Outside, the night is cold and wet. Inside, the White family sits patiently waiting. Where is their visitor? There's a knock on the door. A man stands outside in the darkness. Their visitor has arrived. The visitor is waiting. He has spent many years in India. What has he brought back? In his possession is the paw of a small, dead monkey—a so-called monkey's paw. Outside, in the darkness, the visitor smiles as he waits for the door to open.