Grann pauses the narrative to fill in Tom White’s biography, starting with his childhood. White’s father, a widower with five boys, had become county sheriff when White was seven years old; the family lived next door to the county jail in Austin, Texas, a facility that held almost 300 prisoners the first year White’s father was sheriff. Sheriff White was a fair but firm lawman, committed to upholding justice without abusing his power. For example, he let younger, non-violent criminals stay with him and his boys rather than house them with dangerous criminals in the jail. White absorbed these lessons, and also witnessed the violence that went with the territory: a riot in the jail, his father stabbed by a prisoner, and a public hanging.

White became a lawman at 24, when he joined the Texas Rangers, alongside his brothers Dudley and Doc. Tom tried to be fair and just, avoiding violence whenever possible. He saw many lawmen die from violence; death in the line of duty seemed random and far too common, so he decided to quit and settle down. He married a woman named Bessie and had two boys. White became a railroad detective, but in 1917, he joined the Bureau of Investigation.