Chapter Ten: Wreckage. Mrs. Richland. Obit Thieves. The Tale of the Tape. Inside the Shed. The Tale of the Tape, Continued.

Summary

• Inside his house, the narrator finds a robbery in progress upon returning from a funeral. Someone has ransacked the house, leaving every room in disarray. His safe, containing cash and golden pellets, was untouched due to his previous decision to hide it in his bedroom, further leveraged by the thief's unsuccessful attempts to crack the safe open.
• The narrator speaks with Mrs. Richland, a neighbor, who recalls a man selling magazine subscriptions door-to-door. The salesman had a prominent satchel with a "Subscription Service of America" sticker and peculiar mannerisms. His visits to their neighborhood predates the death of the occupant of the vandalized house, Mr. Bowditch.
• The police eventually arrive with their lead detective Gleason categorizing the robbery as an "obit thief"—individuals who capitalize on the bereaved's absence during funerals to conduct robberies. Despite a crime scene investigation, no tangible leads surface. The majority of their attempt revolve around the safe which the robbers tried to pry open.
• The narrator's father suggests hiring a professional safe-cracker or 'box-peeler' might solve some of the mysteries surrounding Mr Bowditch's life. The narrator, however, decides to tackle the unsettling mystery alone.
• The narrator listens to a previously unplayed audio tape recorded by deceased Mr. Bowditch. Mr. Bowditch reveals backstory about himself on the tape, stating he was originally Adrian Bowditch, named after his father. He is "a hundred and twenty years old" and goes onto to explain he has "lived abroad" with estranged family most of his life. For the remainder of his narration, Mr. Bowditch directs the narrator to the shed to see what's there.
• In the shed, the narrator discovers a massive insect, about the size of a cat, already dying. He later surmises that the growing decomposition process has been accelerated by exposure to the air.

• The protagonist encounters a hidden hole filled with giant cockroaches which retreat at the sight of light. The protagonist speculates that these cockroaches have made it into the hole over a long period of time.
• The hole leads to a stairway that spirals down. The protagonist doesn't know where it leads but feels certain there is some kind of "gold" at the other end.
• After shining a light on the decomposing body of a massive bug one last time, the protagonist locks up the area and puts their exploration equipment away. They're left feeling shaken and scared by what they've just encountered.
• They then listen to an audio recording left by Mr. Bowditch, who tells a detailed and fantastical backstory about the hidden underground world the protagonist discovered earlier.
• According to the recording, Mr. Bowditch apparently discovered the underground realm accidentally and spent a long time traveling and exploring it. He also warns about the inhabitants and dangers of this other world.
• Mr. Bowditch reveals this other world is accessible by descending the steps of the well and walking a corridor. He also speaks of the gold that can be found there, and warns the protagonist of waking the creature that rules the city in this world.
• Furthermore, the atmosphere of that world can freshen up creatures from our world, even cure old age or illness. Bowditch believes that if the government discovered this other world, they might exploit it to the point of exhaustion as they've done with their own.
• During the recording, Bowditch appears to have a heart attack and the tape suddenly ends. At the end of the chapter, the protagonist takes the cassette and leaves the house, visibly perturbed by what they've just heard.