The chapter opens up on a somewhat sad note. Lennie was in the barn with his puppy, but he accidentally killed it with his uncontrollable strength. He thought about hiding it or making up a cover story about it to make sure George wouldn't get mad at him. Lennie was just sitting there talking to himself when Curley's wife came in. Lennie tried to tell her that George didn't want him to be near her, but she knew that if she continued to talk to Lennie would eventually carry on the conversation. Then Lennie uncovered the dead puppy and revealed it to her. All Lennie could focus on was the fact that George might not let him tend the rabbits anymore. This made Curley's wife break out in anger because all she wanted to do was talk to someone, but when she finally got the chance to talk with Lennie, all he did was talk about rabbits. She then started to talk about her life and how she wanted to be an actress, which she had never done with anyone else. Even then, all Lennie talked about was the rabbits. Curley's wife noticed that all he talked about was the rabbits, so she asked him why.
Lennie told Curley's wife about how he loved to pet soft things. Curley's wife thought he was nuts of course, but she like soft things as well and tried to start a conversation with the topic. She motioned Lennie to touch her hair, which was a big mistake because it was soft. Just like what happened in Weed, Lennie didn't let go and this made Curley's wife scream. Lennie didn't want her to scream so he grabbed her, covered her mouth to muffle the yelling, and flailed her around. Due to his uncontrollable strength, he snapped her neck. It took him a while, but he eventually figured out that he had killed her. He knew he was in big trouble, so he remembered that George told him to go to the spot by the river from the beginning of the book to hide until George came for him. He did as he was told, and left immediately.
Candy came into the barn soon after and found the body. He already knew that Lennie had done this so he didn't panic and called George right away. They tried to come up with a way to save Lennie, but they couldn't really figure something out. George told Candy to give him a few minutes to go back to the bunk house before he alerted the others, and he did what he was told. The men playing horseshoes came in and Curley automatically wanted Lennie dead. He took his shotgun and said he was going to shoot him in the stomach to let his guts spill. Carlson couldn't find his Luger and came to the conclusion that Lennie had taken it, when in reality he didn't. Since George came in last, they didn't think he was in on the killing, but to insure this they make him come along to hunt Lennie. Curley left his wife's body there, took the men, and left immediately. Candy realized their little dream would now never come true.
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