After dinner, when Franny’s things were moved, I went upstairs and, for Duff’s benefit, pretended to be getting ready for bed. I was hoping that fairly soon he would close his door and allow me to pass unnoticed to the storeroom.

I spent an hour or so reading a paperback edition of The Hobbit that Franny had left behind. Then I looked into the hallway and saw that his door was closed. I waited another five minutes, then took the key from my door and the flashlight I always carry in my luggage and went quietly to the storeroom.

I was terrified, of course, of prowling that old house in the dark—a house in which a man who had worshiped the devil had once lived, a man who seemingly was still prowling the house himself. However, I had to get to the third floor and see if his coffin was there. I’d worry later about disposing of it and whatever was in it.

But my key wouldn’t open the door in the stairwell. A special lock must have been installed, I thought, and if there was a key for it in the house, my son very likely had it.

His notebook was where I had left it, so I took it back to my room. Then I locked the door, turned out the overhead light and went to the window. There was no one in the front yard.

I turned on the bed lamp, got into bed and began to read the notebook. The last entry I had seen was dated July 28. After that there were no dates and no separation of entries, except by the use of pencil and ball-­point pen, which I assumed indicated that the writing had been done at different times. Moreover, the handwriting no longer resembled Duff’s in the slightest.

For some reason, I wasn’t surprised that I was addressed in the first sentence.

This is for you, Margaret. You remember me and I remember you. If recollection sometimes falters, we must continue to remind ourselves who we are and whom we serve.

I am Duffin Caine, late Brigadier General in the Army of the United States. I bow to no man and I acknowledge only one Master. I have served that Master for many years and he has repaid my devotion a thousandfold.