The chapter opens in the Ayemenem kitchen where Kochu Maria is cleaning fish when Vellya Paapen, drenched and reeking of arrack, stumbles in and demands Mammachi’s presence. He presents his missing glass eye, which Mammachi touches and recoils from, then begins to weep and recount a bizarre tale of a ghostly boat that nightly carries lovers across the river, tethered to a tree stump near the abandoned rubber estate. Baby Kochamma overhears, interprets the story as evidence of Velutha’s secret dealings, and immediately decides to use it to protect the family’s reputation.

Later, Baby Kochamma visits Inspector Thomas Mathew at the Kottayam police station and files a First Information Report claiming that Velutha, a Paravan carpenter, had tried to rape a “divorcee with two children.” She fabricates details about the alleged assault and insists that Velutha must be punished, framing the incident as a threat to the “Touchable” family’s honour. Mathew, wary but pressured, dispatches a squad of six “Touchable” policemen to the house.

At the Ayemenem house, Mammachi, still in her pink rick‑rack gown, confronts the arriving policemen. Velutha, having just arrived, is dragged outside. The officers unleash a coordinated beating: they stomp his head, smash his teeth, shatter his ribs, puncture his lung, break his kneecaps and spinal vertebrae, and leave him half‑conscious with a splintered face and a painted nail‑polish smear. Mammachi, enraged, spits at Velutha before the men pull him away. Baby Kochamma watches, coaching the policemen with conspiratorial whispers and taking notes, pleased that Velutha’s fate will distract from Ammu’s scandals.

Simultaneously, Estha and Rael attempt a secret river crossing using the small boat Velutha had repaired and stocked with stolen provisions (matches, potatoes, an inflatable goose, multicoloured socks, ballpoint pens with London scenes). Sophie Mol, carrying a bag of food, joins them. In the darkness and heavy rain, the twins misjudge the current; a floating log collides with the boat, capsizes it, and the children are forced to swim to shore. Sophie, unable to keep up, drowns; the twins survive, soaked and mud‑covered, clutching their lost belongings. The tragedy is discovered later when Sophie’s body is found in Mammachi’s drawing‑room, her eyes eaten by fish.

The police, having already been called, round up the children. Inspector Mathew interrogates Estha and Rael in his office, offering them Coca‑Cola. He questions the origin of the boat and the missing items, noting the twins’ muddy clothes and broken boat. He informs Baby Kochamma that Velutha is critically injured and may not survive the night. He also tells her that without a victim’s statement the rape charge cannot proceed, but warns that false accusations could lead to legal repercussions.

Baby Kochamma, seizing the moment, pretends to be concerned for the family’s future. She proposes a “solution”: one of the twins will go with the Inspector, identified as the “practical” one, to spare Ammu from imprisonment. She chooses Estha, deeming him more tractable, and convinces the Inspector that this will “save” Ammu. Estha is led away, escorted by a policeman, while Rael remains in the office, hearing Baby Kochamma’s manipulative promises about saving their mother.

The chapter ends with a grim tableau: Velutha lying broken on the floor of the Ayemenem house, his painted nails still visible; Mammachi sobbing; Baby Kochamma writing in her diary, repeating “I love you” on every page; and the twins, traumatized, contemplating their loss as the rain finally ceases.