Truant’s first impression of the marks found next to Zampano’s body.

“Sure enough, just as my friend had described, on the flood, in fact, practically dead center, were the four marks, all of them longer than a hand, jagged bits of wood clawed up by something neither one of us cared to image. But that’s not what Lude wanted me to see either… Truth be told, I was still having a hard time taking my eyes off the scarred floor. I even reached out to touch the protruding splinters.”