Red begins by announcing that Andy escapes Shawshank. The year is 1975, and Red speculates that a man named Peter Stevens is now residing in Zihuatanejo. He informs the reader that he will discuss what he knows and then what he thinks.

Red provides a detailed timeline of events. One morning, as the guards are taking the roll, they discover that one of the inmates is not accounted for. At first, they think nothing of it and are not even sure that it is Andy who is missing. Usually in these circumstances, the inmate is either very ill or has died by suicide. Finally, the guards figure out that Andy is nowhere to be found. They immediately notify the warden and try to take a measure of what has happened. The warden is furious and begins chastising a guard, a man by the name of Rich Gonyar. The guards, at the warden’s behest, begin questioning the other inmates. Nobody has the slightest idea what happened to Andy, a fact that the warden doubts. As events unfold, the warden becomes increasingly agitated and irate. In an outburst of anger, he swipes at Andy’s poster of Linda Ronstadt hanging on the cell wall.