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Summary: Part 3: Chapters 19 & 20

Chapter 19: The Lowgods

Paper, Fatty, and Soap warily visit a Black neighborhood called Hemlock Row, largely populated by the Lowgods, a family originally from South Carolina. The Lowgods are different from the Black community on Chicken Hill. On Hemlock Row, they are more disconnected from the white community and have no desire to be a part of the white man's world.

Paper had gone to see Fatty after Chona's funeral, inquiring why he was the only one who did not attend. Fatty skipped the event in an attempt to hold off his grief, as he knows the immense impact that Chona had on his family. Paper tells Fatty that Nate and Addie plan to break Dodo out of Pennhurst and, because she trusts Fatty, she needs him to drive her to Hemlock Row so they can arrange for Dodo to be sent to South Carolina after he is freed. When they arrive, Paper is the first to enter and finds an assembly of sorts, led by Miggy Fludd, a Lowgod and an old coworker and friend of Paper. Miggy is an oracle who gives spiritual advice and insight into personal matters. People present their issues, and she dances and then answers their queries on a typewriter.

Miggy tells Paper that she can help with Dodo's rescue, and that there is a Lowgod at Pennhurst who works at Ward C-1, where Dodo is being kept. However, she warns Paper that he is a dark and twisted man. She recruits the help of a man from Hemlock Row named Bullis, who can connect the Chicken Hill folk to the Lowgod contact at Pennhurst. Miggy gives Paper a card where she has written the name of their contact: Son of Man. She leaves with a comment about how Fatty would make a good husband for Paper.

Chapter 20: The Antes House

Meanwhile, the town is getting ready to celebrate an old Pottstown composer, John Antes, in their annual Memorial Day celebration at the John Antes Historical Society, the composer's Revolutionary-era home. Gus Plitzka despises the Memorial Day festivities and the traditions that compel city council members, including himself, to wear Revolutionary-era costumes and serve as parade marshals. His mood is further worsened by a recent predicament he has found himself in. In order to afford Clover Dairy, Plitzka borrowed money from a gangster named Nig Rosen, and now the looming debt is weighing heavily on him. He also recently hurt his big toe, which he asks Doc Roberts to examine when he too arrives for the celebration. The men have a bitter rivalry, but Doc agrees to take a look. 

Doc has concerns of his own, as he internally reflects that no one has questioned his version of events concerning the incident with Chona, which conveniently omitted his attempts to sexually assault her. However, in the chaos of the attack, he accidentally snatched a mezuzah with a Hebrew inscription off her neck. He is unsure how he ended up with the pendant, and he is panicked that someone will discover the truth about what happened that day. Gus begins asking questions about the incident and Doc quickly changes the subject to talk about an issue with the town's water supply. He reports that there was muddy water coming out of the Antes House's public restroom. Gus grows uncomfortable, aware that due to a deal made between his family's farm and the city before the new reservoir was built, his businesses are now getting free water from the city. Both men back down, wary of their respective issues and hesitant to make a new enemy. Doc suggests that to alleviate the pain from his toe, Gus should get a special shoe made by Irv and Marv. 

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