Chapter 98: The Trial of Marty Tooms and Patch's Unyielding Quest
Spoiler Notice: This analysis covers Chapter 98 of All the Colors of the Dark in detail, including trial outcomes, evidence revelations, and character decisions. If you haven't read through this chapter yet, proceed with caution.
Summary
Saint and Nix drive across Route 9, stopping at a gas station where Saint takes a robbery statement and reviews grainy security footage. At a diner, Nix praises her police fundamentals and asks about her grandmother and Patch. The narrative shifts into an extended account of the year following the previous events.
Patch bought a rental house for his mother, providing long-sought security. Saint watched him after prom, noticing girls' attention toward him—including Misty, who later left Monta Clare to travel and distance herself from painful memories.
Marty Tooms pleaded not guilty to Callie Montrose's murder. Saint filed repeated visitation requests, but Tooms refused everyone. Nix visited each weekend anyway, needing to look into his eyes. Patch wrote nearly sixty letters—sometimes rambling, sometimes begging, sometimes cursing—and repeatedly appeared at the prison armed, getting arrested overnight. Saint and Patch collaborated on an impact statement detailing his life before captivity, his present struggles, and his uncertain future.
The case strengthened when hair samples from Eli Aaron's burned house matched Tooms. Eight blood samples from the mattress in Tooms's underground store all matched Callie Montrose. Her father screamed and had to be dragged from the courtroom. Tooms showed emotion only when asked for Callie's body location, remaining silent through tears. Pharmacy records proved Tooms prescribed himself painkillers and sleeping pills, supplying them to Aaron to subdue victims.
The night before sentencing, Patch followed Judge Heinemann home. While waiting to be arrested, he sat against the door speaking of Grace and the life she deserved. The next day, Tooms received a death sentence—a surprising move from the historically liberal judge. Reporters speculated it was leverage to extract the missing girls' locations. Patch kept his word: he would burn everything and everyone in his path.
Key Events
- Saint handles a minor gas station robbery, demonstrating her growing police competence while Nix reinforces the importance of fundamentals.
- The narrative bridges an entire year, covering Tooms's trial preparation and the erosion of his finances, including the loss of his farm.
- Patch writes close to sixty letters to Tooms, ranging from rambling life updates to desperate pleas and furious curses.
- Patch is arrested multiple times for showing up at the prison armed, determined to force Tooms to reveal Grace's location.
- Hair evidence from Eli Aaron's house and eight blood samples from Tooms's mattress definitively link him to Callie Montrose's murder.
- Pharmacy records prove Tooms supplied Aaron with prescription painkillers and sleeping pills used to subdue kidnapping targets.
- Callie Montrose's father suffers a breakdown in the gallery and is forcibly removed from court.
- Patch follows Judge Heinemann home the night before sentencing and speaks of Grace outside his door until police arrive.
- Tooms is sentenced to death—an unexpected ruling from the liberal-leaning judge—leading to speculation about strategic motivations.
Character Development
Saint: Now wearing a uniform that doesn't quite fit, she is fully committed to law enforcement despite her ambivalence about "wearing a badge." She serves as Patch's intermediary, reading and delivering all sixty letters. She writes his impact statement with clinical precision—refusing to bend his words or salt wounds—producing three pages of unvarnished truth about his stolen life and ongoing torment.
Patch: His transformation is stark and frightening. The boy who survived captivity has become a man willing to burn everything down. Purchasing a house for his mother shows his enduring loyalty, but his repeated prison appearances with a dagger reveal a dangerous obsession. His sixty letters oscillate wildly between vulnerability, bargaining, and rage. His ultimate act—following a judge home and speaking of Grace until arrested—demonstrates strategic patience merged with complete disregard for his own freedom.
Nix: He continues visiting Tooms every weekend despite knowing the man will see no one, driven by an almost existential need to look into his captor's eyes. His despair at the blood evidence confirmation is palpable. His quiet wisdom surfaces in the diner conversation, affirming Saint's police work and showing paternal care.
Marty Tooms: He maintains "undignified silence" throughout the trial, losing his farm and savings. The only crack in his composure comes when asked for Callie's body location—he weeps but stays silent. His lawyers attempt an insanity defense based on his refusal to speak, but the judge rejects it, noting his evident forethought. The evidence against him is overwhelming and scientifically irrefutable.
Callie Montrose's Father: A former cop destroyed by grief, he screams, curses, and kicks as he's dragged from the courtroom—a raw embodiment of the collateral damage Tooms and Aaron inflicted.
Themes, Symbols, or Motifs
Silence and Unanswered Questions: Tooms's silence defines this chapter. He refuses visitors, refuses to speak to his own lawyers, and—most agonizingly—refuses to reveal where Callie's body lies or whether Grace existed. His tears are the only response when pressed. This silence is the engine of Patch's obsession and Saint's Sunday prayers for his demise.
The Terminal Nature of First Love: Saint's grandmother calls first love "the most terminal of ailments," a line that resonates as Misty watches Patch from a distance after prom, still drawn to the boy who saved her and broke her heart. The motif extends to Patch's relentless search for Grace—a first love frozen in amber, never resolved.
Fundamentals and Foundations: Nix's praise of "fundamentals" in the diner echoes the chapter's deeper concern with what ground people stand on. Patch buys his mother a house (literal foundation). Saint writes the impact statement as a factual foundation for Patch's suffering. The blood evidence provides an unshakeable forensic foundation for Tooms's conviction.
The Flotilla of Sunrise: Patch is repeatedly released "beneath the flotilla of sunrise" after overnight arrests—a recurring image connecting freedom, obsession, and the cyclical nature of his quest.
Burning Everything: Patch's promise to "burn everything and everyone in his path" becomes literal and metaphorical. The chapter ends with this declaration, framing his pursuit of justice and answers as an all-consuming fire.
Why This Chapter Matters
This chapter functions as the legal and emotional culmination of Tooms's arc while setting the stage for what remains unresolved. The forensic evidence is airtight—hair, blood, pharmacy records—leaving no doubt about Tooms's guilt in Callie Montrose's murder and his logistical role in Aaron's operation. Yet the central mystery endures: where is Callie's body, and was Grace real?
The chapter also marks a profound shift in Patch's characterization. He is no longer a sympathetic survivor but a man whose obsession has made him dangerous. His letters, his armed prison visits, and his intimidation of a judge reveal someone who has weaponized his trauma. Saint's role as intermediary and documentarian places her in an ethically complex position—she enables his pursuit while serving the law she's sworn to uphold.
The death sentence itself is narratively layered. Heinemann's liberal reputation makes the ruling surprising, and the speculation that it's leverage for information leaves Tooms's silence as the final, immovable obstacle. Justice has been served, but no one has been made whole.
Study Questions and Answers
1. Why does Nix continue visiting Tooms every weekend even though Tooms refuses to see anyone?
Nix articulates his reason directly: "I just need to see him. I need to look into his eyes." This isn't about gathering information or achieving closure through conversation. Nix needs the visceral confirmation that the man who participated in his son's suffering exists, is contained, and can be confronted—even silently. The ritual itself provides a structure for his grief and rage that words cannot.
2. How does Saint's role in writing Patch's impact statement reflect her position between two worlds?
Saint writes the statement without embellishment—"she did not bend his words or salt the wounds"—producing a clinical, three-page account of what happened to him. This approach mirrors her dual identity: she is both Patch's lifelong friend who understands his pain intimately and a law enforcement officer trained in factual documentation. She bridges the emotional world of the victim and the procedural world of the justice system, translating suffering into legally actionable language without exploiting or softening it.
3. What does Judge Heinemann's death sentence signify beyond the punishment of Marty Tooms?
The sentence is explicitly described as "a punishment that rippled through the state" because Heinemann had always leaned liberal. Reporters immediately speculate it's a strategic ploy—that the sentence would be reduced to life if Tooms revealed Callie's body location and confirmed Grace's existence. The ruling thus becomes not just justice for Callie but a tactical move in the ongoing battle against Tooms's silence. It also validates Patch's extreme methods; following the judge home and speaking of Grace may have directly influenced the severity of the sentence, demonstrating that Patch's willingness to "burn everything" produces results, however morally complicated those results may be.