I gave my head an emphatic shake. “No. While it is true that I obtained only the briefest glimpse of this person before I lapsed into insensibility, my view of her countenance was sufficiently clear to assure me of her identity. The woman I saw—and here I shall not blame you for reacting with a high degree of skepticism, for I am fully aware that the fact I am about to relate is of the most fantastic and anomalous nature—the woman I saw was the identical being who entered my bedroom on the night of the fatal conflagration at the Asher residence!”

Removing his cigar from his lips, Crockett stared at me silently for a moment. “Damn it, Poe,” he exclaimed at last, “but that’s the beatenest thing I ever heard.”

“I concur entirely with your assessment.”

“Don’t you reckon that what you saw was just a figger of your imagination?” Crockett inquired. “After all, you was mighty shook up after turning up that ol’ man’s carcass.”

An involuntary shudder coursed through my being as I recalled the awful—the unspeakable—moment when, staggering backwards from the appalling sight I had just glimpsed beneath the floorboards of Alexander Montague’s bedchamber, I heard—then felt—then saw—the same uncanny creature I had confronted once before.

“I assure you, Colonel Crockett,” I said grimly, “that the figure I observed was as palpably real as you yourself.”

Re-inserting his half-smoked panatela between his teeth, the frontiersman chewed on the tip for a moment before inquiring: “Why in tarnation didn’t you tell Cap’n Russell none of this?”

“For several reasons,” I replied. “First, because of my conviction that the mystery might be more expeditiously resolved by a pair of determined and resourceful individuals, operating independently of the police. As you yourself have noted, the professional law officer—even one who, like Captain Russell, is endowed with unusual acumen—is invariably hampered in his efforts by the necessity of adhering to the strict protocols of the law. As a consequence of this constraint, the typical police investigation, no matter how vigorously pursued, tends to proceed at a lamentably dilatory pace. In the present circumstance, such a delay is almost certain to have tragic results, given the possibility—or, rather, likelihood—that the perpetrator of these atrocities will continue to commit similar outrages until caught.”

“Can’t hardly argue with you there,” Crockett said.

“There is another consideration, too,” I said after a brief pause, “one which—while imbued with a tincture of self-interest—must nevertheless be acknowledged,”

“I’m listening,” said Crockett.

“Distinct advantages would accrue to each of us should we manage to resolve this mystery on our own. For you, the favorable publicity that you would inevitably receive could only be of benefit in regard to your political ambitions.”

“I’d be lying if I denied it,” the frontiersman acknowledged. “And how about you, Poe. What do you stand to gain?”