The protagonist, Detective Ralph Anderson, is a strict realist who relies on material evidence to solve his cases. He is thorough, methodical, and detailed, which makes him a superlative investigator but leaves him floundering when he is confronted with a case where he can’t resolve conflicting material evidence. His confidence in the material evidence leads him to make critical errors. He realizes later that he has allowed emotion to divert him from his due diligence and that all his later mistakes flowed from that lapse of judgment.

That failure particularly troubles Ralph because he has a strong moral sense and holds himself to a high standard of right and wrong. Ralph’s identity is based on his image of himself as both rational and honorable. After Terry and Ollie’s deaths, the knowledge that two people have died—one by Ralph’s own hand—because he betrayed his personal principles plagues him. That guilt drives him to pursue the investigation even when everyone else considers the case closed. Settling the question of Terry’s guilt won’t excuse his mistakes, but if Terry was guilty, then Ralph at least won’t be responsible for the death of an innocent man.