Having had no opportunity—in the few moments that had elapsed since I emerged from my swoon—to formulate a plausible explanation for my presence in Montague’s apartment, I frantically cast about for a stratagem that would gain me a measure of time. A sudden spasm of pain at the posterior region of my cranium provided me with the solution. I opened my mouth as though to respond to Crockett’s query—then, emitting a pitiful groan, I clutched my head, closed my eyes, and tottered slightly on my feet.

Taking me by one arm to steady me, Crockett said: “Maybe you oughta set a spell, Poe, before you try talking.”

With the frontiersman’s assistance, I made my way to the rickety chair that stood beside the dining table and—after lowering myself onto the seat—propped one elbow on the tabletop and rested my forehead in my hand. I remained in this attitude for several moments, as though waiting for my dizziness to subside—all the while ruminating busily on the best way to proceed.

To confess the actual, motivating cause of my visit seemed imprudent in the extreme, since I had yet to ascertain what—if any—association existed between my sainted mother, Eliza, and the recent atrocities that had now befallen no less than three individuals whose names appeared in the precious newspaper clipping I kept stored in my casket-shaped “treasure box” My terrifying encounter with the ghastly female spectre—the mere sight of whose countenance had caused my soul to sicken and my brain to reel—only served to reinforce my inclination to provide the police with a carefully tailored version of the truth.

At length—having resolved on a suitable story—I looked up at Crockett and Captain Russell and said: “Forgive me, gentlemen. The shock, both physical and mental, which I have so recently endured has left me somewhat light-headed. In answer to your query: After arriving back home, I found myself overcome with a sense of intense chagrin. To have abandoned the investigation merely as the result of a minor disorder of my respiratory functions constituted, I believed, a gross dereliction of my responsibilities.