Returning to the present, Stamp Paid offers Paul D proof that Sethe was jailed for murdering Beloved. He shows Paul D Sethe’s pencil-drawn portrait in a newspaper clipping that describes the murder. Paul D denies that the mouth of the pictured woman belongs to Sethe. Stamp Paid explains how the murder occurred, noting that Baby Suggs felt the approach of danger. He indicates that because of the revelry the previous night, the party-goers dropped their guard and failed to spot "some new whitefolks with the Look." Paul D continues to reject the truth, even after Stamp Paid reads the article aloud.
Paul D asks Sethe for the truth, and her words mix tender memories with horror. Too distraught to sit, Sethe spins around the kitchen, recalling her insufficient knowledge about babies and nutrition, the painting of the steps that enticed the crawling Beloved, and her attempts to work and simultaneously watch over her children at Sweet Home. Paul D realizes that Sethe killed her child with a handsaw. He accuses Sethe of the crime, and then withdraws from the house. Sethe suspects that she may never see Paul D again.
