Lennie is sitting alone in the barn petting a dead puppy. He is in shock that it is dead because he thought that they were stronger the mice. Lennie continues to worry that George won't let him tend the rabbits on their dream farm. Curley's wife enters the barn and he hides the puppy. He avoids conversation, remembering what George told him. The other men are at a horseshoe tournament so the two are alone. She starts talking about her loneliness and her past. Before marrying Curley, a man at a dance told her that she would be an amazing actress. She waited for a letter from Hollywood but she never got one. Instead, she married Curley who she also met at the dance. Curley's wife is tired of the cold ranch hands. She never liked Curley or wanted to marry him, but she decide to because she had nothing else to do with her life. Lennie tells her that her likes to pet soft things and he lets her touch her hair. Lennie won't let go even though she begs. In the end he breaks her neck and kills her. He runs into the woods where George told him to hide if he ever got in trouble. Candy and George returns to the barn and realize what Lennie has done. Curley arrives, gathers all of the ranchers, and plans to kill Lennie himself. George goes with them because he does not want to be suspected that he was apart of her death.