“Maybe you should bring Duff over and let him read them,” said Father Jackson.

“I doubt it would do any good,” Dr. Tully said. “If he happened to be thinking as General Caine, he’d probably be pleased by the letters. Anyway, after the war the General came back here to Ashland County and continued his infamous practices. He built the present Caine farmhouse and began conducting ceremonies there, evidently similar to the kind Mrs. Reddy conducts today.”

“Where in the Caine house?” I asked.

“I don’t know that. And I don’t know who else attended the ceremonies, although I assume his mistress, Margaret Dorn, did. There couldn’t have been very many people of his persuasion around here in that fundamentalist age. In fact, the General’s devil worshiping and his other activities soon became scandalous. He was accused of seducing several local girls and of shooting and killing the father of one of them.

“He was acquitted on that charge on the grounds of self-­defense, but I think his war heroics saved him. The local newspapers of his day were seemingly reluctant to say anything but good about him. And during his lifetime there were a half dozen unsolved murders in this area—in addition to the possible murder of his mistress, Margaret Dorn—but he was never charged in any of those cases.

“Earlier, when he was about forty, he went to Columbus and brought back a wife. She had two children by him and died within a few years. The General sent the children away to be raised in an institution—the one decent act of his life, as far as I know, but he did it undoubtedly only to be rid of them. Then after he died and the house had been vacant for a good many years, his daughter Hannah went back there to live. But you’re familiar with that part of the story, Mrs. Caine.”

“No, I know very little about Aunt Hannah’s life. My husband didn’t keep in touch with her, and he evidently wasn’t told very much by his father or his grandfather.”

“What do you think Mrs. Caine ought to do now?” Father Jackson asked.

“Get her son away from here.”

“I’ve been trying to do that, but it’s proving difficult. My husband has settled in here.”

“Is he aware of everything that’s happened?” Dr. Tully asked.

“Almost everything. And he doesn’t believe some of the things I’ve told him. Also, how can I force Duff to leave if he refuses to go? He’d probably just move out of the house and in with Mrs. Reddy. Moreover, he has a court appearance coming up here in Ashland on the traffic and assault charges.”

“Well, that should be fairly soon. The dockets here aren’t that cluttered,” said Dr. Tully.

“You’re convinced that Duff is possessed then,” said Father Jackson.