The next morning, at exactly ten o'clock, hoping to find the owner out of the house, I called the number from the folder. I got lucky, his wife answered. Innocently, I asked for the owner. "Hello, May I speak to Mr. Westerfall, please?"

"He's at the office, I think, or maybe out of town. I seldom know. Can I help you? I'm his wife. My name is Elaine. Some people call me Ellie, but not many, come to think of it."

"Well, maybe. This is Claire Yates, the caretaker of the Castle."

"Oh, hello. The castle is it? Good enough name for that place, I think. I'm happy to hear from you, unless something is wrong. How are you?"

"Fine, thank you. Everything is fine. I was just wondering Who lived here before I got here?"

"Oh dear, they haven't come back, have they?"

"Who hasn't come back?"

"That awful person Thor threw out before we remodeled the place and employed you. Thor told him he would call the sheriff again the minute he showed up anywhere. He meant that."

Persistence is a virtue, at least for me. I tried again. "What was his name? Can you recall?"

"I don't know. I don't think I ever knew. There were two of them, not just one. They weren't at all the people Thor interviewed for the lease. That was only one man and he seemed so respectable. He said he was working on a book and needed a quiet place to finish it. He sounded quite sincere.

"But when Thor went to see the place a couple of months later, it was a wreak and there were two men living there, and they weren't nice people at all. Thor was really upset. He was really frightened, too. I remember that. You say they haven't come back?"

"No they haven't come back. But I would really like to know the name of the first man and the other one, if you can give that to me."

"No, I don't remember. I never saw the two men Thor threw out. The sheriff might know. But the first man, wait, He gave Thor a business card when he signed the lease. I saw him do that. I wonder if Thor kept it? Maybe he did. I'll look for it and if I find it, I'll mail it to you. How's that?"

"I'd love it. Thank you so much." I paused. I was getting more out of her by listening than I was asking questions, so I just dropped a hint.

"You mentioned that some work was done on the house before I moved in." She hadn't, but I hoped she didn't notice that. She didn't.

"Thor was so angry. Not so much angry as frightened. The two he kicked out had wreaked the place. There were actual holes in the walls, some of them, the ones that weren't solid stone, I mean. Thor had to replace some of the furniture and repair the walls and repaint some of the downstairs rooms, I think. We tried to match everything. Is it OK, do you think?"

"Oh Yes, everything is fine. I do notice a few slight differences between the first and second story when I clean, but it's fine, really it is."

I wasn't lying about everything. I had cleaned upstairs maybe once in the past six months, but it was Rose who noticed the difference in paint color and style of furniture. For me chairs are for sitting on, not looking at. Rose sees things. I just try not to fall over them.

"You've done a beautiful job with this place, really you have. And everything here is quiet and peacefil. Why don't you come out and visit?"

"Yes, we might come. Thor still thinks we are going to live there full time one day. But I tell him I wouldn't live there if he built a shopping center just for me across the street. One week of that desert was enough for me, thank you. I don't want the wild open spaces. I like cities with paved roads, people, and no wolves."

"I understand completely. Well, I'll let you go and look for that business card, and anything else you find that will identify the previous lessee."

"Yes, I'll do it right now while I'm thinking about it. Thank you for calling. Have a nice day!"

I hoped she meant it, but she did give me a lot of information. There had been somebody living here, the original lessee and one other. Edward had been right about the car and the goat killers. And Rose had been right about the remodel.

Miracle of miracles, Mrs. Thor came through. The business card came exactly one week later. It read: "Resurrection Treatment Centers, The Reverend Blake Winters,CEO." The contact information included an email address, a post office box in Reno and a phone number.