The Sorcerer's House (40 page)

The Black House still stands, but it is a private residence not open to visitors. The Skotos Strip has become the suburb of Riverscene. In a few cases I have changed names to protect innocent persons.

Baxter Dunn was unquestionably a most imaginative and picturesque liar, but all that he tells us cannot be false. By some means he came into possession of Riverscene, the Black House, and the house that had been Mrs. Martha Murrey's. The back files of the
Sentinel
fairly bristle with Hound of Horror stories.

How much is true? How much fabrication? Perhaps we shall never know.

All persons of importance mentioned in these letters are listed here, with some of lesser significance.

Ambrosius
A murdered sorcerer.

Black, Emlyn
The sorcerer's son who dropped his father's triannulus.

Black, Ieuan
Emlyn Black's identical twin brother.

Black, Zwart
A previous owner of the Black House.

Dunn, Baxter
A scholar whose career has been blighted by a conviction for fraud. He is the author of the majority of these letters.

Dunn, George J.
Baxter Dunn's identical twin brother.

Dunn, Millicent Kay
George J. Dunn's wife.

Finn, Biddy
A police widow.

Finn, Kate
A policewoman, Biddy Finn's daughter.

Goldwurm
A warlock.

Griffin, Doris Rose
A real-estate agent.

Griffin, Ted
Doris Griffin's late husband.

Hardaway, Jim
The head of the Country Hill Real-Estate Agency.

Hawes, Sheldon "Shotgun"
Baxter Dunn's former cellmate.

Jacobs, Jake
A real-estate agent.

Kiki
An elderly woman befriended by Baxter Dunn and Doris Griffin.

King, Mary
A hitchhiker.

Lupine
A werewolf.

Manjushri
A personification of wisdom.

Miyamoto Musashi
A great samurai, the author of
A Book of Five Rings.

Murrey, Martha
The operator of a one-woman real-estate agency. (Murrey is a dark purple, very close to black.)

Mutazz
The operator of the Riverman Motel.

Naber, Thelma
Baxter Dunn's nearest neighbor.

Nick
The old man who becomes Baxter Dunn's butler.

Nilsen, Les
A locksmith.

Paxton, Star
The first victim of the Hound of Horror.

Perrotta, Dominick
A policeman, Kate Finn's partner.

Pogach, Orizia
"Madame Orizia," a psychic.

Quist, Dick
A jeweler.

Quorn
A malevolent dwarf.

Ruth, Cathy
A newspaper reporter.

Skotos, Alexander
An eccentric gun collector.

Toby
Nick's dog.

Trelawny, Urban
The attorney for the Skotos Estate.

Winker
Baxter Dunn's name for a friendly Japanese girl.

Winkle
Baxter Dunn's pet fox.