"As we approach the death chamber the guards direct me to a chair with other witnesses. I see Vernon and Elizabeth Harvey on the front row. They are serious, silent, looking straight ahead. The lights are very bright, the dark oak chair gleams, the big clock on the wall behind the chair says 12:07. Page 210

The setting is set for the death of Robert Willie, convicted of killing Faith Hathaway. He walks the long path from his isolate cell to the death chamber. Condemned and ready to die, he is unchained and walks alongside Sister Helen. He sees the witnesses who have come to watch him die. The victim's parents are there for one last revengeful look at the murderer to be kept like a cadged animal and then be made a spectacle even in death. The scene description also shows the industrial style of this death. The yellowish harsh lights that rob everything of color, illuminating the whole room and lighting everything in the worst way. The death chair is polished and beautiful, industrial and efficient just as the clock that will read the time of death that is the event of the evening.