The Quest for the Killers

Capotes second part of In Cold Blood entitled, Persons unknown, talks about the city of Holcomb, and ultimately, Mr. Dewey’s quest to find the murderers of the Clutter family. The other theme of part two, is the attempt of the two killers, Perry and Dick, to escape as far away from Holcomb as possible, to not become suspects in the future case of the murder of the Clutters. Perry, specifically is very nervous about getting caught, A passage in the story describes Perry continuously reading newspaper articles regarding possible suspects in the case. Perry reads the articles over and over again, trying to get a good grasp of the information and what the police know. Dick says, “You don’t have to read it fifty times (referring to the paper)… Perry goes on to say, “Any way I don’t believe it. Neither do you. Own up, Dick. Be honest. You don’t believe this no-clue stuff… Something tells me this is a trap’ He tapped the newspaper ‘A lot of prevarications” (89-90). This quote simply states Perrys’ nervousness and anxiousness about the murder. The theme of this passage is simply Perry being sure that the two of them would get caught. Perry later goes so far as to convince Dick that they will get caught as well. Dick eventually listens and agrees with Perry and plays out a scenario when they get caught. Dick says, “If we get caught, lets get caught together. Then we can back each other up. When they start pulling the confession crap, saying you said and I said” (91). The reader knows through dramatic irony that ultimately, this situation plays out as Dick stated. This plan ultimately fails for the two, because they both receive the death penalty as a result of the murder of the clutters.