An overview of ishmael's life is presented as the particulars of his involvement with the case are disclosed. An omniscient narrator provides background into ishmael's character, describing his father ("an unflagging loyalty to his profession and its principles had made arthur, over the years, increasingly deliberate in his speech and actions, and increasingly exacting regarding the truth"), as well as providing part of the explanation for ishmael's cynicism toward people and life. Ishmael's character contrasts with the fishermen of san piedro, though he is as isolated from the other men on the island as the japanese-americans are.
Ishmael — the only reporter on the island — who is solely responsible for the San Piedro Review, begins to piece together information for his story. A number of fishermen saw Carl Heine early the night before, and a few boats were in the vicinity of the Susan Marie, including Miyamoto's Islander. Art Moran speaks to Ishmael off-the-record; admitting that he needs to investigate some tricky little facts, the sheriff asks Ishmael to print that Carl's death was an accident.
Horace Whaley, the county coroner, is the next witness to testify. He examined Carl's dead body and noticed a few things during his autopsy — most importantly, that Carl Heine was still breathing when he entered the water. Whaley also noticed a wound to Carl's skull behind the left ear; he mentions his suspicions that the gash was administered by someone trained in the art of kendo (stick fighting), suggesting that a Japanese man is guilty of inflicting the wound as he notes, "The majority of Japs . . . inflicted death over the left ear, swinging in from the right." During cross-examination, though, Horace concedes that he couldn't determine whether the wound occurred before or after death, and that Carl's death was due to drowning.
