Heck Tate, the sheriff of Maycomb, comes to the Finch home after the children are attacked. Bob Ewell has been found dead. As Scout begins to recover, she identifies Arthur "Boo" Radley as the person who saved them.
Atticus is convinced that Jem killed Ewell, and he is very upset when he believes that Tate is shielding Jem. He begins to plan the child's self-defense plea, even worrying about whether Jem would be tried as an adult. It takes a few minutes for Tate to convince Atticus that Jem did not do it. The sheriff sticks to the story that Ewell fell on his knife, rather than stating that it is not true.
When Atticus finally understands that Boo killed Ewell in order to save his own children, and that Tate is not trying to bend justice to help his family, he accepts Tate's rationale that it would be cruel to put Boo into the spotlight.
In To Kill a Mockingbird, Heck Tate informs the others that Bob Ewell has been found dead under a tree "with a kitchen knife stuck up under his ribs." Scout proceeds to tell the story of how she and Jem were attacked on the way home from the schoolhouse. She then identifies the man that she thinks must have come to help them as the quiet man standing in the corner, Boo Radley. Atticus states the case that Jem killed Bob Ewell in "clear-cut self-defense." However, Heck Tate disagrees. He claims that Mr. Ewell fell on his own knife. Determined to protect Boo Radley from too much attention, Heck Tate wins the argument.
Heck Tate explains that it would be a sin to take "the one man who's done you and this town a great service" and force him into the public eye. He then says to Atticus, "If it was any other man it'd be different. But not this man, Mr. Finch." Scout assures Atticus that this is the right decision because to put Boo in this uncomfortable position would be "sort of like shootin' a mockingbird."
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