After receiving the analysis from Dr. O’Greery, Will promises Billy to stop investigating. The two get drunk, and that night Will goes back to the house after leaving a letter for Billy and Karen. When Billy goes to the house, he finds Will’s car outside, but the house is empty and the hallway has disappeared.

Various critics speculate on why Will returns to the house, some claiming his need for possession (The Kellog-Antwerk Claim), others saying he wishes to “be obliterated by it” (The Bister-Frieden-Josephson Criteria) (396). Zampanò includes Will’s letter to substantiate the latter claim. In it, he apologizes, says he is going to the house, and explains the meaning of “Delial,” a name he often repeats in his sleep. Delial is the name he gave to the starving Sudanese girl in the photo that won him the Pulitzer. A final school of thought, The Haven Slocum Theory, analyzes the “level of discomfort experienced following any exposure to the house” (396). These critics analyze three of Will’s dreams and contend that Will is inspired by them to revisit the house, which is now called Exploration #5. Pages are missing before the third dream is analyzed.