"Aha, now we know the real reason you offered to test the lights," he says, laughing as he hears the creak of the floorboards over his head as Caleb passes by. "Not electrocution, so much as a healthy wariness of the things that live under the stairs. Hypothetically."

The next room on their list is upstairs, far enough that Darlington starts the process of swapping out the fuse now, rather than wait for Caleb to make the trek up the stairs and down the hall.