A Bit of Humor at the End

I got to the end of The Fourth Deadly Sin and actually finished a chapter too early. When I read the below line I thought sure that was the end. It goes so perfectly in my series for "last lines."

He looked up suddenly, and beyond the city’s glow saw the stars whirling their ascending courses . So small, he thought. All the poor, scrabbling people on earth caught up in a life we never made, breaking ourselves trying to manage. 

Philosophers said you could laugh or you could weep. Delaney preferred to think there was a middle ground, an amused struggle in which you recognized the odds and knew you’d never beat them. Which was no reason to stop trying. Las Vegas did all right. 

When he came to his brownstone, the lights were on, the Christmas wreath still on the door. And inside was the companionship of a loving woman, a tot of brandy, a good cigar. And later, a warm bed and blessed sleep. 

“Thank you, God,” he said aloud, and started up the steps.

But no, that's not it. There's a whole chapter more. And instead of ending with Delaney looking up at the stars, contemplating God and his life, he leaves the reader with a note of humor.

“Well, right now I’m in Sylvia Otherton’s apartment and we’ve been working on the Ouija board. You read about that in my previous reports, didn’t you, sir?” 

“Oh, yes,” Delaney said, rolling his eyes upward. “I read about the Ouija board.” 

“Well, the first question we asked, weeks ago, was who killed him. And the board spelled out ‘Blind .’ B-L -I-N-D. Then, the second time, we asked if it was a stranger who killed him, and the board spelled out ‘Ni.’ N-I.” 

“Yes, I recall,” Delaney said patiently. “Very interesting. But what does it mean?” 

“Well, get this, sir …” Estrella said. “Tonight we asked the spirit of Simon Ellerbee whether it was a man or a woman who killed him, and the Ouija board spelled out ‘Wiman.’ W-I-M-A-N. Now that didn’t make much sense at first. But then I realized this board has a slight glitch and is pointing to ‘I’ when it means ‘O.’ If you follow that, you’ll see that the killer was blond, not blind. And the board meant to say ‘No’ instead of ‘Ni’ when we asked if the murderer was a stranger. And the final answer should have been ‘Woman’ instead of ‘Wiman.’ So as I see it, sir, the person we’re looking for is a blond woman who was not a stranger to the victim.”

“Thank you very much,” Delaney said gravely.

Sanders, Lawrence - The Fourth Deadly Sin

Although I liked the ending about the stars much more, I think it's clever that Sanders finds for his readers a Ouija Board that has a problem with O's and I's. Who would have thought of that?