Notes on Interrogation and Confession

Interrogation and Confession

  • The interrogation of Dick and Perry begins without initially mentioning the Clutter case.

  • Dick and Perry assume they are being held for parole violation and confidently present a prearranged alibi.

  • After hours of questioning, the detectives reveal they are wanted for quadruple homicide, catching them off guard.

  • The suspects are placed in separate jail cells.

  • Detectives present evidence: Floyd Wells' testimony and footprints matching their boots.

  • Dick accuses Perry of the murders: "It was Perry. I couldn't stop him. He killed them all."

  • Holcomb residents react with ambivalence, questioning if Dick and Perry are solely responsible and suspecting a mastermind.

  • On the way to Garden City, Dewey mentions the bicycle-chain killing to Perry.

  • Perry realizes Dick has confessed everything. "I thought it was a stunt. I didn't believe you. That Dick let fly….I always knew if we ever got caught, if Dick ever really let fly, dropped his guts all over the goddam floor-I knew he'd tell about the nigger."

  • Perry makes a lengthy confession, claiming Dick was responsible for two killings.

  • Perry states they went to River Valley expecting to find a safe with 10,00010,000 based on Floyd Wells' testimony.

  • Finding no safe, they roused Mr. Clutter from his bedroom, demanding the money.

  • Mr. Clutter denies the existence of a safe and offers only 3030.

  • The men proceed upstairs and demand money from the other family members.

  • The family is bound and taped, Dick searches for the safe, while Perry speaks with the hostages.

  • Dick proposes to rape Nancy Clutter, but Perry stops him, saying, "Uh-huh. But you'll have to kill me first."

  • Perry confesses to the Clutter murders, describing a confrontation with Dick leading up to the act.

  • Perry says, "He was holding the knife. I asked him for it, and I said, 'All right, Dick. Here goes.' But I didn't mean it. I meant to call his bluff, make him argue me out of it, make him admit he was a phony and a coward. See, if was something between me and Dick. I knelt down beside Mr. Clutter, and the pain of kneeling… the shame. Disgust…. But I didn't realize what I'd done till I heard the sound. Like somebody drowning. Screaming under the water".

  • Perry states the other murders occurred quickly in a blind frenzy.

  • The pair stole only "between forty and fifty dollars."

  • A large crowd gathers as the motorcade arrives with Dick and Perry.

  • The crowd is expected to be rowdy but falls silent upon seeing the murderers, "as though amazed to find them humanly shaped."

Analysis of Perry's Confession

  • Perry's confession is the climax of In Cold Blood, providing an explanation and completing the picture of Dick and Perry.

  • The killings resulted from a dynamic exchange between Dick and Perry's personalities.

  • Perry stops Dick's sexual conquest of Nancy, increasing frustration and the stakes of finding the safe.

  • Perry considers leaving, but Dick urges him to stay.

  • Perry initiates the murders.

  • The decision to kill would not have been made if the two men weren't at odds and if the situation had not produced frustration.

  • Perry's actions are portrayed as almost automatic or unconscious, driven by shame and self-loathing.

  • Perry briefly blames Herb Clutter for his self-loathing, with all four Clutters paying the price.

  • In Cold Blood is cinematic, with the narrative operating on two levels (Dewey and Duntz in the car, and the Clutter house on the night of murder).

  • Capote's attention to detail convinces the reader of the truth.

  • The events are filtered through Perry's subjective perceptions, similar to how the text is filtered through Capote's perceptions; thus, the audience should remember the presence of the author.

  • Rearranging the facts adds shades of meaning.