Lee decides to search for Isaac

Lee English’s decision to search for Isaac English turns her understanding of his actions into a practical commitment: after learning that he killed a man while going back to help Billy Poe, she decides to find him and take responsibility for what comes next. The choice brings together her knowledge of Isaac’s character, the family’s divided legal position, and the closeness they shared as children.

The Decision to Find Isaac

Lee has been wondering where Isaac is. Billy Poe has said California, but the destination seems puzzling to her. Her father has told her that Isaac took four thousand dollars—enough, she reasons, to travel and still have money to begin settling somewhere. She also knows Isaac can live cheaply, on macaroni and cheese. These practical calculations do not explain why he has reached such desperation, but Lee concludes that the explanation is not hard to understand if she is willing to face it.

She believes Isaac has killed a man, and understands why: he went back into the factory to rescue his friend. She thinks he could not have been less suited to the danger, and that he would have been afraid, yet he went in anyway. To Lee, his action was the only thing he could do and the right thing to do. That judgment does not erase the consequences; it makes her decision to find him more urgent.

A Family Divided by the Case

Before committing to the search, Lee recognizes that the case places Isaac and Billy Poe on opposing sides. While Poe is telling her what happened, she realizes that both men will need lawyers and that she cannot treat their interests as identical. Her thoughts turn to a strategic dilemma: Isaac is opposed to Poe, and Isaac and their father are opposed to Poe as well. The legal problem is also a problem of loyalty, with no assurance that everyone will cooperate or that keeping quiet will resolve it.

Lee’s response is not to wait for the conflict to settle itself. She decides that she will need to tell Simon the whole story and involve his parents, too. She expects they may help Isaac because he is her brother, but she does not want to make that decision for them or conceal what their help would mean. They will either agree or refuse, and she wants to know which. She has credit cards and believes she can work something out with or without their support.

The Search Plan

Lee decides to hire a lawyer and a private investigator. The investigator might trace Isaac through a trail of airline or bus tickets, though she does not know how he travelled. She will ask Simon to work out the lawyer arrangements; she expects that having a concrete task will suit him. These are plans rather than completed steps: the passage ends with Lee preparing to call Simon and start putting help in place.

Her preparations take shape alongside ordinary family obligations. She has brought home the checkbook shared with Simon because she expects to need it for a nurse and repairs to the house. The financial and practical demands do not displace the search; instead, Lee considers the resources she can use and resolves to proceed even if others do not join her.

The Sibling Bond

Lee’s resolve is rooted in a long intimacy with Isaac. As children, they played in a ravine and lay on rocks looking at the narrow strip of sky. Isaac watched for birds and hawks and liked knowing their names; Lee was content to watch with him. Most of her happy childhood memories involve the two of them alone, while the rest of childhood felt like waiting to grow older.

That history informs both her admiration and her concern. Lee sees Isaac as someone who struggles with small talk, speaks honestly without calculating how others will judge him, and expects the same openness from other people. She admires that quality even as it makes her fear for him. Now that she knows he returned to help Poe despite the risk, the childhood bond becomes a reason to act: she stands, brushes grass from herself, and resolves that finding Isaac will require a lawyer, an investigator, and a full account of the truth to Simon.