The Cold Millions

Gurley’s article drives widespread public support in the lead-up to her trial. She finally announces the second protest, regardless of whether she is imprisoned or not. The trial begins and she gives strong answers during her testimony. The city prosecutor, Pugh, tries to balance the trial by asking her co-defendant, Charlie Filigno, deliberately confusing questions.

Rye asks to take a day off from work to attend Gurley’s verdict reading. While trying to buy new clothes with his salary, he finds himself back in the shop where he had bought the gloves. The salesperson, Chester, gives him a full gentleman’s outfit at a generous discount. Rye feels like he is not the gentleman he sees in the shop mirror.

Rye returns from the clothing shop to find Early at Mrs. Ricci’s house. Rye tells him about Lem’s message, but Early is unmoved by Lem’s attempts to maintain their business.

Rye asks Early which side he is on, and Early answers that he has always looked out for himself. Early challenges him with the same question, which leads Rye to point to a passage from War and Peace about being temporary but knowing that others leave life without hair or teeth in their possession.

Early asks Rye to conduct an exchange with Lem, modifying the terms of their agreement so that Early can walk away with $5,000. He instructs Rye to retrieve the money from Lem before the trial is concluded. In return, Early will give Rye the evidence that implicates Lem.

Gig travels to Lind to search for Early, working briefly at a scrap mill. Early asks Gig to drive them back to Spokane, and they discuss their cynicism over unions. Gig notes that he came looking for Early because he wants to “[feel] anything like a man” again (284). Early shares his plan to kill Clegg and Lem with bombs. He introduces Gig to Everett and Miller, who are working the job with them. Gig, he says, will be their driver. Early tasks Gig with acquiring metal shavings from Rye to augment their bombs. Instead, Gig pulls the metal from a tin shop warehouse.

Everett is assigned to deliver satchel bombs to each of their targets. Early comes back from meeting with Rye in Chapter 33 and redistributes the money he received to help the crew with their getaway after the job is done. The crew carries out their plan on the day of Gurley and Charlie’s verdict and Early and Rye go to the courthouse to meet with Everett and give him the bomb meant for Lem. When Gig and Early spot Rye at the courthouse, Early tells Gig that the plan has changed and that Rye has volunteered to bring the bomb to Lem. He then reveals that Rye had been working for Lem, which makes Rye the perfect person to deliver the bomb.

Rye meets with Willard the day before the verdict to communicate Early’s terms. Willard relays Lem’s agreement to the deal, indicating that it is compensation for the trouble with Del. If Early discloses any information about their deal, Lem will order the deaths of Early and his associates, beginning with Rye.

Mrs. Ricci takes in a new boarder who compliments Rye’s line of work and speculates that automation is the future. The next morning, Rye puts on his suit, leaves early, and catches a ride with Willard, who teaches him how to tie his necktie. Willard announces that unbeknownst to Lem and against the terms of the deal, he will be watching over Rye at the courthouse.

Rye reaches the courthouse, which is too packed for him to watch the trial. The spectators suggest that Gurley’s odds of conviction are high. Suddenly, word of the verdict rushes through the hallway: Charlie is convicted while Gurley is acquitted. Gurley is furious about the outcome and promises to appeal Charlie’s conviction. Rye considers going up to her but feels too defeated by the thought of what could happen to push through with it. He learns, however, that Jack is still absent, which infuriates him.

Rye finds Early’s car and sees Gig in the driver’s seat. The car speeds away, Early and Gig quarreling. He watches the car speed toward the river gorge.

Gig refuses to let Early carry out his plan with Rye’s involvement. He throws the car into drive and speeds away from the courthouse. Early stabs Gig, but Gig still prevents him from exiting the car. He struggles to choke Early, losing control of the car as it tumbles down a canyon.

Rye runs to the river gorge but is too slow to catch it when the satchel blows up the car. He climbs down to the wreckage, but can’t find his brother’s corpse. Willard pulls Rye back up out of the gorge.

With Gurley’s acquittal, Sullivan is ordered to investigate the accusations made about the city’s treatment of female prisoners. He soon learns about the explosion of Early’s car, and then finds the other satchel outside the police station, which they can open safely and defuse. Weeks later, an anonymous note implicates one of Spokane’s mining magnates with the bombing plot and Waterbury’s murder.

The IWW prisoners are released and allowed to operate while several employment agencies are shut down. Believing it will restore his reputation, Sullivan orders the widespread arrest of sex workers and unhoused people. He fires Clegg when Clegg gets involved in a statutory rape case. When he insults the press over Clegg’s firing, Sullivan is hit with misconduct charges. Frustrated, he goes to the Spokane Club and assaults Lem Brand. The next day, he resigns as acting police chief.

Sullivan’s story ends when he is shot at his home in the poverty flats by a sniper, dying soon after at the hospital.

Rye, who is 71 years old in 1964, gives a brief overview of his life. After marrying one of Gemma’s daughters, he goes on to have four children and eight grandchildren. One of his sons dies in the Second World War. His only daughter becomes a high school English teacher. Gemma tells her family about her real relationship with Jules. Rye continues his career as a machinist for 50 years, offering regular support to his industry’s local union until he retires.

Rye is compelled to recall his past when he learns that Gurley, by that point the American Communist Party chairperson, has died during a visit to the Soviet Union. The last time Rye had seen her was after her acquittal, right before Gig died. He notes that though Gig and Early’s bodies were never found, Del’s body was recovered from the river.

In late 1910, a wildfire destroys Taft. The following year, Rye worries that Early might have survived the explosion, especially after Sullivan’s assassination. Sullivan’s murder is later solved, but Rye is unsure whether the murderer, Victor Claude Miller, looks like Early or not. Rye reunites with Willard, who shares that Lem’s paranoia over Early led to his admission to a psychiatric hospital. Willard, meanwhile, decides to move to Canada. Since Rye still has the money he was supposed to give to Early, he offers some of it to Willard.

Rye buys Mrs. Ricci’s orchard with some more of Lem’s money. He goes to Moore to help with the sale and learns that Gurley has divorced her husband. Her son, whom she names Fred, dies in 1940. Moore gives Rye Gurley’s mailing address, but he never finishes a letter to send to her.

Rye checks in on Ursula, who begins performing as a touring stage actor under her real name. Rye offers her some more of Lem’s money, but she does not take it. She reveals that she was the one who had sent the police the note implicating Lem in Waterbury’s murder.

The IWW is devastated when vigilantes and police massacre a union steamer traveling to a protest in Everett. Union leader Frank Little is murdered to warn others from conducting further action. The union is finally removed from Spokane by the start of the First World War. One of Rye’s sons becomes a conservative, which tempts Rye to scandalize him with stories of his life. Thinking about the IWW’s defeat in Spokane, Rye remembers Gurley’s advice to savor victories now and then. The novel ends with Rye using Lem’s money to buy a gravestone for Gig before giving the rest to the Salvation Army.