(urth) TSH: Ted's identity

[James Wynn]

>There is no doubt about it: Doris saw the apparition of Ted in her bedroom
>*before* the river battle even took place. So whatever the wet thing was
>that Ted left behind, it did not get wet at the river battle.

Yeah, but (assuming the apparition is a "ghost") that Ted didn't get
it from the river battle does not preclude his appearance from having
something to do with that battle. The close juxtaposition of a river
battle letter (41) with a letter about Ted and a Wet Thing (42) should
not pass without reference. Especially since the battle occurs within
hours of the apparition.

Mind, I'm not asserting he Ted's body is in the river--it's just that
at this point identifying The Wet Thing encourages wild speculation in
order arrive at all possible explanations. That Ted's body is in the
River is qualifies as just that. But it isn't exactly *wild*
speculation to associate The Wet Thing in Letter 42 with the River in
Letter 41.

Bax got the onyx ring from the River. Personally, with Ted's ring
already in play, I had never bothered to speculate on a previous owner
of the ring. But if there were one, then wouldn't he be in the River?

Question: How does a ghost leave something behind? Answer (in the form
of a question): How did Pike's ghost leave something behind? Wolfe has
already established that there are many variant potential examples of
"the essence of one who has died separated from his original corporeal
form". So Ted might be dead or he might be alive. There might be more
than one.

> BTW, what was the point of Bax taking a phone call from Nicholas in the
> middle of a battle? Comic relief?

Well, it was definitely comic relief. I thought it was funny anyway.
It also establishes the timeline of Letters 41 & 42. Otherwise, we
would have assumed 42 occurred an undetermined amount of time after
41.

So if it is a clue of anything, there is a good chance it is to help
associate Ted's apparition with the battle. If it was supposed to be
an especially revealing clue, I've missed it so far, but there you
have it.

J.