The next day, David fires the workmen, ostensibly for their slow progress. Later, the Sumners attend a church social where Amy becomes distraught on seeing her rapists. At the social, Janice invites Niles to leave with her and she begins to seduce him away from the crowd. When it is discovered that Janice is missing, her brother is sent to search for her, and as he calls out for her, Niles panics and strangles Janice to death. The Sumners leave early, driving through thick fog, and accidentally hit Henry Niles as he is escaping the scene of the crime. They take him to their home and David phones the local pub to report the accident. The locals, who in the meantime have learned that Janice was last seen with Niles, are thereby alerted to Niles's whereabouts. Soon, Hedden, Scutt, Venner, Cawsey and Riddaway are drunkenly pounding on the Sumners' door. Inferring their intention to lynch Niles, David refuses to let them take him, despite Amy's pleas. The standoff seems to unlock a territorial instinct in David: "I will not allow violence against this house."