Paul Discovers Wharton's Guilt

Paul Edgecombe, convinced of John Coffey's innocence, investigates the Detterick murders. He discovers that William Wharton had worked at the Detterick farm under the alias 'Will Bonney' (Billy the Kid's real name) weeks before the murders. Wharton had a history of molesting young girls. Edgecombe also realizes that Coffey, who cannot tie his own shoes, could not have tied the lunch found on him, which was wrapped with butcher's twine. He concludes that Wharton was the real killer. However, he knows that the evidence is circumstantial and that the racist legal system will never reopen the case. He is forced to accept that Coffey will die for a crime he did not commit.