Fairy Tale

Mr. Bowditch returns home, and Charlie spends his first night at 1 Sycamore. As Mr. Bowditch sleeps, Charlie explores the old man’s library and finds a huge collection of fairy tales. He reads through several versions of “Jack and the Beanstalk” and notes that some have happy endings, while others end badly. He notes that in some versions, the giant who faces off with Jack is named Gogmagog.

Charlie falls into a comfortable routine, visiting 1 Sycamore every day to care for Mr. Bowditch and walk Radar. One day, he finds a drug called Lynparza and learns that Mr. Bowditch is using it to treat his end-stage prostate cancer.

During Charlie’s spring break, the local newspaper runs a headline reporting that the Stantonville gold buyer, Wilhelm Heinrich, was robbed and murdered. A man named Benjamin Dwyer is arrested for the crime, but Charlie believes that he is a patsy. Charlie asks Mr. Bowditch to keep his gun downstairs for safety reasons. He continues to wonder where Mr. Bowditch sourced his wealth.

One day when Charlie shows up to take Radar for a walk, strange noises begin to come from “the goddam shed” (139), louder than last time and accompanied by the door rattling.