After dark, the three huddle together, shaken by the "terrible events of the last two days." When a knock at the door is heard, the dog's eager whine assures them it is not Bates. Reluctantly, they admit a muffled figure; it is "the very ghost of Sikes." The atmosphere is strained and conversation forced.
When Charley Bates arrives, he shrinks from Sikes with the cry, "You monster!" With no thought of the possible consequences, Charley is determined to give Sikes up to the police. He begins to call for help. Charley then attacks Sikes, and the two struggle fiercely. Crackit pulls Sikes off the boy at the sounds of great commotion outside.
As officers begin pounding on the door, Bates shouts at them from within to break it down. Sikes seizes the boy and locks him in a vacant room. The others assure Sikes that the lower door and windows are strong and well secured. Sikes goes to a window and yells defiance at the huge, wrathful crowd. He then demands a rope so that he can attempt to escape by dropping into Folly Ditch, at the back of the house.
Except for a small enclosure in the room where Bates is confined, all windows at the back of the building have been bricked up. The boy keeps calling through the opening that the rear should be watched. His cries are heard, and the people come surging around to the back.
