This final chunk pays off the identity split in the bluntest way. Mort appears as a different persona, speaks as Shooter, and the story moves through investigation fallout where evidence points in conflicting directions. People are left piecing together arson, violence, and a mind that seems to have rewritten itself.
Mort’s backstory comes into focus here. As a young writer, he chased validation, kept receiving near-miss rejections, and eventually crossed a line with Kintner’s story “Crowfoot Mile.” In the present, he receives the old magazine issue that should prove his case, only to find key pages removed, like someone is cutting the truth out in real time.
Section 2 starts with grim dark humor, including Mort’s chaotic phone call with Shooter while he is literally running from the bathroom. After that, the emotional core gets heavier as Amy tells Mort she loves Ted and explains how Mort disappeared into work long before the marriage ended.
Mort starts actively questioning whether Shooter exists at all, then tries to ground himself with physical proof and local witnesses. Instead, every check adds more uncertainty. He waits for Shooter’s next call like an addict waiting for a fix, afraid to involve police because he might miss the one call that explains everything.
Mort keeps chasing logic, but this chunk keeps giving him contradictions. He replays details about the title, stalker behavior, and timing, then has a terrifying encounter where Shooter seems physically present and dangerous. Soon after, people Mort trusts report that he was seen alone, which undercuts everything he thinks he witnessed.
This part opens on the aftermath of the fire and Mort’s unsettling mix of sympathy, bitterness, and detachment while talking with Amy. He contacts his agent, tries to stay practical, and then visits the burned property, where memory starts doing weird things to him, especially around Amy’s old “secret window” and “secret garden” line.
Mort tries to solve the accusation with facts. He traces where “Sowing Season” first appeared, explains publication dates to Shooter, and hopes proof will end it. Shooter listens in that eerie, slow way and gives Mort a deadline, which turns the whole exchange into a threat with a timer.
This opening chunk starts with King’s note about endings, identity, and why this story matters to him, then moves into Mort Rainey’s messy life after his split with Amy. Mort is isolated at the lake house, emotionally fried, and already on edge when John Shooter shows up and accuses him of stealing a story called “Sowing Season.”