators, "There aint but one truth." But they persist in asking questions about Blevins. Back in the cell, John Grady tells Rawlins that he thinks they want a deal to kill Blevins. This upsets Rawlins, but then he gets angry with Blevins and threatens him. John Grady says, "Let it go."
Three days later they are taken from the dark cell into the sunlight and put on a flatbed truck with three guards. They are heading back south to Saltillo. They stop for a break, and the captain has ordered a guard to take Blevins away from the other two. Before he goes, Blevins takes off one boot and gives John Grady his money. The captain and the charro take him into the trees and after "a long time" John Grady and Rawlins hear a pistol shot.
In Saltillo the truck makes various stops before they arrive at the big prison. While waiting in a room, John Grady tells the captain he didn't have to kill Blevins. The captain tells him, "A man does not change his mind." They are locked in a cell and sleep on iron bunks with greasy mattresses. After breakfast in the morning, they are turned loose into a common yard where they have to fight all day. The next day it is the same thing. By the third day, the fights are mostly over, and on the fourth day, Sunday, they buy new clothes with Blevins' money. They share a can of tomato soup they've purchased. Rawlins laments, "All over a goddamned horse." John Grady says it is not about a horse.
