Roy steals morphine for Eva

Roy’s theft of morphine for Eva is an act of unauthorized care that brings together Eva’s suffering, Roy’s affection for her, and the danger of criminal punishment. When Roy later admits that he took the drug because Eva needed it, the theft is no longer merely a suspected offense: it is a deliberate choice made for someone he calls good and kind.

The Theft and Its Motive

Roy confirms that he stole the morphine and explains that Eva had to have it. He says he cared for her, describing her as a good and kind person who had made him a thick sandwich and understood his thirst. His account ties the act to the small, sustaining kindnesses he remembers from her, rather than presenting it as an impersonal crime.

Eva’s need gives the theft its immediate purpose: Roy means to obtain relief for a seriously ill woman. His confession also makes the choice explicit. He does not deny what he did or claim that someone else was responsible; he insists that he had to act for Eva.

Arrest and Confession

After Roy is arrested, Delphine tells him he did not commit the theft and promises to get a lawyer. Roy contradicts her, saying that he did it and that everyone knows because they saw him. Delphine’s attempt to reassure him cannot alter his understanding of the facts, and his admission abruptly changes the stakes of their conversation.

Roy also says that Fidelis told Sheriff Hock what had happened. Sheriff Hock is nearby and hears Roy’s words, but the immediate outcome is not a trial. He explains that the drugstore owner, Sal Birdy, reported the theft to the state commission before the sheriff could notify him; Birdy regretted reporting it, but the commission required a full investigation. Hock characterizes the arrest as a formality to satisfy the record and says Roy will be released once the paperwork is complete.

Consequences and Significance

The apparent danger of a murder charge briefly overwhelms Delphine as she imagines a lawyer, trial, jury, and judge. Hock’s explanation relieves that immediate fear, though it does not undo the arrest or make Roy’s confession less serious. The scene turns on the difference between Delphine’s protective denial and Roy’s insistence that he acted—and that his action was seen and reported.

The theft also becomes part of the later conflict over Tante’s place in the family. Delphine invokes Tante’s theft of the morphine when she argues that Fidelis should not send his sons away with the woman who made Eva suffer, and pleads for him to leave Markus in her care. The drug’s disappearance thus reaches beyond Roy’s arrest: it shapes Delphine’s appeal on Markus’s behalf and links the memory of Eva’s pain to the family’s decisions.