The Garies and Their Friends

After Mr. Stevens leaves the used clothes shop, Kinch closes it. The next morning, his father, Mr. De Younge, opens the shop and finds the note dropped by Mr. Stevens. Mr. De Younge cannot read, so when Mr. Walters drops by the store that morning, Mr. De Younge asks him to read it. Mr. Walters discovers that it is a list of “[p]laces to be attacked” (196), which includes his own house. When Kinch arrives, he gives Mr. Walters the card of the man who dropped the note—George Stevens. Kinch has to deliver a suit to Mr. Stevens’s home and eavesdrops on his conversations while there. Kinch goes to Mr. Walters’s house and confirms that he overhead Mr. Stevens preparing a mob to attack Mr. Walters’s house and other Black homes in Philadelphia. Then, Kinch leaves to deliver a note to Mr. Ellis.

Mr. Walters goes to the mayor of Philadelphia and asks for help dealing with the threat of mob violence. The mayor does not take the threat seriously. Mr. Walters says that they will defend themselves.