A hush fell across the baseball diamond. In the sudden silence, the only sound was the faint crinkling sound of snow piling up around them. Even Ben seemed momentarily shocked as if, despite his certainty, a small part of him had always harbored some doubt about Mr. North’s guilt.

“Your mother and I had just gotten married,” Lester’s father said softly. “We were so young. And though it had been more than a decade since my Drawing-In, I’d barely begun working for The Council. The Lingering problem wasn’t nearly as pronounced then. Nothing like it is now. Up to that point, I’d only assisted in releasing two. One in a retirement home, and the other asleep on a bench, waiting for the bus he’d taken every day for the last forty years. I was woefully unprepared for what happened that night.”

Lester felt Amanda slide next to him. Without taking his eyes off his father, he slipped his hand into hers.

“The funny thing is,” Mr. North said, “that day began with so much joy. At breakfast, Patricia told me she was pregnant with Mathis. Your grandparents had just passed the house down to us, and I was getting to know my new job. Everything was falling into place.”

Lester wanted to stop his father’s story there, with the image of his young parents happy, before he and his brothers had come along. He didn’t want to hear what came next, but Ben was hanging on every word.

“They called me to the mansion, where Doorman gave me my first solo assignment. Even back then, he was bald. It must be twenty years ago now.”

“Nineteen,” said Ben.

“I didn’t have much to go on,” continued Mr. North, “just that the Lingering was recent and somewhere on the edge of town. I searched all day with no luck. Then, as the sun was going down, I heard the horse barn at the summer camp had caught fire. Fortunately, no one was hurt, and they managed to get all of the animals out before it was too late.”

Lester had ridden his bike by the charred remains of the barn more times than he could count. Yet, it had never occurred to him to wonder what had happened there.

“I knew the Lingering couldn’t be too far away. So I headed down Meeting House Road, hoping to cut it off. As I reached the crest of the hill, something moved in the field to my right. Suddenly there he was. A boy. Not much older than you are now, Lester. He popped out of the corn and onto the edge of the road. We just stood there, looking at one another. I could have grabbed him then, but I hesitated. I’d never seen a Lingering that young before. So, like a fool, I did nothing — and that’s when they came.”

The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.

Amanda’s grip on Lester’s hand tightened. As his father told his story, the expression on his face changed to one Lester didn’t recognize. Was he frightened?

“There’s more to tracking down Lingering than preventing accidents,” Mr. North said, turning to Lester. “If they exist in our world for too long, they attract Wrasps, nasty formless creatures that feed on the Lingering. It’s horrific. A fate no one deserves. Not even the dead. That night, I had the dubious honor of being the first person to see Wrasps in over a hundred years. They came screaming out of the sky in a black cloud and swarmed all around us. It was like being sliced by a thousand ice-cold knives. I thought I was done for, but they weren’t there for me. The Lingering ran, and the Wrasps followed. A moment later, I heard the crash.”

Lester’s father stopped and looked at Ben. The old postmaster gave a slight nod, and Mr. North continued.

“By the time I got to the car, it was already on fire. I pulled on the driver’s door, but it was pinned against a tree and wouldn’t budge. So I found a rock, smashed the window, and reached in to pull Molly free. I’d just undone her seatbelt when the fire hit the fuel line, and a wall of flames shot up between us.”

Mr. North peeled off his single black glove and held up a red, raw-looking hand. It was crisscrossed with a web of white scars, the skin looking as though it had been melted.

“I held onto her as long as I could,” he said, staring at his damaged fingers.

Amanda stifled a gasp. Even at home, Lester rarely saw his father’s injury. The glove was ever-present, and since it had always been that way, he hardly noticed. Now, knowing how it had happened, it was all Lester saw.

“A day hasn’t gone by where I don’t relive that night,” Mr. North said. “I play it over and over in my mind, second-guessing every choice I made. After all these years, I’ve come to one conclusion. From when the Lingering ran to when I heard the crash, Molly had plenty of time to avoid that boy without swerving off the road. I can’t say for certain, but I believe she meant to drive her car into those Wrasps. I think she was trying to save him.”

Ben removed a handkerchief from his pocket and blew his nose. Mae wiped her eyes on her sleeves.

“So you see, Lester,” his father said, “because I let my emotions get in the way, I failed in my duty. As a result, Molly Titus is dead. While I didn’t kill her, I am responsible.”