On Willa and Preacher's wedding night, Willa is deeply ashamed when Preacher roars at her that he will not be "pawing" her as the business of their marriage is to tend the children she already has, not to beget more. John replies that Preacher will never be his dad, then inadvertantly blurts out that he will "never tell." Preacher realizes that John knows where the money is hidden but, stating that they have a long time to share their secrets, allows the boy to run off. Later, when John goes home one night, he is confronted by Preacher, who reveals that he and Willa are to be married the next day. After Preacher claims that Ben told him he had thrown it into the river, a relieved Willa asserts that she now feels clean. At the picnic, Willa confesses to Icey her fear that Preacher is after Ben's stolen money, and at Icey's prompting, asks Preacher if Ben told him about the loot. Icey insists that Preacher attend the town picnic the following Sunday, then begins to pressure Willa to make herself attractive to the handsome stranger. When Preacher spots John eyeing the tattoos of the word "LOVE" on his right hand and "HATE" on his left hand, he wins over Icey completely by dramatically telling the story of "right hand-left hand," and how love triumphs over hate in the Bible. ![]() Preacher tells them that he worked at the penitentiary, but John remains suspicious. When John then goes to the ice cream parlor, he finds Willa, Pearl, Icey and Walt being charmed by the smooth-talking, gospel-quoting Preacher. Birdie promises to repair Ben's skiff, but John's happiness is tempered when Birdie reveals that he met a stranger claiming to have known Ben. One day, John visits his only friend, Uncle Birdie Steptoe, a well-meaning drunkard who lives in a wharfboat on the river. Ben scornfully dismisses Preacher, who nonethless thanks the Lord for leading him to a "widow in the making." After Ben is hanged, John watches over Pearl and ignores the taunts of other children, while Willa takes a job at Walt and Icey Spoon's ice cream parlor. Ben winds up in a cell with Preacher, who harangues him to reveal the money's location. John then watches with horror as several policemen drag Ben away. ![]() Ben, who is wounded, looks for a place to stash the stolen $10,000, and after hiding it, makes John and Pearl swear never to reveal where the money is. Ben races home, where his son John and young daughter Pearl are playing with her doll, Miss Jenny. Soon after, in nearby Cresap's Landing, Ben Harper robs a bank and kills two employees. One evening, Preacher is apprehended by the police for stealing a car and is sentenced to thirty days at Moundsville Penitentiary. During the Depression of the 1930s, Preacher Harry Powell, a murderous, self-proclaimed "man of the cloth," travels throughout rural West Virginia believing that he is doing the Lord's work by killing rich widows.
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