With the summing up over, the court settles in to wait for a verdict that everyone assumes will take twenty minutes. The reporters Waffles Newton and Salcombe Hardy worry about missing the evening editions, while Lord Peter Wimsey tells Chief Inspector Parker flatly that he has made a mistake and the girl is innocent. The Dowager Duchess, who has been reading one of Harriet Vane’s novels, remarks that she did not guess the murderer until page 200.

The hours pass: two, three and a half, five. Spectators gossip about murderess faces at Madame Tussaud’s, a fight breaks out in the crowd outside, and the judge sends to ask if he can help. The foreman finally admits the jury cannot agree, glaring at the elderly spinster in the corner. Sent back once more, they return after more than six hours still deadlocked, and a new trial is ordered. Wimsey rushes to Sir Impey Biggs to join the defence, then finds the holdout, Miss Climpson, at the jury door.

• Wimsey telling Parker the Crown’s case is watertight and wrong for one reason: Harriet did not do it
• Overheard courtroom chatter from a young couple sure that a hard face and no tears prove guilt
• The rumour that Sir Impey Biggs wins prizes breeding canaries
• The judge discharging the jury and excusing them from service for twelve years
• Miss Climpson’s confession that she could not in conscience say Harriet did it, and Wimsey’s promise to kiss her