Anthony has now removed his head altogether and roams the streets of Eberhart with it cradled in the crook of his arm like a football. This has led to several embarrassing situations but quite a few romantic possibilities. Subpoenas rolled in for Anthony, Baker, Stevenson, everyone involved in Kell's life here, most no longer living. His trial was set to begin soon and it was rumored the royal family would be spectators. News reports called it the crime of the century and all the devious plotting members of high society were working in brisk fashion to turn the trial to their advantage. Anthony just maintained his Baroline habit when he could and avoided any entanglements.

The only tree left in Eberhart was possessed by an evil demon named Larsk for several years. But now Larsk had found religion and would grow quite violent unless addressed as Ali Al-Allawi. The demon was suspected and whispered about for years, stories of drunk men stumbling past the tree to be pelted by an apple or a pine cone (neither of which was native to the tree) and then turning to find no one there. Larsk/Ali first became widely known when a boy stopped to urinate against the balding bark of the tree. His penis was torn clear off and his bicycle thrown into the Canal. The tree was declared a menace and ordered to be destroyed by Viceroy. But weather delayed the chopping for several months and gave activists a chance to organize, circulate petitions, set up voter registration to bring the tree's fate to a group decision.

The votes were tallied and the proposition of graduating the tree to historical landmark, for its work on the homeless during the second world war, was shelved in a dramatic miscalculation. While a recount was demanded, this also had to become a proposition and that was voted down so no recount occurred. The tree, meanwhile, continued eating people and throwing things.

When the day arrived to finally dismember the unruly deciduous, a group of activists held a pagan ceremony to summon the power of wind and rain. This resulted in a knock down drag out thunderstorm that flooded much of the outlying area, killing hundreds of migrant workers who had all dropped to their knees to pray to some kind of optical illusion Madonna resulting from unusual lighting conditions and a new sign at the gas station. The tree was, naturally, struck by lightning and burst into flames. But even the flames were not enough to burn out old Ali and the city's forestry crew, beset by wasps when they approached the tree, instantly went blind with glee and pituitary overload. They each grew at least a foot in height, shredding their clothes in the process. Viceroy was beside himself with rage and called on Commandant for a public execution.
Commandant responded, "Of our boys or the tree?"
And so it was decided that the forestry crew would be catapulted into the sea.