The Devil in the White City: Murder, Magic, and Madness at the Fair That Changed America

Nonfiction | Book | Adult | Published in 2003

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Part 3, Chapters 13-15Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Part 3: “In the White City”

Part 3, Chapter 13 Summary: “Worry”

Erratic attendance figures had the fair organizers concerned about its solvency. The fair needed to sell 100,000 tickets a day for the rest of its run. With the economic depression worsening, this seemed unlikely.

Part 3, Chapter 14 Summary: “Claustrophobia”

Holmes locks Anna in the vault and fills it with gas before fetching her sister. Two days later he informed their landlord that he no longer needed the apartment. Holmes arranged for a furniture mover to take the coffin-sized case to the train station and leave it on the platform. Holmes gifted Pitezel’s wife with clothes from a cousin of his, Minnie Williams.

Part 3, Chapter 15 Summary: “Storm and Fire”

High winds preceded a fire at the Machinery Building on June 17th. The building burned to the ground, but the next day attendance topped 100,000. On July 18th, the coroner ordered Burnham’s arrest. He feared the Retrenchment Committee would cripple the fair commercially.

Part 3, Chapters 13-15 Analysis

As the solvency of the fair hangs in the balance, the Williams sisters are gassed to death. Their impotence echoes that of Burnham as the visiting figures and the American economy continue to founder. While Holmes calmly disposes of the sisters as though they were trash, it is Burnham who is arrested. As he shoulders this hefty burden and responsibility, Holmes in contrast proceeds in his nefarious business seemingly without hindrance. Rather than Larson’s devil combusting in hellfire, it is Burnham who must deal with a natural disaster. Visitors’ perverse fascination with destruction reflects the intrigue of the psychopath for the reader.