Later, Joe sat in the living room, and he was surrounded by three human question marks.
"The children are up at Aunt Margie's," said Pearl. "And now you'd better tell us what all this is about?"
"It's simple," said Joe. "The Devil has a case of amnesia. As long as he has it, we're safe. If he recovers his memory, we may be in for it again. But I have a feeling he won't recover it—perhaps not for a thousand years."
"Not for a thousand years?" asked Dad. "How do you figure that?"
"Well, in the first place, the Devil isn't gone. That is, he didn't suddenly leave the body of that young man, as you all seem to think."
"How do you know that?" asked Pearl.
"Easy. I killed the mouse."
"The mouse?"
"Yes. The Devil traded places originally with a mouse, and then traded places with this young man. But the mouse was dead, so the mouse's body was empty of a mouse, if I make myself clear. Thus, the mouse is still the young man, and always will be. The Devil will be the young man, because his own body is dead. That is, he'll be the young man until he recovers his memory, if he ever does, and then he could be anybody. I hope it never happens."
"How can you be absolutely sure all this is a fact?" asked Pearl.