My elderly neighbor died — after his funeral, I received a letter from him that said: “You must dig up the secret in my yard that I’ve been hiding from you for 40 years. You deserve to know the truth.”
I live a quiet, stable life with my husband and two children in a small suburb. Everyone here knows each other, and nothing dramatic has ever happened.
When we moved here, Mr. Whitmore was already living in the house next door. I remember him saying he had moved there about 30 years earlier.
He lived alone. He had no family, no relatives, no close friends. He never invited anyone over.
In fact, I never saw anyone visit him.