- We're back with Jack at the hotel manager's office. A second man walks in and introduces himself.
- We find out that Jack has agreed to be a caretaker for the hotel during its off-season.
- The manager thinks that Jack is a schoolteacher by trade, but Jack says he has given that up to be a full-time writer.
- The manager says that Jack will take care of the resort from October to May because the resort will be shut down.
- Jack is surprised that they wouldn't keep the place open for the ski season, but the manager says it's impossible to keep the road to the resort clear during the winter months. It's just too long and windy and there's no feasible way to keep the ploughs rolling all winter just to keep the hotel open.
- As the manager explains, Jack will have to do general maintenance on the hotel during the offseason to make sure the winter doesn't damage it too badly.
- That means making sure the pipes don't freeze and all that junk. It's a boring job, but someone's got to do it.
- The manager mentions that the isolation of the hotel can be hard on people, but Jack says he's working on a new writing project and five months of isolation is exactly what he wants.
- Before getting everything settled, the manager wants to mention one more thing to Jack. He says that in 1970 (maybe ten years earlier), there was a big "tragedy" at the hotel.
- A man named Charles Grady came with his wife and two daughters to take care of the hotel during the winter (like Jack).
- The hotel eventually got to the guy and he snapped, killing his whole family with an axe. Then he killed himself with a shotgun.
- Jack tells Mr. Ullman that he can rest assured that something like that will never happen with him… and you just know that there's no way this is true.