Mr. Patterson Finally Admitted Something
Several days after Marcus was arrested, Claire saw Mr. Patterson outside.
He looked uncomfortable.
“Can I talk to you?”
Claire immediately knew.
“You wrote the note.”
He looked down.
“Yes.”
Claire was stunned.
“Why?”
“Because you kept calling the police.”
“That was the point.”
Mr. Patterson explained that he had known neighborhood teenagers used the old tunnels decades earlier.
He suspected someone might still be accessing Number 417.
But he didn’t want police investigating the area because several homeowners had illegally expanded sheds and fences over old utility easements.
Claire stared at him.
“So instead of telling me that, you put a threatening note in my mailbox?”
“I wasn’t threatening you.”
“STOP WATCHING THAT HOUSE?”
“I was trying to scare you off.”
“That’s a threat.”
Mr. Patterson apologized.
Claire wasn’t interested.
The Real Mystery Wasn’t the House
Marcus eventually faced charges related to trespassing and other conduct connected to the property.
The fake “Evelyn” appearance had only been a costume.
The porch light had been manually switched on from inside.
The mysterious figure on Claire’s first recording had been Marcus.
The hidden tunnel explained how he entered and vanished.
And the warning note came from Mr. Patterson.
Everything had an explanation.
Almost.
Claire later reviewed every doorbell recording she had saved.
There was one clip from the week before Marcus first appeared.
2:17 a.m.
The porch light came on.
Seven minutes later, it turned off.
Nobody entered.
Nobody left.
Claire asked Marcus about it after investigators questioned him.
He insisted:
“That wasn’t me.”
She asked Nathan.
He hadn’t been there.
Police reviewed the clip.
They couldn’t explain it either.
Maybe someone else had used the tunnel.
Maybe the camera simply missed them.
Maybe Nathan remembered the date incorrectly.
Maybe Marcus lied.
Claire never found out.
Number 417 Was Finally Sold
Nathan put the property on the market three months later.
A young couple purchased it.
They renovated the basement.
The hidden passage was permanently sealed.
The porch light was replaced.
Claire expected the neighborhood to finally feel normal.
For the most part, it did.
Then one evening, the new homeowner walked across the street.
“Can I ask you something?”
Claire immediately felt uneasy.
“What?”
He pointed at his house.
“Did the previous owner have some kind of electrical problem?”
Claire’s stomach dropped.
“Why?”
The man laughed awkwardly.
“Our porch light keeps turning itself on.”
Claire looked at her phone.
2:17 a.m.
