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Chapter V explained

Thomas R.

What happens

Thomas R. Hefflebomer arrives and confesses to murdering the judge during a fit of mental aberration. Mabel later marries a man named Tompkins, whom she met two years later at Hot Springs.

Key passages

  • The footsteps prove to be those of Thomas R. Hefflebomer of Washington Territory, who introduces positive proof of having murdered the judge during a fit of mental aberration

    The approaching person is Thomas R. Hefflebomer, who provides clear evidence that he killed the judge while temporarily insane.

    Confession of murder with a claim of insanity.

  • Mabel marries a man named Tompkins, whom she met two years later at Hot Springs.

    Mabel eventually marries Tompkins, a man she encountered two years afterward at Hot Springs.

    Mabel's marriage to Tompkins after a two-year interval.