On the Third Day

A headmaster and his wife come home to discover that a section of a window pane in one of their doors has been precisely cut. As they search the house for anything that might be missing, they encounter a young man sitting in one of their rooms, and the phone is out of order. The young man’s behavior is odd yet courteous. He claims to have come from Australia and mentions being acquainted with an old friend of the headmaster. He possesses a surprising amount of personal information about the family, lending credibility to his story. Despite this, he undeniably has a sinister side, engaging in extreme “practical jokes,” brandishing a gun, and participating in a particularly violent boxing match.